Month: September 2025
Federal Court Rules Speech-Based Deportations of Non-Citizen Students and Academics Violate the First Amendment
The decision is the most thorough in a line of recent court decisions reaching similar results.
The Government Shutdown Won't Stop Trump's Immigration Enforcement Campaign
The Department of Homeland Security will retain 95 percent of its employees if the government shuts down and remain funded in large part by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Could This Be the Best Government Shutdown Ever?
Take your opportunities for smaller government where you find them.
Can Americans Trust RFK Jr.'s Health Advice? A Breakdown on Vaccines, Autism, Food Dyes, and More
As ever, be cautious about what you hear from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Housing Hero Gotham Deserved
Plus: New York's expensive new stove regulations, Los Angeles rent controls, and the housing policy implications of a federal shutdown.
Trump's $625 Million Coal Plan May Raise Utility Bills for Millions of Americans
One report found that forcing retiring coal plants to remain open could increase annual electricity costs by $3 billion through 2028.
Trump Is Filling the Fed with Loyalists
By installing Stephen Miran and eyeing more allies, Trump is positioning the central bank for aggressive rate cuts and a sharp break from its tradition of independence.
5 Ways To Fix the NFL's Rules, Referees, Schedule, and More
How to change the league so that owners, players, and fans are happier
Democrats Get Mariachi'd
Plus: Jimmy Kimmel Live! plagues my neighborhood, Hegseth's fancy meeting, Eric Adams gone but not forgotten, and more...
After Repeatedly Losing in Lower Court, Trump Asks SCOTUS To Review His Birthright Citizenship Order
Plus: Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a book.
The Coming Storm Over the Comptroller General
If the Comptroller General is an Executive Branch Officer, he could be removed at will, and his suit against the President would not be justiciable.
Will a Shutdown Finally Shrink Government?
Plus: the Comey indictment, Trump deploys the National Guard to Portland, Eric Adams exits New York City's mayoral race, and a listener asks about cyclical theories of history
Oregon Sues Trump Administration Over 'Unlawful' National Guard Federalization
The administration ordered the federalization of 200 Oregon National Guard members for 60 days, citing the same suspect legal authority used to send troops to California earlier this year.
ICE Doesn't Want You To Know Why They Bought a Phone Cracking System
The agency has been expanding its surveillance capabilities without a public explanation.
Trump's 100 Percent Chip Tariff Could Make It More Expensive To Build More Semiconductors in the U.S.
Trump exempted imported chips from his reciprocal tariffs in April. Now he's threatening them with 100 percent rates.
Assata Shakur Stood With the Oppressors
The supposed freedom fighter allied with a government known for imprisoning dissidents, curtailing civil liberties, and forging equality in the sense that people are more equally oppressed.
Trump's Executive Order Against 'Political Violence' Is an Un-American Attack on Free Speech
The order lists "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity" as common threads among "domestic terrorists," though all are protected by the First Amendment.
First the U.K., Next the U.S.? Britain's Digital ID Plan Should Scare Americans.
Once created, a digital ID system will prove catnip to politicians who want to track where we go, online and off.
The Conspiracy Theorists Who Claim Kamala Harris Really Won in 2024
Echoes of Trump's 2020 delusions are reborn in blue.
Two Prominent Left-Liberal Thinkers Reconsider Libertarianism
Legal scholar Cass Sunstein and economic policy commentator Noah Smith haven't become libertarians - but they take a more favorable view of that ideology than before. This evolution might prefigure a potential alliance between libertarians and "abundance" liberals.
Government Set To Shut Down Tomorrow
Plus: Eric Adams drop out, Assata Shakur gets fawned over, James Comey gets roasted, and more...
Allegedly False Rape Accusations as Sexual Harassment for Title IX Purposes
"[P]ersistent and unfounded branding of a man as a 'rapist' cannot be easily dismissed as anything other than sex-based harassment."
Does Denying Hamas Committed Sexual Violence on 10/7 Constitute "Criticism of Israel's Treatment of Palestinians?"
Federal judge Timothy Savage seems to think so.
The Law No Longer Listens To Justice Kennedy
Justice Kennedy's new book reminds me how grateful I am the law no longer listens to him.
In Trump's Tussle With James Comey, You Should Hope Everybody Loses
The administration is pursuing a vendetta, but Comey and the FBI deserve scrutiny and reduced stature.
Mamdani's Fare-Free Buses Wouldn't Be NYC's First Wasteful Public Transit Boondoggle
A previous pilot program found free access slowed down buses in New York City, which already has the slowest buses in the nation.
Trump's Public Comments Could Further Complicate the Shaky Case Against James Comey
By demanding that the Justice Department punish the former FBI director for wronging him, the president provided evidence to support a claim of selective or vindictive prosecution.
