Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by David Super
Would a new president end Russia’s war on Ukraine? Original
President Trump has dramatically reversed U.S. policy toward Ukraine. Just weeks after signing the sweeping Russian sanctions legislation crafted by the late Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C), he cancelled those sanctions. He also cancelled other sanctions that have been in place since Russia invaded in 2022, exceeding his legal authority. He announced a murky and likely only symbolic deal to buy Russian diesel fuel.
The Administration’s Hagiographic Advertisements
Many people are discussing the Administration’s spending taxpayer funds to run partisan advertisements glorifying President Trump less than two months before a crucial election.Most media coverage on this episode has been decent as far as it goes, but it has missed a few points that seem worth pointing out.
The Administration’s Hagiographic Advertisements
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
More Fiscal Mismanagement
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Lost Art of the Deal
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Groundhog Day Tariffs and the Problem of Executive Discretion
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Presidential Accountability and the Twenty-Second Amendment: A Little Math
Note:Having just spent the morning writing a short essay about the Twenty-Second Amendment, I was dismayed to find that Jeffrey Gordon had just posted a much more thoughtful piece on the same subject.Accordingly, I have cut away the parts of mine that seem duplicative of his.But I did approach the problem quantitatively and so am posting a stripped down version to make that analysis available. * ** In Slaughter v.
Presidential Accountability and the Twenty-Second Amendment: A Little Math
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Fiscal Floundering
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Congress rejected some of Trump’s proposed budget cuts. OMB is making them anyway. Original
For centuries, kings embroiled England in numerous wars on the European continent, largely without consulting Parliament in advance. Monarchs could do this because they alone had the power both to command the armies and to pay them. This bitter experience convinced our nation’s Founders of the importance of giving Congress, not the president, the power of the purse.
The State of the Article V Convention Battle
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
A Stronger or Weaker Federal Administration?
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Power of the Purse V: How Transformations at the National Level Threaten Federalism
In four recent posts, I explained how President Trump is seizing large parts of the Power of the Purse from Congress and how this has led to restructuring within Congress, the Executive Branch, and the courts.In general, those in each branch adept at bipartisan problem-solving have been sidelined in favor of those that are either hyperpartisan themselves or at least unwilling to moderate the President’s hyperpartisanship.In this final post in this series, I examine how the new, presidentially...
How Transformations at the National Level Threaten Federalism
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Redistributing Power among the Courts
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Shifts in Power within the Executive Branch
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Shifts in Power within Congress
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Power of the Purse I: Inter-Branch Transformations
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
A Ballroom Too Far: Republicans’ Procedural Blunders
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Is the New “Weaponization” Compensation Fund Lawful?
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Presidential Appropriations
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Hard Choices on War Funding
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
An Article V Convention Would Supercharge Project 2025
Several groups affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have been waging a well-funded campaign to call a convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to amend our Constitution. The Heritage Foundation, the prime force driving Project 2025, has strongly endorsed the effort to call an Article V convention.
Trump Minnesota Jabs Won’t Reduce Fraud But Will Sap State Power Original
The State of Minnesota sued the Trump administration this week for cutting off its Medicaid funding and alleging rampant fraud. This continues the administration’s campaign to paint Minnesota’s government as indifferent to fraud in its human services programs. Administration officials have tweeted out a series of angry letters to Minnesota officials making vague accusations and extravagant demands. These largely redundant letters contort the facts and misrepresent the law.
A Different Approach to War Powers Regulation
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
New and Improved Government Shutdowns
The news about the Department of Homeland Security’s war on peaceful communities and the craven politicization of the Department of Justice keeps getting worse.Congressional Democrats, however, are getting much better at strategic pushback.This post dissects what has happened, with particular attention to its lessons concerning leadership, negotiation, and unity.
New and Improved Government Shutdowns
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Homage to the Once and Future Government Shutdown
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Reckless breaches of contract will not make America great Original
We have long been told that government should be run more like a business. Government, of course, is not literally a business: it has responsibilities to the nation as a whole rather than just some stockholders. Still, we all gain if sound management practices from the business world can allow the government to better serve the people. Unsurprisingly, President Trump has emphasized making deals. His tariffs have often served as jumping-off points for deals with our trading partners and industry.
