Trump Tries To Fire Inspectors General, Likely Violating Federal Law
A law passed in 2022 requires the president to give Congress a "substantive rationale" for removing inspectors general. Trump has not done that.
Congress
Congress Should Extend the Trump Tax Cuts. The Path Won't Be Easy.
Not doing so could be harmful for just about everyone.
How Trump Could Unilaterally Place Tariffs on Mexico and Canada
They are allied countries with which the U.S. has a trade deal (a deal negotiated by Trump, no less), but presidential emergency powers are nearly limitless.
The Twelfth Amendment and the ERA
New historical evidence on the ERA's invalidity.
Biden and Trump Show Presidents How To Abuse Clemency
Biden’s preemptive pardons and Trump’s blanket relief for Capitol rioters both set dangerous precedents.
Hours After Going Dark, TikTok Is Back
The popular video app restored service in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump promised to postpone a federal ban.
The Laken Riley Act Reminds Us: If a Law Is Named After Someone, It's Probably Bad
Riley's murder was an atrocity. But the law bearing her name is a grab bag of authoritarian policies that have little to do with her death.
These Lawmakers Actively Use TikTok Even After Voting To Ban It
With just hours to go before it is set to shut down, many senators and representatives are still posting on the app they claim is too dangerous for the rest of us to use.
SCOTUS Rules in Favor of TikTok Ban as Some Supporters Realize It's a Bad Idea
"I cannot profess the kind of certainty I would like to have about the arguments and record before us," writes Justice Gorsuch.
So…Is TikTok Really Getting Banned?
The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold a ban on the app, but many creators aren't so sure.
The Laken Riley Act is Unjust - and a Trojan Horse
The act doesn't target violent criminals and sex offenders, and is likely to harm innocent people and divert resources from genuine anti-crime efforts. It also makes it easier for state governments to try to impede legal immigration.
Kamala Harris' Long Day
Plus: Evading congestion pricing, expelling Hondurans (and the U.S. military), and more...
Mike Johnson Is Speaker of the House. Again.
After a delay, Johnson secured the slimmest of majorities.
Will Thomas Massie Get To Pick the Next Speaker of the House?
The libertarian-adjacent congressman says he "definitely has no Fs to give now" and promises to vote against Mike Johnson.
Congress Sanctions a Syrian Government That No Longer Exists
The Caesar Act was meant to punish Bashar Assad’s government. It’s now a serious obstacle to Syria’s reconstruction.
Even Without the Sex and Drug Allegations, Matt Gaetz's Nomination Should Have Been Doomed
The House Ethics Committee's findings, combined with Gaetz's lack of relevant experience, again raise the question of why Donald Trump picked him for attorney general.
Kay Granger, Like Joe Biden, Is a Symptom of America's Gerontocracy
The 81-year-old congresswoman has not voted since July, at which point she apparently moved into an eldercare facility.
Cancerous Politics
Plus: Taking gerontocracy to new heights, a real life Arc Reactor, Happy Festivus, and more...
Third Time's the Charm?
Plus: House Speaker Elon Musk, the value of the debt ceiling, and D.C.'s shut down specials.
The Spending Bill Would Fund Censorship
Republicans should not give any more money to the Global Engagement Center.
Disaster Spending
Plus: A failed return to regular order, COVID-era spending scandals, and yet another city tries to shut down a local church's homeless shelter.
Taxpayers Outside Maryland Shouldn't Pay To Rebuild a Toll Bridge Inside Maryland
Part of the 1,500-page spending bill Congress is expected to pass this week would obligate federal taxpayers to fund the Key Bridge replacement.
The SAFE SEX Workers Study Act, a Bill Aimed at Ultimately Repealing FOSTA, Is Back
The bill is meant as a first step toward repealing FOSTA, the 2018 law that amended Section 230 and criminalized hosting adult ads.
Holiday Spending Spree
Plus: More funding for the "disinformation" censors, more fines for cashless businesses, the link between pandemic shutdowns and murder rates, and more...
