Executive Power in a Time of Political Dysfunction?

In his 2014 State of the Union speech, President Obama declared: "... [W]herever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do." The scope of executive authority, whether in the face of congressional obstruction or presidential assertions of power, has been continually called into question in recent years. From the controversy over raising the debt limit to the Supreme Court's review of the President's recess appointment powers, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and decisions about foreign military intervention, these questions continue to surface and how they are answered will have tremendous impact on how our government does—or does not—function. This panel addressed the shifting nature of the executive-legislative relationship in a time of gridlock in Washington. 

 

Speakers:

 

Steven G. Bradbury, Partner, Dechert LLP

Michael Gottlieb, Partner, Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP

Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor, Slate

Gillian Metzger, Vice Dean and Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Constitutional Governance, Columbia Law School

Ronald Weich, Dean, University of Baltimore School of Law