Supreme Court

DOJ: No, Obama Didn't Say Courts Can't Strike Down Laws

Brian Beutler and Sahil Kapur | April 5, 2012, 2:05PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder responded Thursday to a federal appeals court's request for a letter explaining President Obama's assertion that the Affordable Care Act must be upheld, a move that even some conservatives considered a bridge too far.

Holder reminded the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the president was making the point that the law jibes with longstanding precedent, but -- contrary to what the Republican-appointed judges suggested -- he wasn't challenging the judicial branch's authority to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.

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Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich: Targeted Killings 'An Assault On The Constitution'

Sahil Kapur | March 9, 2012, 5:38AM

Outgoing Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- who lost a brutal primary battle on Tuesday to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) -- vehemently criticized the Obama administration's program of targeted killings of US citizens abroad without due process, declaring it a "dangerous" violation of the Constitution that ought to meet resistance from Democrats and Republicans alike.

"Any assault on the Constitution ought to be challenged," Kucinich told TPM in a Thursday interview at his Capitol Hill office. "This is absolutely an assault on the Constitution."

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Gay Marriage

Obama Administration Wouldn't Defend Blocking Military Benefits From Same-Sex Couples

Ryan J. Reilly | February 17, 2012, 3:39PM

The Obama Justice Department has concluded that legislation banning same-sex couples from receiving military and veterans benefits violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and will no longer defend the statute in court, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders on Friday.

"The legislative record of these provisions contains no rationale for providing veterans' benefits to opposite-sex couples of veterans but not to legally married same-sex spouses of veterans," Holder wrote. "Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs identified any justifications for that distinction that would warrant treating these provisions differently from Section 3 of DOMA."

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Eric Holder

Holder: GOP Cuts To COPS Program 'Place This Nation At Risk'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 8, 2011, 12:26PM

House Republican's plan to kill the Justice Department's Community Orienting Policing Services (COPS) program is "unacceptable" and would "place this nation at risk," Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

"Though we are enjoying historically low crime rates, we have 30,000 vacant law enforcement positions in this county, we have lost 12,000 officers over the course of the last year, and we put at risk the possibility that these historically low rates will not remain there forever," Holder said in response to a question from Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

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Fast and Furious

Obama On 'Fast And Furious': Those Who 'Screwed Up' Will Pay For It

Susan Crabtree | October 18, 2011, 7:30PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama has pledged to make sure that Justice Department officials involved in a program allowing U.S. guns to cross illegally into Mexico pay a price for their role.

Obama told ABC News Tuesday that "people who have screwed up will be held accountable."

"Our overarching goal consistently has been to say we've got a responsibility not only to stop drugs from flowing north, we've also got a responsibility to make sure we are not helping to either arm or finance these drug cartels in Mexico," Obama said in an interview with ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper that will air Tuesday night on "Nightline."

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Occupy Wall Street

Dems Press Eric Holder To Investigate Banks For Colluding Over ATM Fees

Brian Beutler | October 14, 2011, 5:50AM

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT)

If you're a member of Congress trying to rein in Wall Street, now's your moment, and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) is seizing it.

Welch helped lead the effort in 2010 to limit the "swipe fees" banks can charge retailers for each debit card transaction -- fees retailers passed on to consumers. Those rules went into effect earlier this year and, as if to serve as recruiters for the anti-Wall Street protests spreading across the country, Bank of America and other financial firms decided to recoup the lost profits by imposing an ATM fee on their customers -- a penalty of sorts for having automated access to your own money.

In a functioning market this practice might have ended before it began, as disgruntled customers took their business to firms that didn't attempt to bilk their customers.

That's not happening. So Welch wants Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate these banks for collusive behavior.

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Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame

New York Trial For Somali Terrorism Suspect Reignites Gitmo Debate

Susan Crabtree | July 6, 2011, 4:22PM

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is pushing back against GOP criticism of the Obama administration's decision to bring Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, the Somali man facing terrorism charges, to New York for trial.

Feinstein, an influential and respected voice on intelligence and national security issues, said the intelligence panel has been kept fully informed on Warsame's interrogations and the intelligence they produced, adding that she agreed with the decision to try him civilian court.

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War On Terror

Obama Would Veto Defense Bill Over Detainee Provisions

Susan Crabtree | May 24, 2011, 6:35PM

President Barack Obama

The White House is threatening to veto the annual must-pass House Defense Authorization bill over language limiting his ability to transfer detainees overseas or try them in civilian court, among other issues.

