Law and Chaos Ep 209 — Gorsuch, Gummies, and Government Lies About Iran
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Trump administration is tapping out on the lawsuits defending executive orders attacking law firms. Too bad, so sad for the Vichy law firms that pledged a billion dollars in “conservative pro bono” work.
Justice Gorsuch says we can’t take guns away from drug users because the Founders were drunk all the time.
The Federal Circuit declines a request by the Trump administration to delay tariff refunds.
Kansas’s revocation of trans citizens’ drivers licenses draws its first court challenge.
And Virginia’s redistricting referendum can go ahead.
MAIN SHOW:
We discuss the history of the president’s power to commence hostilities and explain why Trump and his goons are so deeply invested in claiming that the war in Iran — which isn’t a war at all! — was defensive, not offensive. Plus Andrew’s got a deep dive into the War Powers Resolution and how it might bring about an end to this nightmare.
We’ve got clips from 60 Minutes’s very good story on the danger federal judges face when they go against the Trump administration.
Judges in the Western District of West Virginia join the list of jurisdictions telling DHS/DOJ that contempt charges are coming if they keep relying on crackpot legal theories to kidnap residents.
Judge John Tunheim issues class relief to refugees in Minnesota, barring DHS from interning them for recertification.
And for subscribers: a discussion of the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution.
Trump Administration to Drop Defense of Law Firm Sanctions
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-administration-to-drop-defense-of-law-firm-sanctions-cb839c39
US v. Hemani Oral Argument
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/24-1234
V.O.S. Selections [Tariff mandate]
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cafc.23105/gov.uscourts.cafc.23105.173.0_2.pdf
Doe v. Kansas [Trans drivers’ licenses]
https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/02/Complaint-1.pdf
Virginia redistricting election can move forward, court rules
Federal judges who've ruled against Trump administration denounce threats against themselves, their families
Judges in a Trump stronghold condemn ICE tactics
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/01/west-virginia-immigration-rulings-00804575
Dominguez Izaguirre v. Mason [West Virginia Habeas]
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wvsd.243036/gov.uscourts.wvsd.243036.18.0.pdf
War Powers Resolution, 50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/chapter-33
“Trump Can’t Declare War On Iran (or Anyone)” [lawandchaospod.com]
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/trump-cant-declare-war-on-iran-or
Liz’s YouTube video for Legal Eagle, “The Largest Bribe in American History”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE2pm3omzMI&t=3s
Nat’l Treasury Employees’ Union v. Nixon, 492 F.2d 587 (D.C. Cir. 1974)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4156385560315482496
INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2221871582286121199
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