James Taranto's profile photo

James Taranto

New York

Editorial Features Editor at The Wall Street Journal

Editorial Features Editor, in charge of @WSJ op-ed pages. Best of the Web columnist 2000-17. Pu.

Articles

  • 5 days ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    They’re the only officials besides the president who exercise constitutional authority unilaterally, particularly when they issue nationwide injunctions. James C. Ho of the Fifth Circuit says they often abuse that power. If the president is the most powerful official in the U.S. government, who is second? The House speaker? Neither he nor any Senate leader can do anything without a majority and agreement from the other chamber, the president or both. The chief justice?

  • 1 month ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    The Oval Office, like a judge’s chambers, is off-limits to the other government branches. ‘It’s a huge victory for both the AP and the free press,” Axios’s Sara Fischer wrote of the preliminary injunction Judge Trevor McFadden issued Tuesday in Associated Press v. Budowich. But the victory may prove fleeting—Judge McFadden stayed his order until Sunday to allow for an appeal—and there’s less to it than meets the eye.

  • 1 month ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    Mr. Trump can cement his civil-rights legacy by enlisting the most fearsome agency of the U.S. government: the Internal Revenue Service. In the process, he can help the Supreme Court clean up a messy bit of jurisprudence from the Burger era: Bob Jones University v. U.S. (1983).

  • 1 month ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    Nobody ever accused Donald Trump of being high-minded, and I decline the opportunity to be the first to do so. But many of his early second-term actions serve an elevated purpose: restoring constitutional integrity and democratic accountability to the U.S. government. In this effort Mr. Trump is working in resonance, although not in concert, with Chief Justice John Roberts.

  • 2 months ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    It’s Trump 1, Associated Press 0. On Monday Judge Trevor McFadden rejected the wire service’s petition for an order compelling the White House to readmit AP reporters to the Oval Office and Air Force One. Officials withdrew that access over the AP’s refusal to fall in line with the new official name “Gulf of America” and over other, more substantial complaints about bias and dishonesty in the influential AP Stylebook. The case isn’t over, and another hearing is set for March 20.

Try JournoFinder For Free

Search and contact over 1M+ journalist profiles, browse 100M+ articles, and unlock powerful PR tools.

Start Your 7-Day Free Trial →

X (formerly Twitter)

Followers
60K
Tweets
51K
DMs Open
Yes
James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
3 May 25

Yikes! There's a VIRUS?? https://t.co/JcWQ9IZp7Y

James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
29 Apr 25

This reminds me of the early Obama administration's claims about the number of jobs "saved or created."

Attorney General Pamela Bondi
Attorney General Pamela Bondi @AGPamBondi

Today is Fentanyl Awareness day. In President Trump’s first 100 days we’ve seized over 22 million fentanyl laced pills, saving over 119 Million lives. We are fighting relentlessly for the families of loved ones lost, for those whose lives are at risk, and for the soul of our https://t.co/nQLnN0nipn

James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
18 Apr 25

With DNC in mind...

Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel @RahmEmanuel

Real talk. We got ourselves into a cultural cul-de-sac.  We weren’t good on kitchen table issues or the family room. The only place we did well in the house was the bathroom. That’s the smallest room in the house. https://t.co/gqPcWwHCQB