Snapshot · Pod Save America
The Supreme Court carved out a special exception for the Federal Reserve from its new unitary executive theory, illustrating the theory's catastrophic implications for the global economy.
Where this was said
At 45:50 · chapter starts 44:00
Two pending cases test the limits of presidential removal power. The first asks whether the president can fire commissioners of independent multi-member agencies — the FTC, SEC, EEOC, NLRB — despite a nearly century-old precedent (Humphrey's Executor) limiting that power. The Supreme Court already signaled it would adopt the unitary executive theory, but carved out a bespoke exception for the Federal Reserve because applying the theory there would allow the president to blow up the global economy [1] — Leah Litman "The Supreme Court adopted the unitary executive theory giving Trump sweeping power to fire agency heads — then added a bespoke carve-out fo…" 45:00 . Trump immediately tested the exception by attempting to fire a Fed governor. The second case (the Lisa Cook case) asks whether Trump violated the existing statutory limits on firing Fed governors — a narrower question than the sweeping agency one. Leah emphasizes that if the larger case goes against independent agencies, it gives the president power to install loyalists at the FTC, SEC, and beyond — using regulatory power to reward friends and punish enemies.
The Supreme Court adopted the unitary executive theory giving Trump sweeping power to fire agency heads — then added a bespoke carve-out for the Federal Reserve because otherwise the president could blow up the global economy. Trump immediately tried to fire a Fed governor anyway.
Leah Litman expects the six Republican-appointed justices to uphold state bans on trans athletes, but the real danger is a ruling that Title IX not only permits but requires such bans — or an equal protection holding stripping trans people of meaningful judicial scrutiny in any context.
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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