含羞草研究室

含羞草研究室鈥檚 Rudalevige Tapped by Global Media for US Political Insight

By Tom Porter
From former President Donald Trump’s recent conviction to President Joe Biden’s use of executive action, from Hunter Biden’s gun trial to what a second Trump presidency may look like, a range of issues have been addressed by Professor Andrew Rudalevige.

The Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government has been tapped by the US, UK, and Australian media in recent days and weeks for his insight into US politics as the presidential election approaches.

With his son Hunter currently facing federal firearms offences and scheduled to go on trial for tax offenses later in the year, President Biden is likely to be under significant emotional strain, said Rudalevige in a June 6 interview with ABC (Australia). However, he added, his son鈥檚 legal troubles could actually help Biden and his campaign by highlighting the President鈥檚 鈥渨illingness to let the justice department operate independently鈥濃攖his at a time when GOP voices are accusing Biden of 鈥渨eaponizing鈥 the department to go after Donald Trump.  On June 4 Rudalevige was featured on Live Now Fox television talking about the impact of Trump鈥檚 recent felony conviction in the so-called 鈥渉ush money鈥 trial. When asked how the conviction may influence the election, Rudalevige predicted that there could be some effect 鈥渁t the margins, in that little group of people who might genuinely be undecided or might have some qualms about voting for someone who is 鈥 a convicted felon.鈥 With the upcoming election expected to be very close, he added 鈥渆very vote counts quite a lot and every little shift could matter.鈥  NPR quoted Rudalevige in a May 31 report titled 鈥淲hat Trump can and can't do on Day 1 鈥攑roviding he wins reelection.鈥 He told reporter Franco Ordo帽ez how Trump and his team are looking for creative ways to bypass Congress, combing through decades and sometimes centuries-old laws to see if they can be reinterpreted to fit their goals. 鈥淓ffectively,鈥 explained Rudalevige, 鈥渋f you can't get new laws passed, then your temptation will be to find new meanings in old laws, and there's [there are] a lot of old laws out there.鈥 One such law that Trump and his circle have been discussing, he said, is the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.  This week, President Biden took some long-expected executive action when he announced plans to limit asylum seekers at the southern border. Nearly a month previously, on May 7, Rudalevige explained to The Washington Post how presidents typically tend to 鈥渞amp up鈥 executive actions as election day nears. 鈥淧residents are trying to show that they are leading despite congressional gridlock. In the months leading up to the election, they try to get some wins for their constituencies in hopes of inspiring them to be enthusiastic and to turn out.鈥澛  (Rudalevige could also be heard recently on BBC Radio and Bloomberg Radio discussing Trump鈥檚 conviction, although links are not available for those reports.)  Rudalevige鈥檚 most recent book, By Executive Order:聽Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power (Princeton University Press, 2021) explores how the executive branch鈥攏ot the president alone鈥攆ormulates executive orders, and how this process constrains the chief executive's ability to act unilaterally.
Rudalevige (R) is interviewed on .

With his son Hunter currently facing federal firearms offences and scheduled to go on trial for tax offenses later in the year, President Biden is likely to be under significant emotional strain, said Rudalevige in a June 6 interview with

However, he added, his son’s legal troubles could actually help Biden and his campaign by highlighting the President’s “willingness to let the justice department operate independently”—this at a time when GOP voices are accusing Biden of “weaponizing” the department to go after Donald Trump.

On June 4 Rudalevige was featured on television talking about the impact of Trump’s recent felony conviction in the so-called “hush money” trial. When asked how the conviction may influence the election, Rudalevige predicted that there could be some effect “at the margins, in that little group of people who might genuinely be undecided or might have some qualms about voting for someone who is … a convicted felon.” With the upcoming election expected to be very close, he added “every vote counts quite a lot and every little shift could matter.”

NPR quoted Rudalevige in a May 31 report titled “.” He told reporter Franco Ordoñez how Trump and his team are looking for creative ways to bypass Congress, combing through decades and sometimes centuries-old laws to see if they can be reinterpreted to fit their goals. “Effectively,” explained Rudalevige, “if you can't get new laws passed, then your temptation will be to find new meanings in old laws, and there's [there are] a lot of old laws out there.” One such law Trump and his circle have been discussing, he said, is the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

This week, President Biden took some long-expected executive action when he announced plans to limit asylum seekers at the southern border. Nearly a month previously, on May 7, Rudalevige explained to how presidents typically tend to “ramp up” executive actions as election day nears. “Presidents are trying to show that they are leading despite congressional gridlock. In the months leading up to the election, they try to get some wins for their constituencies in hopes of inspiring them to be enthusiastic and to turn out.” 

(Rudalevige could also be heard recently on BBC Radio and Bloomberg Radio discussing Trump’s conviction, although links are not available for those reports.)

Rudalevige’s most recent book, (Princeton University Press, 2021) explores how the executive branch—not the president alone—formulates executive orders, and how this process constrains the chief executive's ability to act unilaterally.