dfarber1950.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

"The appointments clause is a critical safeguard of the role of Congress in our system of checks and balances...The appointments clause is, in other words, the constitutional enemy of the exact type of unchecked power Musk is trying to exert."

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

The Edley Center for Law & Democracy is searching for an Executive Director. This is a great position for a lawyer who wants to make a different in the fight to preserve U.S. democracy. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04751

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Just goes to show that it's an ill-wind that blows nobody any good. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

New: DOGE's spending has been secret. No longer. My colleagues have uncovered it. www.propublica.org/article/doge...

submitted 3 days ago • 861 comments

Elon Musk's appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, which was designed to limit just this kind of irresponsible cronyism. Here is why, in a piece by my colleague Jon Gould and me. slate.com/news-and-pol...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

It's hard to keep track of Trump's anti-environmental moves in all the chaos, but here are the biggest areas to watch, and ways of resisting his efforts. legal-planet.org/2025/02/20/t...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Would elimination of civil service protection increase government efficiency? Probably not. @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/02/10/t...

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Trump has found a possible way to end run California’s legal arguments for the waiver. But there’s no reason to give up, writes @dfarber1950.bsky.social legal-planet.org/2025/02/17/t...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

"The Commission system has given these areas of the law some degree of stability, so the rules don't completely flip after every election," Prof @dfarber1950.bsky.social said. "That would change under Trump's order." Via @npr.org www.npr.org/2025/02/19/n...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

What are the limits of Trump's authority? What happens if he crosses those lines? Here's what you need to know in a 15 minute podcast. youtu.be/YoR-HL2Ij60

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Trump has come up with a clever ploy to eliminate California's "clean car" rules. It may well work, but it's not a done deal. And if it does work, California can try an end-run of its own later. legal-planet.org/2025/02/17/t...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

I dug into the only US source cited by Randy Barnett & Ilan Wurman for their theory - against birthright citizenship - in @nytimes @nytopinion: Edward Bates in 1862. He doubly contradicted their argument: "Birthright Citizenship: The Bates Backfire" shugerblogcom.wordpress.com/2025/02/16/b...

submitted 7 days ago • 23 comments

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., calls for a rare hearing on a holiday in case against Musk's DOGE. Around 20 lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts challenging Musk's authority. www.reuters.com/legal/judge-...

submitted 6 days ago • 9 comments

Here are the men Trump picked to run his environment and energy agencies. They actually aren't quite as bad as his picks last time -- admittedly, a very low bar. But they may not have much power to set policy. legal-planet.org/2025/02/17/t...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

This is shocking, even in the context of the other terrible moves by the Administration.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

On Friday night, HHS ordered CDC to take down all flu vaccine campaign materials from its website. Materials are starting to come down. For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now Meanwhile...

submitted 7 days ago • 479 comments

The Inflation Reduction Act was a breakthrough in climate policy, leading to billions of dollars of infrastructure investment and thousands of new jobs in clean energy industries. Trump can huff and he can puff, but he can't blow that infrastructure down. legal-planet.org/2025/02/14/w...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

With me as moderator, an all-star panel -- Eric Biber, Holly Doremus, and Sharon Jacobs -- analyzes how Trump's actions to date will impact environmental law and energy policy. youtu.be/gZ7x3FvoxiU

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

The American Bar Association has just called upon every attorney, regardless of their political views, to join them & stand up for the rule of law & at minimum insist that our government "follow the law." Every lawyer has an ethical responsibility to do so. www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

submitted 13 days ago • 207 comments

Court orders Musk out of the Treasury computer payment systems until it can sort out whether the DOGE is a legal government entity.

submitted 17 days ago • 328 comments

Trump's "flood the zone" approach is a great tactic but it may not be a great strategy over the longer run for political, legal, and administrative reasons. There's such a thing as flooding your own zone. legal-planet.org/2025/02/06/p...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Guess what percent of govt spending is administered by USAID, the agency Musk says must close in the name of govt efficiency: 0.006%. And yet the good the agency does—from fighting child starvation to preventing terrorism is a pretty good deal. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Besides being economically harmful and destroying US relations with allies, Trump's tariffs are also a sneak attack on clean energy. It remains to be seen how much difference they will make. legal-planet.org/2025/02/01/t...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

So we all know what happens when you give some guy you don't really know unrestricted access to your computer system: nothing good.

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

The tariffs Trump imposed today will hinder adoption of clean technology: solar, wind, battery storage, EVs. Ironically, though, the tariffs were also opposed by the oil industry, which will experience higher costs. legal-planet.org/2025/02/01/t...

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

Trump is making an all-out effort to promote fossil fuels regardless of the environmental costs and squash clean energy regardless of the benefits. But state government's are not powerless. Here's their playbook for fighting back. legal-planet.org/2025/01/30/t...