In addition, the White House is taking strong exception to language dramatically expanding the president's power to wage the war on terror indefinitely, among other provisions.

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Same Sex Marriage

For First Time Ever, Gallup Finds Majority Support Same Sex Marriage

Jon Terbush | May 20, 2011, 11:11AM

In a historic shift, a Gallup poll released Friday morning finds that for the first time, a majority of Americans suport legalizing same sex marriage.

That result reinforces a trove of recent polls that have produced similar findings, and it furthers a trend of Americans gradually becoming more accepting of legal recognition for same sex couples. It comes as Republicans are taking legal action over the Obama administration's decision to no longer defend parts of the Defense of Marriage Act on grounds of constitutionality.

In the poll, 53% of Americans said they supported same sex marriage, compared to 45% who said they did not. That's almost exactly the opposite of what Gallup found last year, when 53% of Americans opposed same sex marriage, while 44% supported it.

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Pres '12

Gingrich: Either I Would Run For President 'Or I'd Be A Fraud' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | May 12, 2011, 11:29AM

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) appeared on Sean Hannity's TV show Wednesday night to talk about his newly-launched campaign for president. And when asked how he arrived at the decision, Gingrich came to the conclusion that all his credibility as a citizen was riding on it.

"And so you face a choice in your life, and Callista and I really had to sort of sit down and look at citizenship," said Gingrich, as part of his answer about the issues facing the country. "You know, are you prepared to do what it takes to offer to your fellow citizens a vision of a better, healthier, safer, more prosperous America? And are you prepared to spend a year and a half of your life seeking that office?

"And we reached a crossroads of saying, either I really believe the things I've said my whole life, or I'd be a fraud. All my life, I've preached citizenship. I've preached the duty to go do things."

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Gay Marriage

Behind A Major Law Firm's Decision To Ditch Its Defense Of DOMA

Brian Beutler | April 25, 2011, 5:33PM

When the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding announced on April 18 that it would represent the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, it apparently didn't realize what a mess it had made for itself.

Exactly one week later, the firm reversed its decision, prompting a high-profile partner -- former Solicitor General Paul Clement -- to resign publicly, and House Speaker John Boehner's staff to issue a statement criticizing the firm for "its careless disregard for its responsibilities to the House in this constitutional matter."

As public relations debacles go, this was a doozy. But the firm must have calculated that the alternative would have been worse. In the intervening week, a series of public and behind-the-scenes developments made it clear that the firm would suffer recriminations for defending what many of its top clients and future recruits -- not to mention gay rights advocates -- consider to be an anti-gay law.

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Barack Obama

Father of 9/11 Hero Has Searing Words For Holder

Susan Crabtree | April 5, 2011, 12:51PM

David Beamer

The father of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer tore into Attorney General Eric Holder for standing by his earlier decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York civilian courts even as he reversed course and announced Monday that KSM and his co-conspirators would be tried in military commissions.

Holder and the White House got a thorough drubbing by critics and supporters alike Monday for reversing course and breaking a campaign promise to close the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay and try KSM and 9/11 co-conspirators in civilian courts. But one of the most searing critiques came Tuesday morning from David Beamer, the father of Todd Beamer, the renowned hero of United Airlines flight 93 who fought the terrorists before the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Obama Praised, Pummeled on Gitmo and KSM

Susan Crabtree | April 4, 2011, 2:35PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

President Obama took a long-awaited drubbing on his broken campaign promise of closing the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay after news broke Monday that Attorney General Eric Holder had reversed plans to try 9/11 conspirators in federal court in New York City and will instead have them stand trial before military commissions at the U.S. base in Cuba.

The administration's decision is a 180-degree about-face from earlier plans announced in November 2009.

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'Obama's Wars'

McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority

Susan Crabtree | March 10, 2011, 3:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.

The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.

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DOMA

Boehner: House Will Intervene To Defend DOMA

Brian Beutler | March 9, 2011, 6:06PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

In a statement Wednesday night, House Speaker John Boehner officially announced his intent for the House to intervene as a third party defendant in court cases challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

"Today, after consultation with the Bipartisan Leadership Advisory Group, the House General Counsel has been directed to initiate a legal defense of this law," Boehner said in the statement. "This action by the House will ensure that this law's constitutionality is decided by the courts, rather than by the President unilaterally."

