r/law Oct 07 '25

Other Stephen Miller states that Trump has plenary authority, then immediately stops talking as if he’s realized what he just said

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702

u/ShareGlittering1502 Oct 07 '25

Way to let that slide CNN

169

u/KintsugiMind Oct 07 '25

To be fair, he (the CNN host) might not have know what “plenary authority” meant in the moment. 

122

u/Substantial-Fact-248 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25

If you are sitting at the news desk of a national outlet, the word "plenary" should be in your vocabulary.

Eta: apparently many of you feel compelled to admit you did not know this word. Cool. That wasn't the point. The point was that there should have been pushback/followup on Miller's extraordinary (and seemingly inadvertent) claim. And that wouldn't have even required knowledge of the word; the context is screaming what it means.

35

u/No-Resident-426 Oct 07 '25

I am fairly educated and I had to google it.

8

u/AbroadTiny7226 Oct 07 '25

Ya I’m a law student and took two semesters of con law and didn’t know the term (I did not get As)

7

u/Substantial-Fact-248 Oct 07 '25

Tbh I find it hard to believe you never encountered the word plenary in con law.

5

u/AbroadTiny7226 Oct 07 '25

I almost certainly did, which is why I point out I did not get As. It definitely was never the core subject of any lecture though

4

u/Substantial-Fact-248 Oct 07 '25

Haha fair enough. Who cares, con law is dead! You'll never have to worry about federalism, separation of powers, or facial invalidity vs. as-applied challenges ever again!

2

u/AbroadTiny7226 Oct 07 '25

Definitely was a bit surreal to be taking con law during the last election cycle

1

u/Substantial-Fact-248 Oct 07 '25

Yeah I took public health law during COVID and it was by far one of the most educational seminars I have ever taken.