John Yoo

Trump dismisses a century of constitutional scholarship in bid to end birthright citizenship

John Yoo quoted in Yahoo! News, October 31, 2018

“The 14th Amendment settled the question of birthright citizenship,” John Yoo, a Berkeley law professor who served in the George W. Bush administration, wrote in a recent essay. “According to the best reading of its text, structure and history, anyone born on American territory, no matter their national origin, ethnicity or station in life, is an American citizen.”

Legal experts skeptical Trump can unilaterally subsidize Appalachian coal

John Yoo quoted in The Daily Caller, August 15, 2018

“There could be existing statutes that provide for subsidies for industries that are harmed by unfair trade competition or that are advancing innovative techniques for energy development,” said Yoo, who worked in the Bush administration Justice Department and was a major proponent of the “unitary executive” theory of government.

“The program you mention, however, doesn’t seem to fall within these categories,” Yoo said. “If no existing statute exists creating the program, then President Trump will have to ask Congress for new funds this upcoming year.”

Who Gets to Define the Crime?

John Yoo quoted in The Regulatory Review, December 10, 2018

“Due to a combination of increasing societal complexity and congressional cowardice, Congress has punted more and more of its duty to legislate to agencies,” law professors John Yoo, of University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and James C. Phillips of Stanford Law Schoolwrote in the National Review. “Agencies have been only too happy to assume vast legislative powers, without the accountability of answering to the voters.”

Trump would break the law bombing Bashar Assad, some scholars say

John Yoo quoted by Washington Examiner, April 12, 2018

“I think that statutory authorization comes from the [authorization for use of military force] passed after 9/11, which allows the use of force with regard to any group connected to the 9/11 attacks, which includes ISIS (which is an offshoot of al Qaida). Because ISIS is operating in Syria, the U.S. can use force in Syria,” Yoo said in an email.

State AG bans employer-ICE cooperation. Can he do that?

John Yoo and Jesse Choper quoted by California Magazine, Feb. 7, 2018

Yoo: “States don’t have the power to interfere with federal operation. … If the state is trying to prevent people from obeying federal law, they might be committing obstruction of justice—which is a crime.”

Choper: “For California to pass a law to regulate private citizens, telling them that if they follow federal law they’re in violation of state law—that is very different than the state simply saying, ‘We’re not going to enforce [the federal government’s] law. If you want to [enforce] it, do it yourself.’ That’s a major step that I do not think is within the state’s power.”

Eventually the president will have to talk

John Yoo writes for The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 18, 2018

The Watergate ruling makes clear that criminal investigations trump executive privilege. … If Mr. Trump then wished to prevent the questions, he would have to fire Mr. Mueller. But no matter who replaced him as special counsel, the White House would eventually have to talk.

Military use of space is coming, Trump can help America prepare

John Yoo writes for The Hill, Dec. 28, 2017

While the Trump NSS is a document, but not an operating strategy, it shows that the administration is making the right moves in rejecting utopian visions of space as conflict-free zone. The great powers have already carefully crafted treaties to limit a nuclear arms race in outer space. But at the same time they have left open significant routes for other military uses of space.