News of the Week for March 9th, 2025
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
Trump admin drops lawsuit over abortion ban filed under Biden
The Department of Justice has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Biden administration against the state of Idaho over its total abortion ban, paving the way for the ban to go back into effect, according to court records.
Gun Rights
Mexico Aims To Reshape the U.S. Firearm Industry by Suing Gun Makers
The Supreme Court will decide whether this threat to the Second Amendment is legally viable.
The Social Cost of Nullifying the Right to Arms: The Case of Mexico
If the Mexican executive branch obeyed the Mexican Constitution, the Mexican people would be safer
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
DOGE Is Trying to Close a Field Office That Directly Manages a Nuclear Waste Site
The Department of Energy office in Carlsbad, New Mexico, is specifically set up to handle emergency situations at a nuclear storage facility. DOGE says it terminated the lease.
DOGE moves to cancel NOAA leases on key weather buildings
The Trump administration has informed NOAA that two pivotal centers for weather forecasting will soon have their leases canceled, sources told Axios.
Michigan EV Battery Manufacturer Moves to South Carolina After Pocketing $900,000 in State Funds
A Michigan electric vehicle manufacturer, which received $900,000 as part of a state grant six years ago, will face no financial penalties for closing two Detroit-area plants and moving production to South Carolina.
Supreme Court strikes down EPA rules on discharge of water pollution
The ruling came in an unusual case that featured sewage and one of the nation’s greenest cities, San Francisco, battling the Environmental Protection Agency.
Punitive Damages Award in Mann v. Steyn Reduced from $1M to $5K,
largely because the compensatory damages were just $1.
Trump’s Plans for Energy Dominance Require Global Markets
“As you’ve heard me say many times, we have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on Earth,” Trump said last night, in reference to oil. He followed that up with a major applause line: “I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it. It’s called drill, baby, drill.”
Trump’s Plans for Energy Dominance Require Global Markets
“As you’ve heard me say many times, we have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on Earth,” Trump said last night, in reference to oil. He followed that up with a major applause line: “I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it. It’s called drill, baby, drill.”
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
RFK Jr. and His Allies Target Trump’s Beloved Soda
Within Trump administration, push to strip soda from state food-aid programs is getting personal
Top HHS spokesperson quits after clashing with RFK Jr.
Thomas Corry resigned over disagreements with the HHS secretary and his approach to the measles outbreak.
Kennedy’s push for vitamins in response to measles outbreak worries physicians
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rhetoric on Texas’s measles outbreak is concerning physicians, who fear his public guidance is misguided and verges on being dangerous as he promotes vitamins and steroids as ways of treating infections.
U.S. officials walk back plans to stop culling poultry for bird flu
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said Wednesday that there are “no anticipated changes” to the current federal policy requiring poultry to be culled in response to bird flu outbreaks, which have driven up egg prices to record highs in recent months.
US Measles Cases Jump 35% in a Week; Now Found in 12 States
US measles cases jumped by a third over the past week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, a worrying sign in the outbreak that’s already linked to two deaths.
War & Terror
US spies ordered to halt work countering Russian cyber threats
Pete Hegseth’s instructions to focus on China and Iran rather than Moscow emerge despite warnings of high risk of attacks
We Have Effectively Switched Sides in the Russia-Ukraine War
On the menu today: Apologies for the late send, but I’m on my way back to the U.S., and it’s possible that if I return to Ukraine again, it will look quite different the next time. The U.S. government has effectively switched sides in the war. President Trump is pursuing Pentagon budget cuts of 8 percent per year for the next five years, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered an end to U.S. cyber-operations against Russian hackers, and the U.S. voted with Russia, North Korea, and Syria at the United Nations. We now have a foreign policy that is aligned with the Russian state against its enemies. After the infamous Oval Office blowup on Friday, Vladimir Putin is more on track to win this war than to lose it, and the single most important moment in the war may well have been the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Is It ‘Time to Be Done with Ukraine’?
I’m glad my friend Luther Abel put down in writing his argument that “It Is Time to Be Done with Ukraine” because it allows me to address two points on the subject.