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

This new article explains the interlocking feedback cycles that support the energy transition, including deployment, innovation, and politics. These help mean clean energy robust despite shifting political tides. journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cj...

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Trump is threatening to close FEMA and is using disaster aid as leverage to demand unrelated changes in state policy. Besides being bad policy, both are illegal. Some decisions by conservative Supreme Court Justices stand in his way. legal-planet.org/2025/01/27/d...

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Trump's orders are relying on much more on unitary executive theory than before. Career Senior Executive Service employees who received outstanding performance evaluations are being fired, with the only justification being "Title II of the Constitution." donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-will-t...

submitted 30 days ago • 27 comments

The one in which I talk on the radio about Trump's use of executive power and the threat of democratic backsliding: kpfa.org/episode/lett...

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

Here's my quick take on how Trump's actions will impact California's climate efforts. www.audacy.com/podcast/kcbs...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

Based on a specious and undefended legal claim, Trump has wiped out an environmental justice requirement going back to the Clinton Administration. It's a requirement Trump never questioned in his first term. legal-planet.org/2025/01/23/t...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

A sleeper part of one Executive Order calls for a complete transformation of the rules governing environmental impact statements. Guess what? Efficiency and speed will have "absolute priority" over environmental concerns in writing the new rules. legal-planet.org/2025/01/22/t...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

This is an updated post on Trump's executive orders yesterday that related to the environment. Many of them look more significant than they really are. legal-planet.org

submitted 33 days ago • 0 comments

Today's executive orders are great political theater, but the real world consequences in most cases will be modest and sometimes nonexistent. legal-planet.org/2025/01/20/s...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

Biden deserves to be remembered for his huge contributions to climate policy. The Inflation Reduction Act is one of the most momentous environmental laws in history, and its effects will be felt long after he leaves office. legal-planet.org/2025/01/16/j...

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

A leading expert in energy economics shares her views of the Inflation Reduction, its impact, and its prospects for survival. legal-planet.org/2025/01/15/t...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

DOGE wants to cut regulatory agencies, supposedly as a step toward their budget targets. The fiscal goal is just a smokescreen for deregulating. Eliminating EPA entirely would get them only 0.5% toward their goal. legal-planet.org/2025/01/13/c...

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Meredith Fowlie's great explanation of CA's energy affordability crisis in Energy Inst blog. It's mostly adaptation to what climate change is already doing to us, not carbon pricing or mitigation. Exception is overpayments for rooftop solar. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/01/13/c... #EnergySky

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Republicans have big plans to use the reconciliation process. It's a powerful procedure . But there are serious limits on its use to change substantive policies such as permitting requirements. Here's what you need to know. legal-planet.org/2025/01/09/g...

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

This is a webinar I gave for the University of Houson about the future of climate policy. I see the Inflation Reduction Act and related legislation as marking a shift from an intense focus on emission regulation to a promising new strategy: green industrial policy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwy5...

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Tesla's skyrocketing stock speaks volumes about a political process in which huge election spending can translate into enormously lucrative political influence. Musk is now worth about as much to Tesla as a Trump crony as a business leader. legal-planet.org/2025/01/06/t...

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

"Move fast and break things" could have been the motto of the first Trump Administration. It turned out not be a winning legal strategy. We'll see more of the same this time around, resulting in many judicial reversals of administrative actions. legal-planet.org/wp-admin/pos...

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Think you know about climate law? Here's a fun holiday quize to test your knowledge. legal-planet.org/2024/12/26/t...

submitted 58 days ago • 1 comment

As we end the year, coal has piled up at power plants because it's just not economically competitive to burn it. And renewable power exceeded coal generation for the first time in 2024. Good news for the climate, and good news for public health. legal-planet.org/2024/12/23/t...

submitted 62 days ago • 0 comments

Under Trump, states are going to be the center of climate policy. Here's a guide to what they can do and the legal issues they will confront. www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...

submitted 62 days ago • 0 comments

Wouldn't all of this be protected under speech or debate clause anyway?

submitted 65 days ago • 33 comments

At Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, we're working closely with California, other states, and international partners to move climate policy forward despite Trump. legal-planet.org/2024/12/19/y...

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

If you're thinking about yearend gifts, why not pencil in Berkeley's Edley Center for Law and Democracy? It's not about us, it's about protecting system of government we all cherish. edley-center-on-law-and-democracy

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

Judge Poser once said that every movement has its lunatic fringe, but that some movements ARE their lunatic fringes. Be that as it may, MAGA is bringing the lunatic fringe to corridors of power. yubanet.com/opinions/dan...

submitted 68 days ago • 1 comment