Executive Functions Chat

Bob and Jack discuss the latest developments across three ongoing issues in Trump’s second term: use of the pardon power, unresolved transparency disputes, and the administration’s campaign against major law firms. They examine the political dynamics at play behind a recent series of pardons, promised disclosures related to the Epstein files and the Sept. 2 boat strikes, and how executive orders targeting major law firms, though repeatedly struck down, continue to create uncertainty and pressure within the legal profession. Get full access to Executive Functions at www.execfunctions.org/subscribe

Jack talks with University of Minnesota Law School professor Alan Z. Rozenshtein about how artificial intelligence could reshape the modern presidency by easing bureaucratic limits that have traditionally constrained presidential control. Building on Rozenshtein’s lecture, The Unitary Artificial Executive, they discuss how automated decision systems might function as a presidential “oracle” across the administrative state. The conversation examines how, and to what extent, AI could centralize power throughout agencies, reduce the role of human deliberation, and alter traditional principal–agent relationships inside government.Mentioned:“The Unitary Artificial Executive” by Alan Z. Rozenshtein (Lawfare, Oct. 30, 2025) Get full access to Executive Functions at www.execfunctions.org/subscribe

Bob talks with historian Walter Stahr about William Howard Taft’s model of the presidency. The conversation covers Taft’s remarkably varied career across the executive and judicial branches, his differences with Theodore Roosevelt over the scope of executive power, his stance on war powers, and the significance of his post-presidential writing on executive authority and responsibility. Mentioned:Walter Stahr, Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary (2017)William Howard Taft, Our Chief Magistrate and Its Powers (1916)Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography (1913) Get full access to Executive Functions at www.execfunctions.org/subscribe

Jack talks with Columbia Law professor David Pozen about Pozen's recent Boston Review essay with Jedediah Britton-Purdy, “What Are We Living Through?” They discuss three competing ways of understanding the Trump administration—authoritarian rupture, continuity with long-running dysfunction, and a transition to a new constitutional regime. The conversation explores whether all three can be true, what kind of damage may be irreversible, and what rebuilding might look like after Trump.Mentioned:“What Are We Living Through?” by David Pozen & Jedediah Britton-Purdy (Boston Review, Oct. 15, 2025)“Hardball and/as Anti-Hardball” by David Pozen (Lawfare, Oct. 11, 2018) Get full access to Executive Functions at www.execfunctions.org/subscribe

Bob and Jack discuss recent reports of internal rifts at the Department of Justice, the loyalty pressures shaping the Trump administration, and whether constitutional reform is needed to curb the spiral of politicized prosecutions. Mentioned:The Imperial Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr“Part Enabler, Part Bluffer: The Bind of the Justice Department’s No. 2” by Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer (NYT)“How Should a DOJ Political Appointee Think About a Trump-Weaponized DOJ?” by Jack Goldsmith (Executive Functions) Get full access to Executive Functions at www.execfunctions.org/subscribe