Josh Chafetz
@joshchafetz.bsky.social
Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Politics, Georgetown Law: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/josh-chafetz/
Author, most recently, of _Congress's Constitution_: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/
Author, most recently, of _Congress's Constitution_: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/
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Josh Chafetz
@joshchafetz.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers: Chafetz, Josh: 9780300248333: Amazon.com: Books
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers [Chafetz, Josh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
www.amazon.com
Hi new followers!
If you happen to be interested in the separation of powers, Congress, government shutdowns, contempt of Congress, the filibuster, and more, have I got the book for you! www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/
If you happen to be interested in the separation of powers, Congress, government shutdowns, contempt of Congress, the filibuster, and more, have I got the book for you! www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/
to be in high school then, and then in college when The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill came out …
Ah, children, we will not see such times again
Ah, children, we will not see such times again
The Billboard Modern Rock tracks from 30 years ago
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
January 5, 2026 at 2:20 AM
to be in high school then, and then in college when The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill came out …
Ah, children, we will not see such times again
Ah, children, we will not see such times again
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
TIL people who do Pilates don’t like it when you insist that it was invented by Pontius Pilate.
January 4, 2026 at 9:45 PM
TIL people who do Pilates don’t like it when you insist that it was invented by Pontius Pilate.
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Seventeenth-century English court hairdos, but make it hound
January 4, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Seventeenth-century English court hairdos, but make it hound
Seventeenth-century English court hairdos, but make it hound
January 4, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Seventeenth-century English court hairdos, but make it hound
TIL people who do Pilates don’t like it when you insist that it was invented by Pontius Pilate.
January 4, 2026 at 9:45 PM
TIL people who do Pilates don’t like it when you insist that it was invented by Pontius Pilate.
Pro tip for law students: you can substitute almost any judicial doctrine for “fair use” and the sentence below will still work!
Exam quote of the day: "fair use is like asking your parents for money: they’ll give it to you as long as they agree with how you’ll use it."
January 4, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Pro tip for law students: you can substitute almost any judicial doctrine for “fair use” and the sentence below will still work!
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
There's significant evidence from state legislative term limits that they do, in fact, empower both lobbyists and state executive branches.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
I disagree with the suggestion that term limits would further empower lobbyists and therefore we shouldn't consider them as a viable path forward. The current system of federal elected officials who are financially incentivized to become insider traders until they choose to retire isn't working.
January 4, 2026 at 1:56 PM
There's significant evidence from state legislative term limits that they do, in fact, empower both lobbyists and state executive branches.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
You wanna read a new (hopefully improved, thanks to very helpful comments from a bunch of very smart colleagues) version of paper called "The Political Economy of Shitcoins"? Of course you do. @tompepinsky.com & I are at your service.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
January 2, 2026 at 5:54 PM
You wanna read a new (hopefully improved, thanks to very helpful comments from a bunch of very smart colleagues) version of paper called "The Political Economy of Shitcoins"? Of course you do. @tompepinsky.com & I are at your service.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
oh shit tomorrow is circle back day already
January 4, 2026 at 4:12 PM
oh shit tomorrow is circle back day already
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
If I may self-promote, term limits aren't even very good at their immediate stated goal of forcing officeholders out of government - those officeholders just find other offices to run for!
www.jstor.org/stable/41289...
www.jstor.org/stable/41289...
Term Limits' Multiple Effects on State Legislators' Career Decisions on JSTOR
Jeffrey Lazarus, Term Limits' Multiple Effects on State Legislators' Career Decisions, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 4, The Impacts of State Legislative Term Limits (WINTER 2006), pp....
www.jstor.org
January 4, 2026 at 4:28 PM
If I may self-promote, term limits aren't even very good at their immediate stated goal of forcing officeholders out of government - those officeholders just find other offices to run for!
www.jstor.org/stable/41289...
www.jstor.org/stable/41289...
"I always retain optionality on anything and on all of these matters!" I shout while overturning chairs in a Wendy's because they won't make me a Big Mac
BRENNAN: To be clear, there is no plan for US occupation of this country of nearly 30 million people?
MARCO RUBIO: The president always retains optionality on anything and on all of these matters
MARCO RUBIO: The president always retains optionality on anything and on all of these matters
January 4, 2026 at 4:28 PM
"I always retain optionality on anything and on all of these matters!" I shout while overturning chairs in a Wendy's because they won't make me a Big Mac
Folks, before claiming that someone has not provided any evidence to support what they're saying, maybe check to see if you're replying to the first post of a thread and the evidence comes later in the thread?
January 4, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Folks, before claiming that someone has not provided any evidence to support what they're saying, maybe check to see if you're replying to the first post of a thread and the evidence comes later in the thread?
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Jack writes--correctly--that the military abduction and extraction of Maduro "pretty clearly isn’t" legal. It plainly violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which is the supreme law of the United States (per Art. VI of the Constitution) and, as I've explained elsewhere, ... [1]
January 4, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Jack writes--correctly--that the military abduction and extraction of Maduro "pretty clearly isn’t" legal. It plainly violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which is the supreme law of the United States (per Art. VI of the Constitution) and, as I've explained elsewhere, ... [1]
Thanks so much, @kalimurray.bsky.social!
