The Power Line Show, Ep. 107: Is “New Originalism” an Oxymoron?

Constitutional originalism is the cornerstone of conservative jurisprudence today, but there are several rival versions of originalism, and sometimes you even hear about the “new” originalism, which sounds more like an old Spinal Tap joke.

This week I caught up briefly (very briefly—we both had airplanes to catch) with John Eastman, the Salvatori Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law and senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, to talk over how to think about originalism, and also the hot button issue of the moment—whether President Trump has the executive power to go around Congress to get a border wall built, and also who Trump should pick next for the Supreme Court if a vacancy comes up soon. This week’s episode is only 24 minutes long, since I’m on the road, so easy to take in. Maybe we’ll do a longer sequel at some point and get further into the details of this subject.

Closing bumper track this week is “Hollywood” by Spafford.

As always, listen here, or download the episode from our partners at Ricochet.

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