Long-range drone strikes weakening Russia’s combat ability, senior Ukrainian commander says
Sky News was given rare access to view a drone mission at a top-secret area in Ukraine. Long-range drone strikes targeting ammunition, weapons and fuel are making it “significantly” harder for Russia to conduct combat operations against Ukraine.
$840 Billion Plan To ‘Rearm Europe’ Announced
The European Union will free up $840 billion in funding to funnel into defense across the bloc, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday.
A Thousand Snipers in the Sky: The New War in Ukraine
Drones have changed the war in Ukraine, with soldiers adapting off-the-shelf models and swarming the front lines.
What I Saw in Syria
The opportunity to visit a country three months after it toppled its dictator and is in the process of putting together a new government doesn’t come often. Syria may well have had the worst past 15 years of any country on earth. The Syrian civil war began in 2011 and waxed and waned over nearly a decade and a half, never really stopping — and it included not just terrorist attacks and wholesale slaughter of civilians, it also featured at least 336 chemical weapons attacks by February 2019.
Families of North Korean troops captured in Russia ‘will be executed,’ former Pyongyang soldier tells ABC News
Former North Korean soldiers spoke with ABC News about their military service.
JD Vance’s Phony Mineral-Rights Red Line
In Monday night’s interview with Sean Hannity, Vice President JD Vance declared that “if you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.”
China will increase its defense budget 7.2% this year
China said Wednesday it will increase its defense budget 7.2% this year, as it continues its campaign to build a larger, more modern military to assert its territorial claims and challenge the U.S. defense lead in Asia.
As Trump pivots to Russia, allies weigh sharing less intel with U.S.
Members of the so-called Five Eyes spy alliance, as well as Israeli and Saudi officials, fear the identities of foreign assets could inadvertently be shared with Moscow.
Trump turns off Ukraine’s missiles
Zelensky scrambles to restart talks with White House after it pulls crucial intelligence
Top Trump allies hold secret talks with Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian opponents
As Washington ramps up its pressure on Zelenskyy to step aside, his rivals are talking to Trump’s team.
Pentagon is placing probationary employees on leave in advance of mass firings
The terminations are expected within weeks under plans to fire nearly one-tenth of DOD’s 55,000 “probies.”
Donald Tusk announces military training plan for all Polish men
Work is under way to make all men in Poland undergo military training, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
Trump’s Embrace of Putin Has Germany Thinking of Nuclear Weapons
The travails of the Western alliance have injected urgency into a debate about homegrown alternatives to the U.S. nuclear umbrella
Bulgarians guilty of spying for Russia in the UK
Three Bulgarian nationals have been found guilty of spying for Russia, in what police have described as “one of the largest” foreign intelligence operations in the UK.
Russia’s Long Record of Broken Pledges and Treaty Violations
Why Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking security guarantees as part of any peace deal.
Russia’s neighbours consider leaving weapons treaties as invasion fears grow
Both Poland and Lithuania share land borders with Russia and would become the front line, should conflict break out in the future
US ‘to cease all future military exercises in Europe’
Nato countries could be forced to plan manoeuvres without US as Trump continues pivot away from bloc
US Warned of Caribbean Becoming ‘Chinese Lake’
On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe gave his 7th State of the Union address before Congress, using the occasion to advance what would later become known as the Monroe Doctrine.
Europe weighs Trump risk to its US weapons systems
Long hooked on American defence exports, allies feel buyers’ remorse over hardware dependent on Washington support
Israel Repeats Vow To Protect Syrian Druze Against Jihadists Massacring Minorities
Israel to allow Syrian Druze, others to work in Golan as Jihadist regime reportedly massacres minorities.
Braid: Invading Canada would spark guerrilla fight lasting decades, expert says
Canadian ‘niceness’ is a myth that would vanish overnight in the face of invasion
National
Bondi says she was misled on Epstein documents
Attorney General Pam Bondi was duped into thinking she had all the files related to investigations into disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she told Fox News host Mark Levin over the weekend while defending Thursday’s widely mocked document dump.
