Law & Government
Don't Believe the Hype: Sales Tax Holidays Are Usually a Ripoff
A weekend where a few items are free of sales taxes is a poor substitute for permanent reforms.
There's No Such Thing as 'Free Money' or Meaningless Deficits
As debt soars, federal payments to service the debt will crowd out the government's core spending responsibilities.
Lawsuit Challenges Ordinance Requiring Eviction of Entire "Household" if One Member Has Committed a Crime
The case was brought on the family's behalf by the Institute for Justice, a prominent public interest law firm.
Gundy and the Future of Delegation
Will the courts ever be willing to curb excessive delegation? If not, could Congress learn to constrain itself?
Biden Gets Pummeled for Obama's Ugly Immigration Record
Plus: Tulsi Gabbard is most searched candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand attacks Biden's record on women, and more...
Biden to America: Massive Amounts of Executive Power Is Just Fine So Long as Trump Isn't President
In a testy exchange about immigration, the former vice president argued that Trump alone was the problem.
Auer Deference Post-Kisor
The Supreme Court reined in Auer deference. Will lower court get the message?
Josh Hawley: What Has Technology Done for Us Lately?
The senator leading an anti-tech crusade in Congress is being willfully ignorant of all the ways technology has improved humanity in recent decades.
Utah Is Letting Lots of Government Employees Work From Home
And it's actually kind of great.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Calls Court Packing a 'Bad Idea'
The liberal jurist puts judicial integrity before partisan politics.
Delegation and Time
Sometimes it is not the breadth of legislative delegation that is a problem, so much as it is the age (and potential obsolescence) of such delegation, and that's something Congress should learn to address.
Supreme Court Stays Lower Court Ruling Against Trump's Border Wall Construction
It's a win for Trump; but only on procedural grounds. The broader legal battle over the wall is far from over.
The House Just Passed a Budget Deal That Will Add $1.7 Trillion to the National Debt
Members of Congress are well aware of the looming threat of the $22 trillion (and growing) national debt, but seem incapable of doing anything except making it worse.
Mass Protests Force the Resignation of Puerto Rico's Scandal-Plagued Governor
The island's residents have had enough of a territorial government tainted by corruption and that is seemingly contemptuous of their daily struggles.
Trump Thinks His Critics Are Traitors, and They Sling the Charge Back at Him
Is it possible for Americans to argue about politics and policy without accusing each other of betraying the country?
Once Again, Uncle Sam Shirks Fiscal Responsibility in Budget Deal
Trump's 2018 commitment that he would never sign a massive spending deal ever again was fake news.
Robert Mueller Was Not Interested in Serving as the Democrats' Performing Monkey, and It Showed
If lawmakers want to impeach Trump they're going to have to deal with the politics of it all and not use the Justice Department as a shield.
Robert Mueller's Testimony Convinced Everyone of Exactly What They Already Believed
The former special counsel's abridged answers to lawmakers' questions changed few minds.
Trump Says Mueller Report Found No Evidence of Obstruction of Justice. Robert Mueller Tells Congress Otherwise.
Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this morning contradicted the president's oft-made claims that the special counsel's report cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Democrats Revive Russia-Probe Drama With Live-Action Version of the Mueller Report
Plus: Kamala Harris jokes about starving prisoners, Trump sues over tax-return release, "Big Tech" witch hunt gets official, and more..
No Woman Should Be Forced to Give a Troll a Brazilian Bikini Wax
Transgender activist Jessica Yaniv has forced the British Columbia Human Rights council to hear a truly absurd complaint.
Can the Freedom Caucus Convince Trump to Derail This Awful Budget Deal? If Not, Fiscal Conservatism Is Truly Dead.
The House Freedom Caucus could reverse its trend towards irrelevancy by successfully swaying Trump to turn against the new budget deal.
The Harris-Nadler Marijuana Bill Goes Further Than Others in Ways Good and Bad
The MORE Act combines laudably broad legalization and expungement provisions with taxes and spending that may alienate potential Republican allies.
