In their timely new book, Bob Bauer (also former White House counsel under President Obama) and Jack Goldsmith (also former assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush) provide a comprehensive roadmap for reforming the presidency. They offer more than 50 concrete proposals concerning

• conflicts of interest,
• foreign influence on elections,
• abuse of the pardon power,
• assaults on the press,
• law enforcement independence,
• special counsel procedures,
• FBI investigations of presidents and campaigns,
• the role of the White House counsel,
• war powers,
• executive branch vacancies,
• domestic emergency powers,
• how one administration should examine possible crimes by the prior administration, and more.

Each set of reforms is preceded by rich descriptions of relevant history, background law, and norms. All the proposals are prefaced by a chapter that explains how Donald Trump—and his predecessors—conducted the presidency in ways that justify these reforms. Commenting on them will be J. Michael Luttig, who is not only a former federal judge and U.S. Supreme Court contender but also ran the Office of Legal Counsel under President George H. W. Bush.