Why DOGE Mattered
It didn't meaningfully cut spending or reduce the size of government, but the DOGE project proved that politicians shouldn't be scared of doing those things.
Health
'Catch Kits' for Fetal Remains Are Republicans' Latest Dystopian Plan To Punish Abortions
GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are pushing the idea that abortions are a water quality issue.
Can the Government Mandate a Vaccine for Your Own Good? This Federal Court Says Yes.
The 9th Circuit made a ruling this year that could allow far-ranging government interference with private health decisions.
RFK Jr. Breaks His Promises About the CDC on Vaccines and Autism
The secretary of Health and Human Services lied to Sen. Bill Cassidy during his confirmation hearings.
Katie Engelhart on Medically Assisted Dying in the U.S. vs. Canada
"When you open up the option of assisted dying to people who are not dying, things get complicated," says the author of The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die.
Covid Beach Closures, the Takings Clause, and the Police Power Exception
A recent 11th Circuit decision rightly ruled that mandatory Covid beach closures violated the Takings Clause. But the court overlooked the key issue of how to assess the "police power" exception to Takings Clause liability.
America Is in a Golden Age. Are We Headed Toward a Roman Ending?
"Once you have an ever-expanding system of entitlements that you can't afford, that's often the beginning of the decline and fall," says historian Johan Norberg.
AI Might Help Doctors Be More Efficient and Lower Medical Costs
A Northwestern University clinical study found that generative AI sped up radiology documentation by 15.5 percent.
The Art of the Presidential Health Cover-Up
Since long before Biden and Trump, presidents have been going to great lengths to keep their medical problems from the public.
COVID Shots Are Not Causing a 'Turbo Cancer' Epidemic
Instead, mRNA COVID vaccines may turbo-charge our bodies' immune systems to fight cancers.
The Perils of Viewing Psilocybin Strictly As a Psychiatric Medication
The most common uses of "magic mushrooms" will never gain FDA approval.
Did Democrats Blow It on the Government Shutdown?
Plus: Obamacare subsidies take center stage, the abundance agenda meets socialism after Mamdani’s win, and the differences between liberals and libertarians
Veterans Are Suffering Because of Government Red Tape
Filmmaker Jon Shenk and former Navy SEAL Marcus Capone discuss how psychedelics are helping veterans recover from war trauma.
Will a Mamdani Victory Push the Democrats Further Left?
Plus: Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, a court ruling extending SNAP funding during the shutdown, and Trump’s tariff fight reaches the Supreme Court
Senate Investigations Find Medical Neglect and Other Human Rights Violations in Immigration Detention Centers
Two reports find that the detention system is failing to provide detainees with adequate food, water, and medical care.
America's $30 Trillion Publicly Held Debt Is 42 Times Larger Than It Was in 1980
Democrats defend every entitlement and dream up new benefits. Republicans demand more defense spending and still more tax cuts.
Vaccine Skeptics Said That COVID Shots Would Cause Mass Death. We're Still Here.
Their predictions that millions, even billions would die haven't borne out.
Don't Extend Obamacare Subsidies To End the Government Shutdown
Government interference in health care should be reduced, not expanded.
Needlessly Strict Federal Rules on Radiation Exposure Are Stalling Nuclear Power Development
Living within a few miles of a nuclear power plant exposes someone to a small fraction of the radiation of an X-ray.
What the Democrats Are Doing Right Now Won't Lower Health Care Costs—but Here's What Actually Would
Four ideas that are better than extending Obamacare subsidies and a government shutdown.
Rep. Chip Roy on Spending, Immigration, and the American Dream
"I think members of Congress believe that they get more popularity in votes by spending money. I actually disagree with that," the Texas Republican tells Reason.
Oregon's E-Cigarette Censorship Is Unconstitutional—and Makes No Sense
Sometimes the state's rules require stores to cover almost the entire label of products—in places that don't even admit minors.
TrumpRx Is Obamacare in Trump's Handwriting
Pfizer wins big in Trump’s new drug discount gimmick.