Gorsuch and Kagan Clash Over Judicial Deference to the Administrative State
“It should have been easy for the Court to say goodbye to Auer.”
New Essay: "Originalism and Stare Decisis in the Lower Courts"
When and How Can Lower-Court Judges Be Originalists?
Possible Budget Deal Will Add $2 Trillion to the National Debt
If President Donald Trump signs the deal into law, he will have authorized a 22 percent increase in federal discretionary spending during his first term in office.
Politics, Bar Brawls, and the Law of the Past
What makes history constitutionally relevant?
Pelosi Rejects Plan to Cut Spending by Less Than 0.3 Percent
The federal government will spend $57 trillion over the next 10 years and run an $11 trillion deficit. But cutting spending by $150 billion is too much to ask?
How Justice John Paul Stevens Shaped—and Misshaped—American Law
The retired Supreme Court justice has died at 99.
Amash: Republicans Defending Trump Are 'Hurting Themselves and They're Hurting the Country'
A new book gives insight into Amash's breakup with the Republican Party, which was well underway before Amash said Trump should face impeachment proceedings.
Democrat Rep. Al Green Moves To Impeach Trump for his Attacks on 'The Squad'
Plus: Planned Parenthood's CEO is terminated, the Trump administration drains the swap, and Chelsea Manning is hit with more fines.
Trump Tells His Critics to 'Go Back' Where They 'Came From.' His Love-It-or-Leave-It Attitude Is Totally Wrong and Arguably Racist.
Is the angry reaction to the president's incendiary comments "all about politics"?
Before Bashing Big Tech, Politicians Should Visit an Apple Store
One of the best ways to succeed long-term in capitalism is by treating customers well rather than ripping them off. That's something you won't hear Democrats or Republicans admit these days.
Trump Administration Finally Wins a Sanctuary City Grant Condition Case
The ruling comes after a long string of losses blocking other administration efforts to deny federal law enforcement funds to sanctuary jurisdictions. The different result in this case is largely a product of the unusual nature of the program involved.
Justin Amash Left the GOP—Opening a New Set of Possibilities in American Politics
In choosing principle over party, the Michigan congressman has changed what's possible in politics—and possibly the 2020 presidential race.
Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status for Students Whose Due Process Rights Were Violated During Title IX Investigations
The lawsuit alleges that MSU has denied due process rights to student defendants in order to placate critics of its sexual assault policies.
This Cop Is Getting $2,500 a Month Because Killing an Unarmed Man in a Hotel Hallway Gave Him PTSD
Phillip Brailsford was acquitted of murder for a shooting captured on video that subsequently drew national outrage. Now he's getting paid for it.
'Historic' Congressional Hearing on Marijuana Legalization Highlights Strategic Differences
Should federal marijuana reform be tied to a broader "racial justice" agenda?
Justin Amash Officially Quits House Republicans and Steps Down From Committee Seat
Plus: HHS can't compel prices in drug ads, Robert Kraft dines with Trump, and more…
How to Make Bar Exams Great Again
Bar exams should be abolished. But if that's not feasible, this modest proposal for exam reform should help restore them to their former glory!
CBO Says $15 Federal Minimum Wage Will Cost 1.3 Million Jobs
The Congressional Budget Office says 17 million workers will see higher paychecks, but the poorest and least skilled are likely to be left out.
Justin Amash on His Break from the GOP: It's Not (Just) About Trump
He says partisan power structures have made government reforms impossible.
Appeals Court Rules Against Trump in Border Wall Case
The ruling upholds a trial court decision holding that the president cannot divert military funds to builds his proposed border wall.
Justin Amash Declares Independence From Republican Party
"The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions," Trump's congressional nemesis declares as he officially leaves the GOP.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Unite to Defend the Imperial Presidency
The senator and the president she wants to unseat are determined to have their way, regardless of what the law says.
