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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. 'Aged to perfection with just the right amount of bite.'--ChatGPT

Articles

  • 1 month ago | wsj.com | James Taranto

    An acknowledgment of his inability in a second term would have brought a real constitutional crisis. Every time Donald Trump is president, we hear histrionic blather about a “constitutional crisis.” If Joe Biden had ducked last year’s debates and gone on to beat Mr. Trump in November, we would be facing a real constitutional crisis about now. To understand why, read the 25th Amendment. Ratified in 1967, it clarified the rules of presidential and vice-presidential succession and disability.

  • 1 month 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?

  • 2 months 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.

  • Mar 24, 2025 | 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).

  • Mar 21, 2025 | 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.

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James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
11 Jun 25

1,000 letters is around 200 words. May we all achieve such brevity.

Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren

I just met with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and I gave her over 1,000 letters from people across the country who are worried about what she's doing to the Department of Education. https://t.co/8MiGSGKMlp

James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
9 Jun 25

I saw at least 3 tweets from FIRE guys making the same claim about "jawboning"--including the one from the boss, to which I originally responded--so I assumed it was an institutional position. In any case, I doubt you're going to get into trouble and I'll back you if you do.

Ari Cohn
Ari Cohn @AriCohn

@jamestaranto @TheFIREorg Biden first said it on the campaign trail. He also said Zuck should face criminal penalties which is even worse (also included in the litany)! Curious why you tagged FIRE. Do you think you're going to get me in trouble for having the temerity to disagree with you? Weird look.

James Taranto
James Taranto @jamestaranto
9 Jun 25

Wondering who @TheFIREorg regarded as president in July 2021.

Ari Cohn
Ari Cohn @AriCohn

And I seem to recall many (including WSJ's Ed Board) including Biden's (who wasn't even president at the time!) statement that Facebook was "killing people" in the litany of jawboning allegations. But now public statements mean it's not jawboning? Hmm... https://t.co/xm93bY5AiV