Social Security Is Deeply Unfair. The Social Security Fairness Act Won't Fix That.
What is paid out to Social Security beneficiaries is not a return on workers' investments. It's just a government expenditure, like any other.
Senate Tees Up $200 Billion Social Security Giveaway to Public Sector Workers
The Social Security Fairness Act will boost payouts to public sector workers who receive pensions and did not pay taxes to support Social Security.
The Return of the Women's Libbers
Plus: Israel in the Golan Heights, trouble in China's government, Whoopi Goldberg tries to explain health insurance, and more...
Federal Government Has 'Grown Too Big, Promised Too Much, Subsidized Too Many,' Warns Former GAO Boss
This week's House Budget Committee hearing showed bipartisan agreement about the seriousness of America's fiscal problems.
He Was Convicted of a Felony for Holding a Gun on the Sidewalk in Front of His House
Gabriel Metcalf argues that his prosecution under the Gun-Free School Zones Act violated his constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
When Deciding Whether To Investigate His Opponents, Trump Says, He Will Defer to 'Very Fair' Kash Patel
Trump's pick to run the FBI has a long list of enemies he plans to "come after," with the legal details to be determined later.
A Taxpocalypse of Rising Rates Is Coming For Americans if Congress Doesn't Act
Here's how expiring tax cuts could affect you.
Congress Is Fiscally Reckless. Will Lawmakers Step Up?
Trump is talking about cutting government spending, but that's mostly in Congress' hands.
Big City, Little Reforms
The final version of New York's "City of Yes" reforms makes modest liberalizing changes to the city's zoning code.
House Votes To Let Treasury Kill Politically Disfavored Nonprofits
Administrative power over financial matters is a dangerous weapon for bypassing due process.
The Last Chance To Curtail Trump's Tariff Powers?
Sen. Rand Paul's bill to require congressional consent for tariffs is getting new attention in the final weeks before Trump's return to power.
We Are Going To Learn More About Matt Gaetz's Sex Life Than We Wanted
Trump's pick for attorney general is manifestly unqualified for the job, even without considering the salacious details of the ethics charges against him.
Thomas Berry (Cato Institute) on Trump's Recess Appointment Plan
Berry explains why the plan is flawed on legal and other grounds.
Trump's First Term Wasn't Fiscally Responsible. Will His Second Be Different?
Even before the pandemic spending increase, the budget deficit was approaching $1 trillion. The GOP has the chance to embrace fiscal sanity this time if they can find the political will.
Democrats Are About to Rediscover the Value of the Filibuster
Rep. Pramila Jayapal perfectly demonstrates the shamelessness of those who support ending the filibuster.
Want To Lower the Political Temperature? Make the Presidency Less Important
Congress needs to reassert its powers and bring the imperial presidency back down to earth.
How Much Will Trump's Tariffs Cost?
Much of the detail remains to be worked out, but lawmakers and corporations are already preparing.
Central Planning Won Big on Election Night
The bipartisan embrace of industrial policy represents one of the most dangerous economic illusions of our time.
The House Is Democrats' Best Chance To Check Trump's Executive Powers
With control of the House still undecided, a Democratic majority could serve as the strongest check on Trump's worst impulses.
Nobody Trusts Congress, but Americans Keep Reelecting the Same People
Increasingly like-minded communities make incumbent lawmakers safer than ever.
This Libertarian Republican Is Running for Congress in Nevada
Drew Johnson wants to help define the post-Trump GOP.
Reform Social Security for Those Who Need It Most
As it stands, the program effectively redistributes money from younger and poorer people to richer people.
J.D. Vance Is Wrong: Congress Is Indeed 'a High-Class Debating Society'
While congressmen hold performative hearings to win political points, they delegate policymaking to the administrative.
A Pro-Immigrant Party Wouldn't Want To Revive the Failed Senate Border Bill
Tim Walz is wrong to insist that it would "keep our dignity about how we treat other people."