UMinn proposes ‘Race, Power, and Justice’ course mandate
Professor says changes might send message school is ‘too liberal’
An Economic Red Flag
The Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now forecast model’s dramatic downward turn for the first quarter of 2025 shouldn’t be overread. As CNBC reported, the tracker is volatile and becomes more reliable toward the end of the quarter as the data come in. But the metrics fueling the contraction – declining consumer spending and confidence combined with exports coming in weaker than expected – should not be dismissed so quickly.
Corruption indictment against New Jersey power broker George Norcross is tossed
Norcross has had huge sway in South Jersey and state politics since the early 1990s and retained his power and prestige despite the indictment.
Judge Imposes Penalties for ‘Judge Shopping’ in Alabama Transgender Cases
Every plaintiff seeks the best forum for its case, but there are proper and improper ways of pursuing that goal. Here’s a stark reminder to lawyers who are passionate about their cause, whatever that cause might be, that their passion shouldn’t lead them to play fast and loose with their ethical obligations.
What are they hiding? Metro withholds manifesto of Cybertruck bomber
The Metropolitan Police Department punted to the federal government when it came to releasing the manifesto written by Cybertruck bomber Matthew Livelsberger, claiming a number of exemptions but also that federal officials say it contains classified information.
AG Bondi faces heat from White House, Trump allies over Epstein files release
The release, which was trumpeted by the AG, revealed almost no new information.
Leaders of another St. Louis nonprofit scammed kids food program, feds say
A federal grand jury has indicted the two founders of nonprofit The Bailey Foundation, who are accused of stealing more than $7 million from a federal program meant to feed low-income children.
A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges
A businessman who pumped $75 million into the Trump family-backed crypto token finds himself in a fortunate position this week as federal securities regulators are hitting pause on their civil fraud case against him.
Houston Democratic Representative Sylvester Turner Dead at 70
House Democrat Sylvester Turner is dead at age 70, just two months into his first term representing parts of Houston. His death was a shock; he posted a video on X just yesterday. In 2022, he said he had recovered from bone cancer and was cancer-free.
Divided Supreme Court Admonishes Judge Ali to ‘Clarify’ His Order but Otherwise Rebuffs Trump on Pausing Foreign Aid Payments
With Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voting with the three progressive justices, the Supreme Court has denied the Trump administration’s emergency appeal of an outrageous order by Judge Amir Ali that the government immediately pay out $2 billion in foreign aid payments.
A Supreme Court Setback for Trump in the USAID Dispute May Not Be the Last Word
There’s another twist this morning in Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, the case challenging Donald Trump’s effort to exert presidential control over the U.S. Agency for International Development. Trump wants USAID to stop paying money to left-leaning causes and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that, in his view, do nothing to advance the American interests that USAID was created to advance. He has, for the moment, used the blunt instrument of an order halting it from handing out more money and folding USAID into the State Department. The administration emphasizes that USAID’s statute is very vague, and that most of its expenditures are not specifically directed by Congress, so the president should be able to wrest control of them away from USAID’s bureaucrats, who are supposed to work for him. Recipients who want the gravy train to keep coming have sued.
Trump Calls for Repeal of CHIPS Act
In his address to the joint session of Congress, President Trump called for the repeal of the CHIPS Act, a bipartisan industrial policy law signed by Biden. “We don’t have to give them money,” he said of semiconductor companies benefiting from the law’s subsidies.
States Show How to Reform Civil Service
In the latest example of state governments solving problems that the federal government seems incapable of solving, Judge Glock and Renu Mukherjee of the Manhattan Institute have a new paper out about civil service reform. The invincibility of the federal bureaucrat is legendary, but states have been successfully transitioning to at-will employment in the public sector for the past few decades.
People Are Paying Millions to Dine With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Business leaders are paying as much as $5 million to meet one-on-one with the president at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1 million apiece to dine with him in a group setting.
Department of Government Efficiency Deletes a Claim and Resurrects an Error
DOGE removed any mention of a long-dead contract from its website, where the government-cutting team has repeatedly posted erroneous “receipts” inflating its success.
