Are There Constitutional Constraints Against President Trump’s Actions?

Prof. Leland Chan

11 a.m., March 2, 2025

Join us for a combined meeting of the Bay Area Humanists (BAH) and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley, either in person or online, as Prof. Leland Chan speaks to us in Mountain View.

The second Trump administration hit the ground running with a flurry of Executive Orders, the scope of which raises questions of legality and constitutionality.

  • Can the presidency unilaterally eviscerate USAID activities if the programs had been created and funded by Congress?
  • Doesn’t that violate the principle of separation of powers?
  • Can President Trump unilaterally eliminate birthright citizenship?
  • Eliminate all “DEI” programs within the federal government?
  • Can he unilaterally form the Department of Government Efficiency and, if so, what powers could it have?
  • What about Panama, Greenland, and Canada?

In this presentation, Prof. Chan will discuss how the U.S. constitution had been crafted in order to prevent the concentration of power (that the Trump administration is now attempting to wield), and how those constraints can fail.

ABOUT LELAND CHAN
Leland Chan is currently an adjunct professor of law at Golden Gate University. He is a retired General Counsel of the California Bankers Association. He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Attend in Person:
On the first and third Sunday of the month, such as March 2nd, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation for lunch.

If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.

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