Pete Hegseth Can't Explain Why America Needs a $1.5 Trillion Military Budget
Sen. Mark Kelly says it "feels like that number was just kind of pulled out of thin air."
Congress
How Much Deference Does SCOTUS Owe to Congress?
Should it take more than a 5–4 vote for the Supreme Court to strike down a federal law?
A Circuit Split Gives SCOTUS an Opportunity To Overturn a Federal Law That Makes Home Distilling a Felony
The 6th Circuit upheld that 158-year-old law, while the 5th Circuit concluded it could not be justified as a revenue measure.
The NCAA Is Making Unpopular Decisions at Exactly the Wrong Time
With March Madness expansion and a possible College Football Playoff expansion, the NCAA is ignoring fans right when its popularity matters most in Congress.
Republicans Want To Borrow Every Single Dollar of the $72 Billion Bill To Fund ICE and Trump's Ballroom
The party of fiscal responsibility strikes again.
The People vs. CEQA
An initiative that would streamline California's development-killing environmental review law appears to be headed to the ballot.
Congress Gave Away Its Authority To Declare War and Enabled Trump's Iran War
Congress hasn't voted to declare war since 1942, yet the legislative branch constantly refuses to rein in presidents.
How a Bill Banning AI Companions for Kids Could Usher in Widespread ID Checks Online
Plus: Supreme Court pauses ban on mail-order abortion pills, TikTok's artistic merit, a defense of pickup artists, and more...
Trump Had 60 Days To End the Iran War. Instead, He's Just Pretending It's Over.
Legally, Trump must either cease operations or ask Congress for approval. He did neither, and Congress just went on recess.
The Self-Driving Car Fight in Congress Isn't Really About Safety at All
Bootleggers, Baptists, and the fight over who gets to write America's self-driving car rules.
Department of Homeland Security
DHS Funded
Plus: FISA reauthorization, driverless trucks in California, and an Epstein suicide note.
SCOTUS Narrows the Reach of the Voting Rights Act
Plus: The Supreme Court says “demands for a charity’s private member or donor information” raises First Amendment problems.
Corn Belt Politicians Are Using High Gas Prices To Push Even More Carveouts for Ethanol
“The sale of E15 year-round would help the ethanol industry and no one else,” says one agricultural policy expert.
Defending the White House Ballroom, the DOJ Files a Trump Tantrum Masquerading As a Motion
The brief, which asks a federal judge to reconsider an injunction blocking the project, reads like it was transcribed from the president's Truth Social account.
Allowing Censorship of Military Retirees Like Sen. Mark Kelly Would Set a Chilling and Dangerous Precedent
To justify punishing a legislator for his speech, a FIRE brief notes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth relies on a Supreme Court precedent that is clearly inapposite.
Congress Still Has a Chance To Curb Section 702 Surveillance Abuses
Sen. Ron Wyden warns that Americans would be “stunned” at how officials have used the law.
Virginia's Grotesque Gerrymander and the Bipartisan Death of Redistricting Reform
Republicans picked this fight, and Democrats responded by drawing some egregiously gerrymandered districts. In the end, voters lose.
The Lobster Triumphs
Plus: Tit-for-tat gerrymandering, D.C.'s flowing fountains, more war in the Strait of Hormuz, and more...
Don't Count on the 25th Amendment To Dethrone Donald Trump
Democrats can't muster the votes to impeach and remove Trump, or even to stop an illegal war. The 25th Amendment would be even more difficult.
Woodrow Wilson's War at Home
Silencing "Fighting Bob" details how the government targeted anti-war critics like Sen. Robert La Follette.
Pete Hegseth Wants the D.C. Circuit To Let Him Punish a Senator for Criticizing Him
The defense secretary's asserted authority to control the speech of retired military officers "would chill public participation by veterans," a brief supporting Mark Kelly warns.
Eric Swalwell, Pope Fight, Tax Day Woes
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss Eric Swalwell's fall from grace and how tax day radicalizes us every year.
FISA Reform Blues
Plus: The House passes a short-term FISA extension, Ron Wyden urges fellow Senate Democrats to oppose a "clean" bill, and Norway gets robot buses.
