Chris Kelley
@kelusman.bsky.social
Political Science faculty at Miami University (OH) who researches the unitary executive theory of presidential power.
We can thank Mitch McConnell for this
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
Trump’s ‘Superstar’ Appellate Judges Have Voted 133 to 12 in His Favor
www.nytimes.com
January 11, 2026 at 2:09 PM
We can thank Mitch McConnell for this
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...
@npr.org All Things Considered ran a story questioning why neither Biden nor Harris talked about Fentanyl declines during the 2024 election, as if the media hadn't already adopted the GOP frame that border-related policy was a failure in the Biden administration. Why would they highlight it?
January 8, 2026 at 9:57 PM
@npr.org All Things Considered ran a story questioning why neither Biden nor Harris talked about Fentanyl declines during the 2024 election, as if the media hadn't already adopted the GOP frame that border-related policy was a failure in the Biden administration. Why would they highlight it?
If you were running a professional messaging campaign, Trump's handling of the Epstein files is a case study in everything not to do.
www.axios.com/2025/12/24/e...
www.axios.com/2025/12/24/e...
Scoop: Trump administration expects Epstein files release could last another week
The White House has begun managing the DOJ's account on X, an effort to finish out the year and the Epstein file disclosure requirements set by Congress.
www.axios.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:25 PM
If you were running a professional messaging campaign, Trump's handling of the Epstein files is a case study in everything not to do.
www.axios.com/2025/12/24/e...
www.axios.com/2025/12/24/e...
RIP to all my presidential studies colleagues who have devoted their life's work to the rhetorical presidency because this insanity of a live address just yeeted all that work off the planet
December 18, 2025 at 2:29 AM
RIP to all my presidential studies colleagues who have devoted their life's work to the rhetorical presidency because this insanity of a live address just yeeted all that work off the planet
This is how the media normalizes and sanitizes Trump. We know that his public campaign is not an "affordability tour". He doesn't believe it is a problem, his public remarks call it a hoax, and yet here is @politico.com today:
December 16, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This is how the media normalizes and sanitizes Trump. We know that his public campaign is not an "affordability tour". He doesn't believe it is a problem, his public remarks call it a hoax, and yet here is @politico.com today:
In Trump's swiss cheese brain, pardoning Tina Peters for a state crime will elicit a Supreme Court case allowing POTUS the power to pardon for state crimes so he can pardon himself for his felony convictions in NY State. Any other time it would be bad fiction.
December 12, 2025 at 1:49 PM
In Trump's swiss cheese brain, pardoning Tina Peters for a state crime will elicit a Supreme Court case allowing POTUS the power to pardon for state crimes so he can pardon himself for his felony convictions in NY State. Any other time it would be bad fiction.
I am updating my signing statements database for Trump 2025, and it is really hard to grapple with how bonkers he is until you read the transcripts of his signing ceremonies.
December 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I am updating my signing statements database for Trump 2025, and it is really hard to grapple with how bonkers he is until you read the transcripts of his signing ceremonies.
In light of the SCOTUS oral arguments in Trump v Slaughter, a couple of things on the unitary executive theory, which is once again getting coverage.
December 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
In light of the SCOTUS oral arguments in Trump v Slaughter, a couple of things on the unitary executive theory, which is once again getting coverage.
This is what #strategicframing looks like. I am sure Ukranians are excited to hear their misery is being used by @politico.com to describe the jockeying for the 2028 GOP nomination.
November 25, 2025 at 1:28 PM
This is what #strategicframing looks like. I am sure Ukranians are excited to hear their misery is being used by @politico.com to describe the jockeying for the 2028 GOP nomination.
I once read a parody of the "Bridges of Madison County" that was titled the "Ditches of Edison County." This excerpt in Vanity Fair of #OliviaNuzzi new book reads EXACTLY like that parody.
November 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I once read a parody of the "Bridges of Madison County" that was titled the "Ditches of Edison County." This excerpt in Vanity Fair of #OliviaNuzzi new book reads EXACTLY like that parody.
In an administration that jars the senses on a regular basis, it never ceases to amaze me that I can still be jarred. That Gaiser is the head of OLC is mind-boggling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Memo Blessing Boat Strikes Is Said to Rely on Trump’s Claims About Cartels
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In an administration that jars the senses on a regular basis, it never ceases to amaze me that I can still be jarred. That Gaiser is the head of OLC is mind-boggling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
It seems that if Trump is going to be held accountable, it may have to come from the state governments and not the federal government. It should't surprise anyone that he is likely going to #pardon himself (and family) before he leaves office for any crimes he may be accused of.
November 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
It seems that if Trump is going to be held accountable, it may have to come from the state governments and not the federal government. It should't surprise anyone that he is likely going to #pardon himself (and family) before he leaves office for any crimes he may be accused of.
I have spent a good part of my academic career talking about #DickCheney in one manner or the other. Every grad seminar on the presidency was (and still is) not complete without mentioning his warning about the "hub and spokes" of White House management.
November 4, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I have spent a good part of my academic career talking about #DickCheney in one manner or the other. Every grad seminar on the presidency was (and still is) not complete without mentioning his warning about the "hub and spokes" of White House management.
Now we get to see how good the PR Department at United Airlines actually is. Imagine in this hyper-polarized environment being comfortable enough as a CEO to show your whole ass to the country?
November 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Now we get to see how good the PR Department at United Airlines actually is. Imagine in this hyper-polarized environment being comfortable enough as a CEO to show your whole ass to the country?
I hope this is all I say about Trump's #ThirdTerm since it is an astoundingly idiotic conversation that our political press indulges. As I see it, Trump and his confederates keep bringing it up for a number* of reasons:
*The list is not exhaustive
*The list is not exhaustive
October 29, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I hope this is all I say about Trump's #ThirdTerm since it is an astoundingly idiotic conversation that our political press indulges. As I see it, Trump and his confederates keep bringing it up for a number* of reasons:
*The list is not exhaustive
*The list is not exhaustive
The End of History and the Last Man:
October 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
The End of History and the Last Man:
KJP's current problem with her disastrous book tour is she is just not being honest, either with herself or her audience. She is trying to spin a reality where she can eat her cake and have it too. Right now her book just reads as naked opportunism.
October 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
KJP's current problem with her disastrous book tour is she is just not being honest, either with herself or her audience. She is trying to spin a reality where she can eat her cake and have it too. Right now her book just reads as naked opportunism.
Looking at Trump's legal filing asking his hush money conviction to be overturned, I have the distinct feeling that they tossed out the attempt at making a qualitative case in favor of quantity in terms of the number of pages filed.
October 28, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Looking at Trump's legal filing asking his hush money conviction to be overturned, I have the distinct feeling that they tossed out the attempt at making a qualitative case in favor of quantity in terms of the number of pages filed.
Oof
...
October 27, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Oof
This is really a doozy of a story. Not only a government official not understanding the rules of attribution when speaking to a journalist--who the source identifies as a journalist--but the weird fixation on the "off-the-beaten-path" publication Lawfare.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”
My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.
www.lawfaremedia.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This is really a doozy of a story. Not only a government official not understanding the rules of attribution when speaking to a journalist--who the source identifies as a journalist--but the weird fixation on the "off-the-beaten-path" publication Lawfare.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
Mike Johnson's refusal to seat Rep. Grijalvac for purely partisan reasons shows a total lack of understanding of recent history to how these hardball tactics backfire. In the 1984 midterm election, in Indiana's 8th District (thereafter referred to the "Bloody 8th"), GOP candidate Rick McIntyre...
October 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Mike Johnson's refusal to seat Rep. Grijalvac for purely partisan reasons shows a total lack of understanding of recent history to how these hardball tactics backfire. In the 1984 midterm election, in Indiana's 8th District (thereafter referred to the "Bloody 8th"), GOP candidate Rick McIntyre...
In the abstract, it would be an opportunity for an executive branch to join a social media platform filled with the opposition to engage and learn, and possibly change minds. Instead, this White House is the drunk uncle who ruins every Thanksgiving dinner.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
White House and Government Agencies Join Bluesky, Then Attack Democrats
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM
In the abstract, it would be an opportunity for an executive branch to join a social media platform filled with the opposition to engage and learn, and possibly change minds. Instead, this White House is the drunk uncle who ruins every Thanksgiving dinner.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
You have to believe that the underlings doing Trump's bidding in the political prosecutions, the use of force against Americans, etc. believe that Trump will be in power forever and no one will ever hold them responsible for following orders. Bc these people are completely ignorant of history.
October 9, 2025 at 3:14 PM
You have to believe that the underlings doing Trump's bidding in the political prosecutions, the use of force against Americans, etc. believe that Trump will be in power forever and no one will ever hold them responsible for following orders. Bc these people are completely ignorant of history.
It is a shame. There was a time where Congress took its oversight responsibilities seriously. Maybe it was the decision to allow cameras into the committee rooms? But the sheer contempt displayed today by Bondi, without any redress by the Committee Chair, is galling.
October 7, 2025 at 9:27 PM
It is a shame. There was a time where Congress took its oversight responsibilities seriously. Maybe it was the decision to allow cameras into the committee rooms? But the sheer contempt displayed today by Bondi, without any redress by the Committee Chair, is galling.