Elena Chachko

Listen: Assistant Professor Elena Chachko @elenachachko.bsky.social on BBC's Wake Up to Money discussing the recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on President Trump's tariffs: www.bbc.com/audio/play/m... #UCBerkeleyLaw

‘One Voice’ and the Trump Administration’s Conduct of Foreign Affairs A new executive order deploys a contested theory of presidential authority—and uses it to target the public servants responsible for conducting America’s foreign relations.

On Friday, the State Department began firing over 1,000 employees.

In Feb, @SrAnderson.bsky.social and @ElenaChachko.bsky.social explained President Trump's "One Voice" executive order which asserted broad presidential prerogative over foreign affairs. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/one-...

Spoke with @npr.org about presidential use of emergency authority and our present moment @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social

What Trump's national emergencies could mean for American democracy Trump invoked emergency powers more times in his first 100 days than any other modern president has in that time. Experts worry it could lead to an upending of the constitutional balance of power.

"This is what happens when you take an instrument that has been very useful for many administrations, for many years, and now you overextend it," says @elenachachko.bsky.social, assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley Law on presidential use of emergency powers www.npr.org/2025/06/09/n... @npr.org

By 5-4 vote, #SCOTUS *denies* Trump’s emergency application in foreign aid funding cases, but in a way that sends things back to the district court *before* the payments will have to be made:

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Is It Time to Transfer Frozen Russian Assets to Ukraine? Calls Grow Louder. President Trump’s threat to abandon Ukraine added urgency to plans to fund security or reconstruction with the roughly $300 billion owned by Russia’s central bank.

From @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/b...

And yet there are serious precedent-setting effects to consider, as well as implications for European and American assets in other countries—frozen or not. The exigencies of the Ukraine situation should not obscure these concerns.

Are we about to see this line in sanctions policy crossed? Would not be a surprise in the wake of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting. Transferring frozen assets in the Ukraine case could strike many as an instance of “unlawful but legitimate”.

Under international law, sanctions are supposed to be temporary and reversible. That’s why the assets are frozen, not permanently seized. Issues arise under U.S. law too. So far sanctioning countries agreed to let Ukraine take out a loan against proceeds from the seized assets but not the principal.

Calls are getting louder to allow the transfer of Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine as the U.S. pulls back. About 250B (of roughly 300) are held in EU. When this proposal was debated before many—Biden officials included—concluded that such transfer would likely be unlawful.

Read today's Executive Functions Morning Roundup: the next round in the battle over the admin's effort to fire Hampton Dellinger, more demotions for DOJ prosecutors, commentary from @sranderson.bsky.social and @elenachachko.bsky.social, and more (first three stories below). tinyurl.com/a9pz5834

‘One Voice’ and the Trump Administration’s Conduct of Foreign Affairs www.lawfaremedia.org/article/one-... by Prof @elenachachko.bsky.social and @sranderson.bsky.social @lawfare.bsky.social

One could parse this language but it sure reads like a full throated endorsement of a theory of executive power in foreign affairs that the Supreme Court has rejected, most recently in Zivotofsky II.

From the EO: “Article II of the United States Constitution vests the power to conduct foreign policy in the President of the United States.”

www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1...

One Voice for America's Foreign Relations By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Interesting choice of language there with “one voice”…
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

The Fordham International Law Journal Spring Symposium : Economic Sanctions and the Law: Goals, Enforcement, and Procedural and Substantive Limits The Fordham International Law Journal Spring Symposium : Economic Sanctions and the Law: Goals, Enforcement, and Procedural and Substantive Limits

Looking to make sense of our world of sanctions and economic statecraft? (Yeah, me too!)

Next Friday, February 21 at @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social, the Fordham International Law Journal symposium on Economic Sanctions: go.activecalendar.com/FordhamUnive...

"PAUSING FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT ENFORCEMENT TO FURTHER AMERICAN ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY" (?????)

or is necessary for any reason to protect the revenue or to prevent unlawful importations." It is questionable whether the EOs properly exercised that waiver.

Section 321 does provide for a waiver. "The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized by regulations to prescribe exceptions to any exemption ... whenever he finds that such action is consistent with the purpose of subsection (a)...

Trump eliminated it anyway based on IEEPA, potentially setting up a conflict between the President and congressional statute (aka Youngstown category III).

But Biden stopped short of modifying the exemption unilaterally via executive order. The reason for Biden's hesitation may have been a belief that eliminating the exception would require changing the statue.

Around 2020, lawmakers and Biden officials began advocating for reform to curb the flow of illicit goods like opioids and competition from predominantly Chinese companies delivering cheap merch directly to U.S. consumers. Notably, the U.S. threshold is comparatively very high.

The de minimis exemption originates in sec. 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. It now exempts imported goods up to 800 USD from standard duties and process. The exemption used to enjoy bipartisan support.

Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency

The China executive order: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Wake Up to Money - Not always as easy as ABC - BBC Sounds Sean Farrington gets reaction to disappointing trading results from Google parent Alphabet

For BBC radio, some analysis of President Trump’s executive orders imposing tariffs and eliminating the de minimis exception for products from China, Mexico and Canada (the latter two on hold). Around the halfway point: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
@ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social

Agency Heads, Civil Servants, and Trump - Yale Journal on Regulation This is a quick post to share some easy-to-read explainers about what different agency heads and civil servants do, how the civil service works, and Trump’s early and antagonistic actions towards our ...

Quick blog post to share some great explainers on agency heads, our civil service, and Trump's early actions. Highlighting series from @theconversation.com & @washingtonpost.com and @nicholasbednar.bsky.social's excellent explainers @lawfare.bsky.social.
www.yalejreg.com/nc/agency-he...

Call for Papers: Tenth Annual Administrative Law New Scholarship Roundtable - Yale Journal on Regulation The University of Michigan Law School is very pleased to host the Tenth Annual Administrative Law New Scholarship Roundtable on May 19-20, 2025. For the past nine years, the Roundtable has offered adm...

Attn #adlaw nerds: Call for Papers for Tenth Annual Administrative Law New Scholarship Roundtable here @umichlaw.bsky.social 5/19-5/20: www.yalejreg.com/nc/call-for-...

And working link to the symposium: www.yalejreg.com/topic/sympos...

DOGE is established as a temporary organization under 5 U.S.C. § 3161 through summer 2026. Interesting.