In Poisoned Ivies, Stefanik Sees Censorship as a Cure for 'Anti-Americanism'
What is a greater rejection of America's founding ideals than an overreaching government trampling the First Amendment?
Democrats and Republicans Both Want To Regulate AI. They Just Can't Agree on How.
As lawmakers of both major parties hustle to regulate their preferred villains, they're losing sight of the big picture. The possible gains to humanity from AI are enormous.
Trump's New Budget—Which Proposes $1.5 Trillion for Defense—Is Unserious. You Should Still Take It Seriously.
It would be easy to wave it away and move on. But that's how the U.S. got in such a dire fiscal situation.
Lindsey Graham Says the President Can Start a War, but Only Congress Can End It
The feeling is perfectly consistent: Graham feels it should be as easy as possible for the U.S. to start a war, and as hard as possible to end one.
With His Grandiose White House Ballroom Plan, Trump Again Asserts the Power To Do As He Pleases
"No statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have," U.S. District Judge Richard Leon concluded when he enjoined the project.
Trump Realized He Can Just Do Things. Who Can Stop Him?
There are far too few checks left on executive power.
Trump's Call for a $1.5 Trillion Military Budget Is Irresponsible, Wasteful, and Unrealistic
The proposal is "an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars and would make Americans less, not more, safe." Thankfully, Congress is unlikely to adopt it.
The Republican Plan To Nationalize Elections Is Performative Nonsense
There is no voting crisis that demands federal intervention.
A Year After 'Liberation Day,' Trump's Tariffs Will Never Be Legitimate Without a Vote in Congress
The Trump administration keeps trying to find legal loopholes, but the will of the people is the final judge of any major policy.
Trump Keeps Taking Equity Shares of Private Companies. A New GOP Bill Would Codify the Practice.
The bill would not only codify Trump's actions into law, it would establish a framework for both this and future administrations to do it too.
Trump's 'Military Operation' Wordplay Can't Hide Iran War
A war by any other name must still be authorized by Congress.
Why Democrats Should Talk About Trump's Tariffs as a 'Threat to the Rule of Law'
Rep. Jimmy Panetta says Democrats have "learned the hard way" that handing over so much tariff authority to the executive branch is a bad idea.
Trump Backs Section 702 Reauthorization After Once Calling To 'KILL FISA'
The president is much less concerned about the law's potential for overreach now that he's in charge of the government wielding it.
How Will Congress Fund a $300 Billion War With Iran?
Lawmakers used to offset its emergency spending. They don't anymore.
I Spent Over 3 Hours in a TSA Line. Why Haven't We Abolished This Agency?
The ability to get home should not be a privilege contingent on the political moment.
'What Are the Goals?' Some Republicans Questioning $200 Billion for Iran War.
With the Pentagon's track record, lawmakers are right to be skeptical.
DHS Pledges Not To Deport Any U.S. Citizens if Congress Ends Shutdown
In a letter to senators, the administration offered five concessions—two of which were simply that going forward, officers would follow the law.
Trump Cuts Red Tape
Plus: An effective build-to-rent ban advances in Congress and Florida expands one of the country's most successful zoning reforms.
Bye-Bye Build-To-Rent
Plus: bad arguments in favor of a build-to-rent ban, a tanker plane crash kills four in Iraq, signs the Iran war isn't going so well, and more...
Trump Goes to War
Plus: Donald Trump vs. Thomas Massie, Republicans preparing to kill the filibuster for a very dumb reason, explosions in the Strait of Hormuz, and more...
War Rations
Plus: Pete Hegseth spends millions on lobster tail and rib-eye steak, oil prices go for another roller-coaster ride, no inflation increase, and more...
The Federal Government Was Told To Make a List of Everything It Funds. 15 Years Later, There Still Isn't One.
A sad commentary on the sprawling size and eye-watering cost of the government.
How the Supreme Court's Conception of Its Role Contributes to the Deformation of the Constitution
The Court's law-declaration approach not only departs from its dispute-resolution premise but risks yielding a faulty product.
The Role of Delegation Theories in Deforming the Constitution
The Supreme Court's approaches of assuming agency authority to issue legislative rules and of prohibiting Congress from delegating to itself have resulted in an enormous transfer of power to the Executive.