School District Can’t “Prohibit All [Parents’] Speech on School Property That It Finds ‘Offensive or Inappropriate'”
An excerpt from the 11,000-word opinion in Hartzell v. Marana Unified School Dist., decided today by Ninth Circuit Judge Milan Smith, joined by Judges Wallace Tashima and Bridget Bade
‘Universal’ Locker Rooms at UC Davis
The University of California, Davis, is remodeling the locker rooms in its recreation center. These new “universal locker rooms” will be “inclusive of members with disabilities and members of all gender identities” and will replace the rec center’s current, sex-segregated ones.
Hey, Remember That TikTok Ban?
A handful of House Democrats’ creating a ludicrously cringe-inducing “choose your fighter” TikTok video is a good time to recall the fact that TikTok was supposed to be banned by now. Large bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate passed a law requiring that TikTok be sold or banned. President Biden signed it into law, and the Supreme Court upheld the law.
The Reality of Trump’s Executive Order to Abolish the Education Department
On the menu today: The big news of today is likely to be President Trump’s executive order declaring his intent to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. But this may add up to the biggest window-dressing change since NAFTA became the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. As dramatic as “abolish the Department of Education!” sounds, it really means reassign the duties of the department to other parts of the government like the Departments of the Treasury and Justice. And as much as Republicans may (justifiably) fume about the woke nonsense programs that the Department of Education funds and grabs headlines over, the overwhelming majority of Department of Education spending goes to programs that are popular — Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, K–12 funding for students in poverty or with learning disabilities. Meanwhile, President Trump prepares to fast-track the deportation of 240,000 Ukrainians back to the war zone, and the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency drops by to chat with Maria Bartiromo and explain why the U.S. halted military assistance and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk
Simmering anger at the billionaire’s unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting. The president quickly moved to rein in Mr. Musk.
Trump Ramps Up Attacks on Law Firms With Order Targeting Perkins Coie
The order against the firm, which did work for Democrats during the 2016 campaign, represents an escalation of efforts to punish groups the president sees as aiding his enemies.
Trump signs executive order yanking security clearances of lawyers from Perkins Coie
President Trump said Thursday he was moving to suspend the security clearances of attorneys at Perkins Coie, a law firm linked to Democratic-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into any ties between Mr. Trump and Russia.
Ex-Democrat SpaceX Engineer Challenging Maine Senator Susan Collins as an Independent
Last month, former SpaceX engineer and 37-year-old Waterboro resident Phillip Rench filed paperwork to run as an independent Senate candidate in 2026 against centrist senator Susan Collins of Maine, chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee who is seeking a sixth term in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive reelection contests of the midterms. No high-profile Democrat has jumped into the race yet.
The William F. Buckley Jr. Stamp
The United States Postal Service will issue a stamp honoring our founder, William F. Buckley Jr. this year, on what would have been his 100th birthday. It will be available sometime in 2025.
White House may seek to slash NASA’s science budget by 50 percent
“It would be nothing short of an extinction-level event for space science.”
Freshman senators introduce bipartisan legislation to hasten wildfire response
Sens. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., want to set a national standard for wildfire response time on federal lands.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Measles outbreaks, navigable rivers, and a winey circuit split.
Trump Administration Backtracks On Forcing Maine Parents To Visit Social Security Offices To Register Newborns
The Social Security Administration canceled contracts that allowed Maine parents to sign up newborns for Social Security numbers at the hospital. Then it uncanceled them.
New lawsuit targets U. California system, alleges illegal race-based admissions practices
Under ‘second-chance review policy,’ many Asian-American and white applicants denied admission to UC schools because of their race: complaint
The ‘Investigative Journalist’ Grift and the Dangerous ‘Viral’ Style of Ian Carroll
Y’all remember Barrett Brown, don’t you? He first popped onto my radar in late 2009. Just about the time I was finished with the Charles Johnson/LGF affair, Barrett Brown decides to do some kind of thing “exposing” me as a dangerous neo-Confederate white supremacist, to which my basic response was: I’m watching you, boy. About three years later, after he had made a name for himself as the spokesman for the “Anonymous” hacker conspiracy, Barrett Brown had a meltdown on YouTube, threatening an FBI agent and eventually earning himself a stint in federal prison. We don’t hear much about Barrett Brown these days; last year he published a memoir that didn’t do anything to revive his career as a self-proclaimed “investigative journalist.” Anyway . . .
