Supreme Court advances 'kooky theory' devoid of 'constitutional grounding': legal expert

[turbinetree]

Written by Alex Henderson January 02, 2026 | 09:01AM ET

Within in the MAGA movement, a far-right legal doctrine known as the Unitary Executive Theory has become increasingly prominent. The theory claims that U.S. presidents have sole authority over the federal government's executive branch, and its critics argue that it ignores the checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution.

One of those critics is Simon Lazarus, who was a domestic policy adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s but has spent most of his career working for Washington, D.C. law firms.

In an article published by The New Republic on January 2, Lazarus is highly critical of the Unitary Executive Theory and the U.S. Supreme Court — which, he argues, is helping to advance an idea that has no "grounding" in the U.S. Constitution.

https://www.alternet.org/unitary-executive-scotus/

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Yup. We know.

This kind of twisted thinking can be sifted out if only we could remove a judge from the bench for committing perjury during their Constitutional hearing.

[turbinetree]

2. I can name 6 right off the top of my head...............everyone of them said that they would follow precedent and then

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2026, 09:05 PM - Edit history (1)

after getting in and just throw it out the window............and what really classic two of them were accused of sexual malfeasance and they still get on the bench.........if I had lied on my AOA access application for the airlines that I worked for at the airport which is federal property I would have been hauled off to jail..........unfrickin believable.....................

[modrepub]

3. Strong Executive Branch

Only when it's held by Republicans. Democratic Presidents, not so much.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. I took Con Law a long time ago and they did not discuss the unitary executive theory

I have an early edition of Tribe on Con Law and will check if Tribe mentioned this theory

[turbinetree]

5. Thank you for the information...........

[valleyrogue]

6. "Unitary executive" is just a fancy word for dictator.

The far right always has to put fancy words in place of factual words.

[Wounded Bear]

7. From the same people who gave us "expanded interrogation tactics" in lieu of torture...nt

[MLWR]

8. I can't think of one "decision" they've made, starting in 2000 (Bush v Gore) that had "constitutional grounding."

[Roy Rolling]

9. Corporatespeak

It’s corporate jargon for a single owner business.

Ironically, corporations are formed to be the opposite of an individual, but be governed by a democratic board of directors,

[Loki]

10. In other words,

A strong Executive Branch not answerable to any other equal branch is a king. We fought a war over that one.

[mountain grammy]

11. The Roberts court stopped Biden from forgiving student loans

Based on a “major question doctrine” something that never existed. They’re making it up as they go along.

[UTUSN]

12. K&R - they don't care about "kooky" just what cliche ("advance the ball") will paper over