Mike and Joey open with a look at U.S. missile strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats and the seizure of an oil tanker, debating whether Article II authority is enough or whether Congress should have a say. Mike presses on limiting principles, civilian deaths, and why Coast Guard interdiction might achieve the same ends with fewer moral costs, while Joey argues the strikes fit long-standing counterterror logic and reflect the president’s duty to act decisively against narco-terror networks 

Next, they pivot to Trump v. Slaughter and the fate of Humphrey’s Executor, unpacking what presidential removal power means for “independent” agencies. Joey leans toward a unitary executive reading that restores democratic accountability, while Mike agrees the precedent is weak but worries that blowing it up without Congress rebuilding its own capacity could turbocharge executive whiplash and regulatory chaos 

After that, the discussion widens into the administrative state itself, with both circling the same problem from different angles: Congress has offloaded too much responsibility, leaving courts and agencies to fill the void. Mike stresses the need for narrow, well-defined lanes where experts handle technical matters but elected officials own big policy choices, while Joey pushes the idea that forcing Congress back into the driver’s seat may be the only way to fix the incentive rot 

The guys close with a sober reflection on stability versus accountability, warning that unchecked executive swings risk long-term incoherence at home and weakness abroad. Despite sharp disagreements, they converge on a rare point of unity: the system’s dysfunction is less about any one president and more about a legislature that has forgotten how to govern 

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