Will Democrats Embrace the Imperial Presidency Now That Their Guy Is in Charge?
Partisans who abandon constitutional principles because they prove inconvenient are in for a rude surprise when the other team wins.
Congress
More than 100 Civil Rights Groups Agree: We Don't Need New Domestic Terrorism Laws
Their letter to Congress warns about inevitable abuses against religious and racial minorities.
Big Government Is a Bipartisan Problem
Neither major party is a friend to limited government.
House Judiciary Committee Releases Report on Impeachment
Among many other things, it cites recent writings by VC bloggers Jonathan Adler, Keith Whittington and myself.
Amash's Successor Peter Meijer: Trump's Deceptions Are 'Rankly Unfit'
The rookie GOP congressman describes Capitol Hill chaos, says that some Republicans who knew better voted against election certification out of physical fear, and explains how serving in Iraq and Afghanistan made him want to "end the endless wars."
Josh Hawley Played With Fire and Burned His Political Future
The senator is a performer and nothing more.
Pelosi Says Congress Is 'Prepared' To Impeach Trump Again Unless Pence Invokes 25th Amendment
In a Thursday afternoon announcement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) said Trump committed "an act of sedition" by inciting a riot on Wednesday afternoon.
After a Chaotic Day, Congress Finally Confirms That Joe Biden Won the Presidential Election
The usually rote process was marred by President Donald Trump's conspiracy theories and a Republican attempt to thwart the outcome, but the result is now official.
How the Government Can Make Life Better in 2021
Open the schools, accelerate vaccine distribution, and stop being so generous with other people’s money.
Here Is What the President Told Pro-Trump Rioters Before They Stormed the Capitol
Trump said the "Save America March" would be peaceful, but his apocalyptic rhetoric had predictable consequences.
Trump Tweets About Mike Pence's Betrayal While His Supporters Force the V.P. To Evacuate the Capitol
Pence had been presiding over the tally of Electoral College votes before rioters broke into the Capitol Building, forcing him to flee.
Josh Hawley Is Not Doing His Party or 'Election Integrity' Any Favors by Supporting Challenges to Biden's Electoral Votes
The Missouri senator does not explicitly endorse Trump's loony conspiracy theory, but he can't escape its taint.
Democrats Push $2,000 'Survival Checks' to Make Up for the 'Woefully Inadequate' $5 Trillion Federal Relief Effort
Progressives want to spend an additional $435 billion to help people who've lost neither jobs nor income weather the pandemic.
Employed, Middle Class Americans Don't Need More 'Free' Stimulus Money
But they're almost certainly going to get some.
To Protect 'Children' From E-Cigarettes, Congress Imposes New Restrictions on Everything Related to Vaping of Any Kind
The law bans mail delivery of vaping products and requires all vendors to comply with burdensome tax reporting rules.
Lindsey Graham Says Trump Will Sign Spending Bill if It Takes Aim at Section 230
Plus: One in seven NYC chain stores closed, Columbus officers turned off body cams before fatal shooting, and more....
COVID Relief Bill Includes $25 Billion in Rental Assistance, 1-Month Extension of the CDC's Eviction Moratorium
Congress' extension of a federal ban on evictions does little to address the legal problems with the policy.
Congress Legalizes Smokey Bear Impersonations
The $2.3 trillion spending bill repeals criminal penalties for using Smokey Bear's likeness without government permission.
Congress Blocks School Choice in New Stimulus Package
Even as the pandemic has exposed the desperate need for disruptions to the calcified public school system, Congress just voted to restrict some of the very creativity that's sorely needed.
Giant New Spending and COVID-19 Relief Bill Also Creates 2 New Museums and a Library, References Dalai Lama Controversy
"No responsible legislator should vote for such a thing," said Justin Amash (L–Mich.).
Government by 'Harrison Bergeron'
From pandemic relief to public schools, wealth taxes to COVID vaccines, politicians are finding bad ways to redistribute the pie.
Justin Amash Introduces Bill To End Forever National Emergencies
Current law can allow the president to route around Congress indefinitely.
Deal Reached To Tack $900 Billion COVID-19 Relief Package on to Spending Bill
Plus: 1 in 5 prisoners has had COVID-19, Supreme Court won't stop undocumented immigrant exclusion from Census, and more...
Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Plan to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Congressional Apportionment Counts - But the Case Could Soon Come Back
The case was dismissed on procedural grounds that will change when and if the administration actually decides which people will be excluded.
Trump Promotes a Doomed Electoral Vote Challenge As Even Diehard Supporters Admit He Lost
The strategy of lodging objections under the Electoral Count Act has been tried before, but it has never succeeded.
Mitch McConnell and Several Other GOP Senators Finally Acknowledge Biden's Victory
The president and his diehard allies in Congress continue to insist the election was stolen.
Congress Could Pass a $900 Billion COVID Stimulus Bill This Week. Or There Might Be a Government Shutdown.
Unsettled political circumstances and the ongoing pandemic crossed with Congress' broken bill-passing process is a recipe for chaos.
The House Freedom Caucus Just Trashed What Little Credibility It Had Left
More than 100 members of Congress signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election, including several prominent members of the group founded to protect "the rule of law."
Trump Undermined Civilian Control of the Military. With His Pentagon Pick, Biden Has Too.
Civilian control over the military still matters.
For the First Time Ever, the House Votes To Repeal the Federal Ban on Marijuana
The bill is unlikely to make headway in the Senate, but it could nudge President-elect Joe Biden toward more ambitious reforms.
Sneaking Section 230 Reform Into the Defense Bill Is a Terrible Idea
Plus: Bar food police strike in New York, study finds COVID-19 circulating in the U.S. last December, and more...
Thoughts on Today's Supreme Court Oral Argument in Trump v. New York
Many of the justices seem intent on avoiding the substantive issues at stake in a case challenging the legality of Trump's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment count for congressional representation.
Will a Historic House Vote on Marijuana Legalization Nudge Biden Toward More Ambitious Reforms?
The MORE Act, which would repeal federal prohibition, is scheduled for a vote this week.
Supreme Court Considers Whether Trump Can Block Immigrants From Census Counts
Plus: Pennsylvania rejects mail-in vote challenge, Facebook begs for regulation, and more...
Amicus Brief in the Congressional Apportionment Case Currently Before the Supreme Court
The brief filed by Univ. of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson and myself explains why the Trump administration's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment count for allocating seats in the House of Representatives goes against the text and original meaning of the Constitution.
Prison Guards Who Forced Naked Inmate To Sleep in Sewage and Urine Were Given Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Disagreed.
The legal doctrine is a free pass for rampant government abuse.
Voters Wisely Chose Divided Federal Government
Anyone who was rooting for both "teams" to lose on Election Day should be fairly satisfied right now.
The Voters Eschewed Extremism on Election Day
Americans are nowhere close to embracing the radical left.
Dems Ask Trump Administration to Stop Executing Inmates Ahead of Biden Transition
The incoming administration opposes the death penalty, but the Justice Department has three more executions planned this year.
It Sure Looks Like Democrats Are Going To Retain Control of the House
It's been a good night for incumbents.
Dishonest Politics and Coronavirus Relief
Why people continue to trust government officials is a mystery.
Mark Zuckerberg to Congress: Please Regulate Us (Wink, Wink)
Plus: Unrest and looting in Philadelphia after the police shoot and kill a black man, Trump supporters stranded in Omaha, Biden faces new corruption allegations, and more...
Libertarian Lawmakers or Libertarian Laws?
Advancing laws that further libertarian objectives, no matter who champions them, looks like the surer route to our preferred ends.
Ted Cruz Threatens To Force Facebook and Twitter Heads To Testify About Hunter Biden Article
Plus: Supreme Court won't stop Pennsylvania from counting late ballots, proposed amendment would limit Court to nine justices, and more...
You Can't Always Trust What You Hear Online, and Congress Has Some Ideas About Fixing That
The House Intelligence Committee is mulling ways to stop an "infodemic." Is this really a task we want the government to tackle?
Is the Senate Filibuster a 'Jim Crow Relic'?
The filibuster is not inherently a tool of oppression simply because segregationist politicians in the 1950s and '60s found it useful.
The Next COVID Stimulus Bill Could Cost Trillions of Dollars or Might Not Happen at All
There's a fox, a goose, and a bag of grain. And a hippopotamus in the middle of the river.
Trump Can End Census Now, Says Supreme Court in Ruling That Could Have Big Impact on House Seats
Plus: DOJ sues over Melania Trump adviser's book, Justice Clarence Thomas wants to limit Section 230, and more....
