Professor Amy C. Gaudion to present at constitutional law colloquium

CARLISLE, PA — Professor Amy C. Gaudion will present her current project, “Unleashing the Watchdogs,” at the Seventeenth Annual Constitutional Law Colloquium, to be held at the Florida State University College of Law on November 6 and 7, 2026.

Gaudion’s current work in progress, “Unleashing the Watchdogs,” challenges the unitary executive narrative and contests the assertion of an unrestrained and unrestrainable presidential power of removal when the subject matter involves the deployment of military force and the use of intelligence capabilities. It considers the unique need for and contributions of inspectors general in the agencies tasked with national security, defense, and intelligence activities, in the context of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook, as well as other removal cases currently percolating up through the federal courts.

The article exposes the tug of war between the need for political accountability and the desire for mechanisms of transparency and independent oversight. It urges a reframing of the interests at stake and a rebalancing of the need for political accountability and policy alignment within the executive branch when the interest in independent internal oversight is heightened. More information about the colloquium is available by clicking here.

Florida State University College of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law are co-hosts of the Seventeenth Annual Constitutional Law Colloquium. The conference will bring together academics to discuss works in progress concerning a broad variety of constitutional issues—including Free Speech, Substantive Due Process, Equal Protection, Suffrage Rights, Campaign Finance, Interpretive Methods, Process-Oriented Constitutionalism, Issues at the Interface of National Security and Constitutional Rights, Due Process Underpinnings of Criminal Procedure, Judicial Review, Executive Privilege, Suspect Classifications, Commerce Clause, and Comparative Constitutionalism—to present ideas and benefit from informed critiques. The conference is also open to scholars who wish to attend sessions without presenting.