The Perils of Superficial Political Analysis
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
What the Administration’s SNAP Freeze Teaches Us
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Trump administration drags its feet on SNAP benefits after court ruling Original
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps 42 million Americans obtain enough food each month, is currently not issuing benefits. Each day, more and more low-income families pass the one-month mark since they last received assistance and risk running out of food. This appalling state of affairs in one of the world’s richest countries is made all the worse because it is completely unnecessary.
CQ Researcher - SNAP Overhaul
SNAP Overhaul Will new program requirements worsen hunger? A food delivery from La Colaborativa, a nonprofit that provides services to Latino immigrants, is made to a public housing unit in Chelsea, Mass., on Nov. 13, 2025, just one day after the longest government shutdown in history came to an end. (AFP/Getty Images/Joseph Prezioso) On January 1, many recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps, lost their benefits.
Opinion | The White House is holding SNAP funding hostage. That's cruel – and illegal. Original
After weeks of saying that it would tap congressionally appropriated contingency funds to provide food assistance for low-income families in November, the Trump administration abruptly reversed course last week. Now, the administration asserts it is somehow not permitted to spend contingency funds in this way and has no choice but to cut off food assistance starting this weekend. These claims do not bear even the most cursory examination.
The Administration’s Shutdown of SNAP is Obviously Illegal
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Legality of the Friday Night Massacre
Late Friday, the Trump Administration reportedly fired four thousand federal employees.Details remain sparse at this writing, which is a problem in its own right.Nonetheless, it appears that, among other things, the Administration gutted the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and eliminated the Office of Special Education.It also reportedly devastated the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.The CDFI Fund is notable as one of the few programs for which...
The Government Shutdown and the Filibuster
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Shutdown, You’d Better Take Care
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The Administration’s Self-Created Inability to Make a Deal
Skip to content
The Administration’s Self-Created Inability to Make a Deal
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
The State of Impoundment Litigation Now
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Compound Interest
Last week, President Trump purported to fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board, Dr. Lisa Cook. And although he appointed Jerome Powell Chairman of the Federal Reserve during his first term, Trump has since directed constant scorn at Powell and repeatedly threatened to remove him as well. This controversy forms part of Trump’s broader effort to assert sweeping control over the executive branch. It also reveals his particular interest in loosening U.S. monetary policy.
Where Impoundment Litigation Stands after NIH v. APHA
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
On August 13, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed down an opinion on President Trump’s impoundment of foreign assistance funds.This case is significant because it is the first one squarely raising the legality of impoundments per se, as opposed to deficient reasons for impoundment, to reach an appellate court.Unfortunately, the case arrived in a rather confused posture, and the panel’s opinion added considerably to that confusion.Because this case...
The D.C. Circuit’s Tangled Impoundment Decision
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
COMMENTARY: Even Clarence Thomas agreed Trump money moves are illegal | Jefferson City News-Tribune
Having prevailed in mid-July on party-line congressional votes to slash foreign assistance and zero-out public broadcasting, senior Trump administration officials immediately signaled intent to seek still more "rescissions" of money already appropriated for the current fiscal year. Even more provocatively, they are discussing plans to engage in the cuts by flagrantly sidestepping Congress.
Commentary: Even Clarence Thomas agreed these kinds of Trump money moves are illegal
Having prevailed in mid-July on party-line congressional votes to slash foreign assistance and zero-out public broadcasting, senior Trump administration officials immediately signaled intent to seek still more “rescissions” of money already appropriated for the current fiscal year. Even more provocatively, they are discussing plans to engage in the cuts by flagrantly sidestepping Congress.
Commentary: Even Clarence Thomas agreed these kinds of Trump money moves are illegal
Having prevailed in mid-July on party-line congressional votes to slash foreign assistance and zero-out public broadcasting, senior Trump administration officials immediately signaled intent to seek still more "rescissions" of money already appropriated for the current fiscal year. Even more provocatively, they are discussing plans to engage in the cuts by flagrantly sidestepping Congress.
Commentary: Even Clarence Thomas agreed these kinds of Trump money moves are illegal
State AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyomingPuerto RicoUS Virgin IslandsArmed Forces AmericasArmed...
Patterns in Slashing Food Assistance
Front page Balkin.com Balkinization an unanticipated consequence of Jack M.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with David
Contact David, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack