Overview
- In a new Balkinization essay, Pranjal Drall and Samuel Moyn say legal opponents of President Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship have leaned too hard on originalist arguments.
- They argue liberals first dismissed Trump’s reading of the Fourteenth Amendment, then helped normalize it by debating on the right’s chosen terrain.
- The piece contends any Supreme Court loss or win in Trump v. Barbara would reflect political dynamics over legal craft, with courts responding to shifts in ideological constraints.
- They draw a parallel to NFIB v. Sebelius, where a once fringe reading gained traction and led to the loss of a planned Medicaid expansion for millions of poor Americans.
- The authors preview follow-up posts that will trace how reinterpretations of the Citizenship Clause gained ground and assess a strategy that focuses on power rather than strict legal exegesis.