BTW, I know Amazon is out of paperback copies of my book. I have it on good authority that @yalepress.bsky.social will be printing more copies this month ...
BTW, I know Amazon is out of paperback copies of my book. I have it on good authority that @yalepress.bsky.social will be printing more copies this month ...
The task is this: we are in trench warfare to reassert Congressional dominance. Every tool must be used, even the tools of the minority. The reading that changed my view on this was @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s Congress’s Constitution, www.amazon.com/Congresss-Co....
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers [Chafetz, Josh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
www.amazon.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Thanks so much, @kalimurray.bsky.social!
BTW, I know Amazon is out of paperback copies of my book. I have it on good authority that @yalepress.bsky.social will be printing more copies this month ...
BTW, I know Amazon is out of paperback copies of my book. I have it on good authority that @yalepress.bsky.social will be printing more copies this month ...
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Hey lobbyist here...in a state with term limits...it does empower lobbyists...:)
There's significant evidence from state legislative term limits that they do, in fact, empower both lobbyists and state executive branches.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
I disagree with the suggestion that term limits would further empower lobbyists and therefore we shouldn't consider them as a viable path forward. The current system of federal elected officials who are financially incentivized to become insider traders until they choose to retire isn't working.
January 4, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Hey lobbyist here...in a state with term limits...it does empower lobbyists...:)
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
The task is this: we are in trench warfare to reassert Congressional dominance. Every tool must be used, even the tools of the minority. The reading that changed my view on this was @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s Congress’s Constitution, www.amazon.com/Congresss-Co....
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers [Chafetz, Josh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers
www.amazon.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:19 PM
The task is this: we are in trench warfare to reassert Congressional dominance. Every tool must be used, even the tools of the minority. The reading that changed my view on this was @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s Congress’s Constitution, www.amazon.com/Congresss-Co....
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
If you’re a “listen to the overwhelming consensus of people who study things” person, you cannot assert without evidence that legislative term limits work.
January 4, 2026 at 2:20 PM
If you’re a “listen to the overwhelming consensus of people who study things” person, you cannot assert without evidence that legislative term limits work.
There's significant evidence from state legislative term limits that they do, in fact, empower both lobbyists and state executive branches.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
I disagree with the suggestion that term limits would further empower lobbyists and therefore we shouldn't consider them as a viable path forward. The current system of federal elected officials who are financially incentivized to become insider traders until they choose to retire isn't working.
January 4, 2026 at 1:56 PM
There's significant evidence from state legislative term limits that they do, in fact, empower both lobbyists and state executive branches.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
"Disagreeing" without offering any counter-evidence is just vibes.
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
FWIW, I would expect estimates of support for "send troops to remove Maduro" and "Use Military Force to Overthrow Maduro" to rise a little in the next week, as Republican support (which is only in the mid to high 50s) rises following partisan cue-taking, but for it to remain net-negative
Polls conducted in late 2025 show that most Americans, by a 25-50 point margin (depending on question wording), oppose the use of military force against Venezuela.
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/americans-...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/americans-...
January 4, 2026 at 1:54 PM
FWIW, I would expect estimates of support for "send troops to remove Maduro" and "Use Military Force to Overthrow Maduro" to rise a little in the next week, as Republican support (which is only in the mid to high 50s) rises following partisan cue-taking, but for it to remain net-negative
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Time to reup the real National Security Strategy:
a man and woman are sitting next to each other in a church .
ALT: a man and woman are sitting next to each other in a church .
media.tenor.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Time to reup the real National Security Strategy:
Must-read interview with the great @oonahathaway.bsky.social
January 3, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Must-read interview with the great @oonahathaway.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
This please. What matters from Dems right now is choosing the correct side, which almost all are doing, not the quality of their statements. (Also there's a range from pretty good and inept; marinating in the worst ones rather than amplifying the good ones is a choice.)
it is both true that dem leadership statements suck and also true that if you are vomiting in anger over them are you are very definitely reacting to the wrong thing right now.
January 3, 2026 at 10:13 PM
This please. What matters from Dems right now is choosing the correct side, which almost all are doing, not the quality of their statements. (Also there's a range from pretty good and inept; marinating in the worst ones rather than amplifying the good ones is a choice.)
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Some thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address.
First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.
1/
First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.
1/
January 3, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Some thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address.
First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.
1/
First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it.
1/
Reposted by Josh Chafetz
Here’s a brief excerpt on the Panama precedent I recently wrote on the topic as part of a broader symposium on recognition for @ajil.bsky.social.
Note the quote from the then-legal adviser on why consent wouldn’t have been sufficient absent effective control.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Note the quote from the then-legal adviser on why consent wouldn’t have been sufficient absent effective control.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
January 3, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Here’s a brief excerpt on the Panama precedent I recently wrote on the topic as part of a broader symposium on recognition for @ajil.bsky.social.
Note the quote from the then-legal adviser on why consent wouldn’t have been sufficient absent effective control.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Note the quote from the then-legal adviser on why consent wouldn’t have been sufficient absent effective control.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Seems to me that the most parallel recentish US action would be the 1989 invasion of Panama, no?
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Seems to me that the most parallel recentish US action would be the 1989 invasion of Panama, no?