Vice President JD Vance confronts Cincinnati protesters, condemns them on social media
Video shared with WCPO shows Vice President JD Vance interacting with Cincinnati protesters headed to a Walnut Hills rally Saturday.
Economy & Taxes
Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ Would Offer Tax Benefit Unavailable to Americans
President Donald Trump’s proposed Gold Card visa for the rich could offer a tax incentive that other immigration pathways currently don’t, experts say. The $5 million “Green Card plus,” as Trump and his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick touted in the Oval Office last week, would allow holders to avoid paying U.S. tax on their overseas income—an option not currently open to citizens or immigrants in the country.
California Policymakers Ponder State Ownership of Oil Refineries
California appears to be entering in the “FO” phase of the FAFO cycle.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces creation of an “affordability czar”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Sunday that his department will be creating an “affordability czar” to address high prices in the U.S. — a continuing concern for Americans which Bessent says he is “laser focused on.”
GDP is a good measure. Don’t mess with it for political reasons.
Removing government production from GDP Is a terrible idea
All about the Dons: House GOP bill would put Trump’s face on $100 note
Rep. Brandon Gill said his bill is a ‘small way’ to honor everything Trump ‘will accomplish these next four years’
How Tariffs Harm the Heartland
Indiana is a trade and manufacturing powerhouse. Tariffs from Washington could do real damage.
Beijing’s deflation dilemma: Falling prices signal bigger troubles ahead for China’s economy
When he bought an apartment near a good high school in northeast Beijing in 2020, Zhou Fujin expected that renting it out would cover most of his mortgage. But the apartment’s value and the rent he is getting have plummeted in the past couple years, straining his family’s finances.
China slaps extra tariffs of up to 15% on imports of major US farm exports, adds trade curbs
China announced Tuesday it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and also expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies.
Get Ready for the GOP Version of ‘Greedflation’
Democrats and their media allies engaged in a legendary bit of economic illiteracy when they blamed “corporate greed” for inflation. President Biden repeatedly expressed his dismay that major corporations were working together to raise prices simultaneously, a conspiracy theory for which there is no evidence. Why did they all become greedier at the same time the Fed increased the money supply and the government increased spending? Now that inflation has moderated, does that mean corporations became less greedy? It made no sense.
Private employers added just 77,000 jobs in February, far below expectations, ADP says
Private companies added just 77,000 new workers for the month, well off the upwardly revised 186,000 in January and below the 148,000 estimate, ADP reported. The report reflected tariff concerns, as a sector that lumps together trade, transportation and utility jobs saw a loss of 33,000 positions. On the positive side, leisure and hospitality jobs jumped by 41,000, while professional and business services added 27,000 and financial activities and construction both saw gains of 25,000.
An Economic Red Flag
The Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now forecast model’s dramatic downward turn for the first quarter of 2025 shouldn’t be overread. As CNBC reported, the tracker is volatile and becomes more reliable toward the end of the quarter as the data come in. But the metrics fueling the contraction – declining consumer spending and confidence combined with exports coming in weaker than expected – should not be dismissed so quickly.
The Downside of DOGE
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s new agency is a deficit reduction bait and switch.
Three in five Americans say the cost of living is going in the wrong direction
About half say the country generally is off on the wrong track, Reuters/Ipsos polling finds
More Americans tapping 401(k)s to pay for financial emergencies
Hardship withdrawals hit a record 4.8 percent in 2024: Vanguard. Before the pandemic, the average was around 2 percent each year.
Majority of Wisconsin Voters Believe Tariffs Harm the Economy
I don’t believe in making economic policy by opinion polling. Public opinion on economic policy is often impossible to reconcile with reality. For example, most voters say they want the budget deficit to be reduced, but they also say that taxes should not increase and that spending shouldn’t be cut except for foreign aid, so . . . that’s not going to work.