Autism Research Doesn't Need Washington's Help
When the state dictates both the questions science asks and the answers it offers, it converts knowledge into propaganda and health into a matter of politics.
Democrats Shut Down the Government to Obscure Obamacare's Failures
The fight over whether to extend "temporary" health insurance subsidies is really a fight over how best to hide the costs created by the Affordable Care Act.
Shutdown Livestream: This Won't Fix Trillion-Dollar Deficits
Reason's Peter Suderman and Eric Boehm discuss the government shutdown live at 3 p.m. Eastern time today.
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.
After Deinstitutionalization, America's Mental Health System Struggles To Protect the Public
Decades after closing state psychiatric hospitals, the U.S. still struggles to “find a middle ground—an institutional arrangement that recognizes both the dignity of the mentally ill and the public’s right to be safe.”
Tough It Out
Plus: Charlie Kirk's funeral's aesthetics, Kamala Harris' election postmortem, and more...
Alcohol Escapes a Government Crackdown—for Now
A quiet push to declare “no safe level” of drinking has officially fizzled.
The Trump Administration Misses Key Deadlines for Imposing Restrictions on Gain-of-Function Research
Biosafety advocates worry the administration is backtracking on its promise to implement meaningful restrictions on the type of research that likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctor Can't Be Disciplined by Washington Medical Commission for Blog Posts About COVID
The posts were "downplaying the severity of the COVID pandemic, promoting the use of ivermectin over a vaccine, and criticizing the government's response to the pandemic."
Fact Check: Did Trump and RFK Jr. Hide the Link Between Alcohol and Cancer?
No. Federal dietary guidelines have made that connection since the 1980s, but some anti-alcohol activists are mad they didn't get to rewrite the rules this year.
Department of Veterans Affairs
In 16 Years, the V.A. Turned This $450 Million Hospital Project Into a $1.6 Billion Boondoggle
What began as a simple hospital project has become yet another example of bureaucratic failure at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington Says Tax Breaks Help People. Instead, They're Corroding the Tax Code.
The expenditures are often costly privileges for special interests that mask the true size of government and fail to deliver the promised bang for the buck.
Florida Gets Closer To Being a 'Free State' With Plan To End School Vaccine Mandate
Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo proposed ending the requirement that public school children be vaccinated, calling the mandate "slavery."
FDA Official Pressures YouTube Into Removing a Channel For Posting His Own Vaccine Comments
Not long ago, conservatives were rightly concerned about jawboning. Now they're apparently happy to take part in it themselves.
RFK Jr.'s Wild Week
Plus: The National Guard standoff in Chicago, navigating debates when you’re outnumbered, and a court ruling that could upend Trump’s tariff agenda.
Don't Fear 'Frankenfood.' We're Already Living in the Lab-Grown Future.
Many people prefer naturally produced over man-made. But isn't there something just as compelling about the stuff that thousands of people collaborated to make?
Raw Milk Debates Are Turning Sour in Florida
Florida officials can’t agree on whether unpasteurized milk is a health threat or benefit, leaving consumers more confused than if they were left to decide for themselves.
Neither Cranks Nor Hacks Should Head HHS
RFK Jr. has had a crazy week. It will not be his last, alas.
Is RFK Jr. 'Weaponizing Public Health'?
The CDC needs drastic reform, but RFK Jr.'s firing of agency head Susan Monarez does not achieve that.
The Glories of Mexican Dentistry
"I needed some extensive and expensive dental work, and so I crossed borders."
Chip Roy on Why He Backed Trump's Spending Bill
Texas Rep. Chip Roy joins Nick Gillespie to talk about runaway spending, the uphill battle for health care reform, and where immigration fits into the liberty vs. sovereignty debate.
Do Phones Really Wreck Kids' Lives?
"If your kids went through puberty on a smartphone with social media, they came out different than human beings before that," argues psychologist Jonathan Haidt.
