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...
Law & Government
The Federal Government's Crusade Against Anthropic Raises First Amendment Concerns
Trump administration officials openly seek to punish the AI company for its corporate philosophy.
Trump's New Tariff Plan Still Asserts a Crisis That Does Not Exist
The president’s invocation of Section 122 conflates a trade deficit with a balance-of-payments deficit.
Will SCOTUS Review the Iran War's Constitutionality? Don't Count on It.
The judiciary is largely absent from the long-running constitutional debate over undeclared foreign wars.
Minnesota's Fraud Scandal Isn't an Immigration Problem. It's a Spending Problem.
Health care fraud is an all-too-common feature of the U.S. health care system, not only in Minnesota.
Liberty Justice Center Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Section 122 Tariffs
LJC is the group with which I worked on the IEEPA tariff case decided by the Supreme Court.
The 'Fairness' Law That Could Raise Grocery Prices for New Yorkers
Legislators are trying to pass their own state version of an outdated antitrust law—one that is dead at the federal level for a reason.
California Appeals Court Upholds Trial Court Order That Cited Hallucinated Cases
The nonexistent cases were first introduced by opposing counsel, but the appellant's lawyer didn't spot the error at the trial court, and submitted a proposed order to the trial court that cited those cases. That, the appeals court held, meant that appellant forfeited the right to challenge the decision.
Previewing Suncor Energy v. Boulder County
A Federalist Society forum on the first big case of OT 2026.
California Billionaire Wealth Tax Would Cost the State $25 Billion, New Research Finds
"If Californians approve this measure in November, they may discover too late that the wealth they hoped to tax has already left the state—with jobs and economic opportunities not far behind."
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.
America's Performance Review
Andrew Heaton takes stock of the United States on its 250th birthday.
Lawsuit: Trump's Newest Tariffs Are an 'Exercise of Completely Unrestrained Executive Power'
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys general and governors from 24 states, claims that Trump is once again trying "to usurp the taxing power that the Constitution vests in Congress."
We Lost the Lyme Vaccine. Under Rand Paul's New Vaccine Liability Bill, We'll Lose More.
The End the Vaccine Carveout Act would expose vaccine makers to lawsuits that once drove companies out of the industry.
Twenty-Four States Led by Oregon File Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Section 122 Tariffs
The massive new tariffs are illegal, just like the IEEPA tariffs previously invalidated by the Supreme Court.
My New Dispatch Article on "Why Donald Trump's Iran War is Unconstitutional"
The article explains why the war requires congressional authorization,and why this requirement is important.
After Paying Illegal Tariffs, Will Small Businesses Get a Refund? 'I'm Not Holding My Breath.'
Even if the refunds are made, business owners say they won't cover all the additional costs created by Trump's chaotic trade policies.
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.
Yes, States May Prosecute ICE Agents for Misconduct
Plus: An unsettling comparison between the Iran War and “Lyndon Johnson going into Vietnam.”
US Court of International Trade Orders Refund of All Illegally Collected IEEPA Tariffs
Importantly, the Court ordered payment of refunds even to those businesses who have not filed a lawsuit to claim them.
Department of Homeland Security
In Senate Testimony on DHS Shootings, Kristi Noem Lies About Her Lies
The homeland security secretary blatantly misrepresented what she said about Alex Pretti on the day he was killed.
Woman Sues After Prison Staff Decided To Use Her as Rape 'Bait'
Their plan: have someone hide in the ceiling to catch the assailant in the act.
DHS Spent $220 Million on Ads Featuring Kristi Noem. Both Parties Grilled Her About It in the Senate.
Noem faced tough questions about an ad campaign that secretly awarded millions to a company with close ties to the homeland security secretary.
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.
Sunnyside Yards and the Errors of Pro-Growth Progressivism
Plus: New Jersey property owners survive an eminent domain attempt based on bogus blight allegations, a corporate homebuyer ban is slipped into Congress' housing bill, and the true cost of permitting in L.A.
DOJ Briefly Abandons Trump's Unconstitutional Orders Targeting Law Firms
The administration's capricious behavior underlies the inherent problem with giving a single person so much power.
The "Unitary Executive" Theory's Contribution to the Deformation of the Constitution
The "three buckets" picture of the federal government, in combination with the unitary executive thesis, gives extravagant power to the President.
Slavery and Birthright Citizenship
All the Trump Administration's arguments for denying birthright ctizenship to children of undocumented immigrants are at odds with the main purpose of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment - granting citizenshp to freed slaves and their descendants.
SCOTUS Seems Skeptical of the Federal Ban on Gun Possession by Cannabis Consumers
Most of the justices seemed unsatisfied by the Trump administration's argument that the law is constitutional as applied to a Texas marijuana user.
How Unstated Legal Ideas Have Deformed the Constitution
In the "three buckets" picture of the structure of the federal government, a federal entity that is not part of Congress or part of the judiciary must inevitably be in the Executive Branch.
Trump Should Have Made His Case for War to Congress and the American People
The administration was wrong to unilaterally and unconstitutionally commit the U.S. to war.
An Unconstitutional War
Trump's attack on Iran is obviously unconstitutional. The moral and policy issues are a closer call.
It's the Spending, Stupid!
The truest measure of government in our lives is the federal budget, which is out of control.
Bernie Sanders Is Lying About AI Data Centers
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss why AI data centers spark joy, their favorite Black Mirror episodes, and libertarian skepticism of the Epstein files release.
Trump Thinks Any Judge Who Rules Against Him Is in League With the 'Radical Left'
The president's wildly inaccurate ideological labels are no more meaningful than his other ad hominem attacks on people who disagree with him.
Katie Miller Is Trying To Sell MAGA on Solar Energy
Stephen Miller's wife is giving renewables a P.R. boost.
The Unconstitutional Commandeering of New Hampshire Continues
Judge McCafferty refuses to stay her unconstitutional injunction, and it appears the state AG's office is still failing to raise its strongest constitutional defense.
The Trump Administration Made Habeas Corpus Great Again
More habeas corpus petitions were filed over the last year than in the past three administrations combined because of the administration's mass detention policy.
Birthright Citizenship Re-Examined (from an Originalist Perspective)
Professor Michael Ramsey revisits the original public meaning of the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause.