In a letter to Boehner announcing the administration's decision not to defend the law in court, Holder nudged at the idea that Boehner could step in and do it himself. Not that they want the law to prevail in court, of course, but because they're perfectly happy for a GOP leader to become the face of what has become an unpopular cause.

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Guantanamo Bay

Republicans Move To Strip Detainee Authority From Holder And Future Attorneys General

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 6:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to write legislation that would take decisions about trying detainees out of the attorney general's hands and hand that power to the secretary of defense.

In the wake of the White House's new executive order allowing Guantanamo detainees to be held indefinitely, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detainees at its discretion without Department of Justice or Attorney General Eric Holder involvement.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham: Obama's Gitmo Decree Is 'Confusing, Illogical'

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 8:44AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

President Obama signed an executive order Monday that ends a two-year ban on military trials at Guantanamo Bay, but one of the biggest critics of his detainee policy is still confused about what the decree means for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his co-conspirators.

"[The administration's policy on Guantanamo] has been on again and off again, and I can't tell from this order where KSM is going to go," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM Monday evening. "He would gladly tell you he did it. He and his co-conspirators should be handled through the law of war and treated like our enemies."

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Gay Marriage

Pew Poll: Americans Now Evenly Split On Legalizing Gay Marriage

Jon Terbush | March 3, 2011, 4:27PM

A new Pew poll shows adult Americans evenly split over whether gays and lesbians should be legally allowed to marry -- and there's a clear trend of Americans' views becoming increasingly favorable toward the ssue over the past few years.

That finding comes just weeks after the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend key elements of the Defense of Marriage Act -- the federal law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman -- in court. And it also shows that Republicans may not have an upper hand in next years' presidential election if they try to thrust social issues to the forefront of the debate.

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Immigration

Arming ICE Agents Divides Obama, Holder

Susan Crabtree | March 3, 2011, 3:04PM

President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder

There appears to be some light between President Obama's position on arming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while in Mexico and that of Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official, just three weeks after ICE agent Jaime Zapata was shot to death in northern Mexico with a gun smuggled in from the U.S.

After a White House meeting between Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama seemed to convey a reluctance to arm ICE agents while they are traveling in Mexico.

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Eric Holder

Holder: Legal Landscape Has Changed 'Fairly Fundamentally' Since DOMA Passed

Ryan J. Reilly | March 1, 2011, 10:00AM

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Attorney General Eric Holder

"Congress has a reason to be concerned" over the Justice Department's decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) said Tuesday.

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Defense of Marriage Act

Boehner Spox: It's Not The Appropriate Time To Nix DOMA Defense

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2011, 1:39PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel questions the Obama administration's decision to halt its legal defense of DOMA.

"While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the President will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation," he said in a statement.

In a letter to Boehner, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote "[o]ur attorneys will also notify the courts of our interest in providing Congress a full and fair opportunity to participate in the litigation in those [DOMA] cases." Boehner could, in theory, intervene as a third party defendant in those cases, or could sue Holder, or could just make a fuss that amounts to nothing. But there's no indication yet of what he will actually do..

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Proposition 19

Prop 19 Burnout: Why Did Pot Legalization Fail In California?

Marc Kilstein | November 5, 2010, 8:30AM

Attorney Omar Figueroa in a medical marijuana garden in Sonoma County, California.

On Tuesday, California residents voted down Proposition 19, the state's marijuana legalization ballot initiative, by a 54%-46% margin. A few months ago, statewide polling on the initiative found that Californians were in support of the measure significantly more than they were in opposition to it. As September survey results rolled in, however, findings began to suggest a stark shift in public opinion and the California legalization narrative was flipped on its head. In the final two months leading up to election day, opposition steadily increased in the polls while support markedly dwindled.

So what happened?

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Blazed: Mexico Burns 134 Tons Of Confiscated Marijuana]

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NY-GOV

Did Paladino Really Say What It Sounds Like He Said? (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | October 12, 2010, 2:45PM

Carl Paladino

Another day, another foot in Carl Paladino's mouth?

Hotline On Call has obtained video of Paladino from March 26 at a town hall in Tappan, NY. Paladino is asked: "If you were the chief executive of New York, what would your response be if the attorney general of the United States decided to hold terrorist trials in Manhattan?"

Paladino appears to respond: "Fuck him." However, because the candidate isn't on video at the time, it's not totally clear that it's him who says this.

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Health Care

TPM's Guide To The Major Health Care Reform Lawsuits

Brian Beutler | October 12, 2010, 8:39AM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the Virginia state seal

At the end of last week, a U.S. district court judge in Detroit issued the first ruling on the merits of health care reform, finding that one of the law's key provisions -- the insurance mandate -- meets constitutional muster.

The news heartened the law's supporters and the Obama administration, which will have to defend the law in a number of cases including -- most famously, in a federal challenge brought by nearly two dozen states across the country. The constitutional challenges to the health care reform law fall generally into two categories. In the first, states claim that their own laws trump the federal law -- an argument that legal experts consider to be almost a sure loser. The second argument is that the insurance mandate exceeds the power given to Congress in the Commerce Clause. That argument is less radical than the first, but is rooted in contemporary conservative legal philosophy that courts have occasionally validated in recent years, albeit under limited circumstances.

The wheels of justice are turning in several cases already, and it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Here are the basics.

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Immigration

Immigration Reform: The Hot Tamale No One Wants To Touch

Christina Bellantoni | July 12, 2010, 9:27AM

Sign warning drivers of pedestrian crossing in Southern California along U.S.-Mexico border.

Attorney General Eric Holder Sunday denied that the timing of the Justice Department's lawsuit against Arizona's immigration law has anything to do with the looming midterm elections. But question remain about whether the Obama administration really did bring the lawsuit now to help Democrats with Latino voters and drive a wedge between Republicans this fall.

If so, the lawsuit is likely to be the only immigration policy action on which lawmakers will be able to campaign, if the Sunday show appearances by members of Congress are any indication of the lack of appetite for passing a comprehensive immigration reform measure this year.

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | July 9, 2010, 3:53PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

• CBS, Face The Nation: Attorney General Eric Holder.

• CNN, State Of The Union: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), BP Victim Compensation Fund administrator Ken Feinberg.

• Fox News Sunday: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

• NBC, Meet The Press: White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Steve King

Steve King: 'The American People Need To Have This Debate' About Obama Showing Favoritism On Race

Eric Kleefeld | June 16, 2010, 3:00PM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is standing by his comments that President Obama has a "default mechanism" that "favors the black person" in a dispute -- and says that Americans need to talk about this.

"I have no regrets about what I said. I stand by what I said because what I said is accurate. It's factual," King told Radio Iowa on Tuesday. "I think the president should answer and Attorney General Holder should answer for the Justice Department being used in the way it is, but what I said was accurate and it was objective."

"You have the professional hyperventilators out there who have the radar screen up all the time, trying to find something that they can twist or embellish. That's what's going on," King added. "I don't want anybody to think that Steve King loses a minute's sleep over this."

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Eric Holder

Peter King: Holder 'Doesn't Deserve To Be Attorney General' (VIDEO)

Ben Frumin | May 14, 2010, 12:28PM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) declared on Fox News this morning that Eric Holder "doesn't deserve to be attorney general" and is "putting all Americans in danger."

King described Holder as "an attorney general who eight and a half years after September does not realize that our enemy is radical Islam, (and) is either so politically correct or so out of touch that he doesn't deserve to be attorney general."

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | May 7, 2010, 4:20PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Attorney General Eric Holder, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R).

• CBS, Face The Nation: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Adm. Thad Allen.

• CNN, State Of The Union: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).

• Fox News Sunday: Senior White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Attorney General Eric Holder.

Barack Obama

Fear Factor: The Four Ways Republicans Say Obama Will Kill You Now

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 20, 2009, 11:45AM

Nidal Hasan, Pres. Obama, Khalid Sheik Mohammed

It's been a week since Attorney General Eric Holder announced that five terror suspects will be transferred from Guantanamo Bay to New York City to face trial. There are still a lot of questions to be answered about logistics, and it will likely be months before the first suspect sets foot in a federal courtroom.

Republicans have already told us what's going to happen, though: If you let President Obama have his way, you will die.

The GOP has returned to a familiar line on Obama and national security in the days since Holder's announcement. It's time to be afraid again, they say, hearkening back to the days of duct tape and Orange alerts even some Republicans thought they left behind on Election Day 2008.

So grab an assault rifle and keep the phone number for Operation TIPS close -- here are the four ways Republicans say Obama is putting your life at risk.

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