Trump Takes Farmers for Granted
Trump thinks trade deficits are bad, so one would think he would be alarmed that the U.S. trade balance in agricultural goods has been trending negative for the past few years. Instead, he is urging farmers to sell less abroad while also promising tariffs, which would reduce both exports and imports.
Bessent defends Trump tariffs: ‘Access to cheap goods’ is not the ‘American Dream’
“International economic relations that do not work for the American people must be reexamined,” he said at the Economic Club of New York.
Why ‘Cheap Goods’ Is Another Way of Saying ‘Higher Pay’
“Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a speech on Thursday. “The American Dream is rooted in the concept that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward mobility, and economic security.”
‘Access to Cheap Goods,’ Hell, Yeah!
Nevertheless, it is possible to detect in Bessent’s comments just a hint of disdain for people’s desire to get hold of stuff at a decent price, a faint echo of the ascetic’s tiresome belief that we have “too much,” that we are too materialistic, and so on.
‘Psychodrama’ tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada
Mexican and Canadian officials are increasingly frustrated by tariff negotiations with the Trump administration, with a lack of clarity over exactly what the U.S. wants making any resolution seem impossible, sources from both countries told Reuters.
Cliff Asness: The New ‘Crypto Fort Knox’ Is as Dumb as It Sounds
To create a sovereign wealth fund dedicated to something five times or more as volatile as straight-up stocks is an awful idea.
Will Trump Actually Balance the Budget?
Spoiler: It’s pretty difficult.
Treasury secretary forecasts ‘detox period’ for US economy
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday the United States economy has become increasingly reliant on excessive government spending, adding, “There’s going to be a detox period.”
The American Right Is Abandoning Mises
The Austrian economist’s principled thought once served as a check on the intellectual right.
Trump admin unfreezes key dairy marketing program
Funding for the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives program restarted this week after farm-state lawmakers complained.
The Bond Market’s Trump Trade Is Looking Like a Recession Trade
Bond traders are signaling an increasing risk that the US economy will stall as President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff rollouts and federal-workforce cuts threaten to further restrain the pace of growth.
International
A fantastic start for Friedrich Merz
The incoming chancellor signals massive increases in defence and infrastructure spending
Opinion
Trump’s War Against Time
Every day with the Trump administration provides another opportunity to exercise restraint. Originally, I was going to title this post “Let Trump Cook,” i.e., just wait and see before condemning the president for his every misstep from conventional fusionist orthodoxy. But I can’t stand the imperial presidency, so I couldn’t honestly demand deference to a man for whom I wouldn’t even vote. And yet there’s an obvious (at least to me) explanation for just about everything Trump has done up to this point: He cannot stand inactivity and will take the fast and dirty route every time.
Republicans Are Fooling Themselves on the Ukraine War
It has been nothing less than a national embarrassment to watch Republicans fish for a rationale that justifies what they’re talking themselves into.
The Trump Administration’s Weapons of Congressional Intimidation
The Threat from Politicized Law Enforcement in Trump 2.0
The New Era of Religion and Politics
Plus: Why faith matters in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The FTC Has No Business Trying To Make Sure Social Media Are ‘Fair’
Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s assault on “Big Tech censorship” aims to override editorial decisions protected by the First Amendment.
It’s Not an Attack on Parental Rights to Note That Minors Can’t Do Some Things Even with Parental Permission
At last night’s Republican debate, Chris Christie offered an impassioned defense of allowing parents to choose to have their children subjected to transgender surgeries.
Could Trump’s War on the Bureaucracy Help Fix Congress?
The news cycle moves so fast these days that you could almost forget we had a breathless news cycle over a supposedly imminent constitutional crisis just two weeks ago. The assumptions fueling that transient panic — that the president would ignore court orders forcing him to abandon his efforts to reclaim control over the executive branch — have not materialized. That is generally (although not entirely) because the courts have avoided permanently enjoining Trump from exerting his authority over his administration. The panic has not, however, subsided.
Trump’s Messaging Is Badly Askew
I’m seeing far more opposition to this action than has been usual since January 20th — even from those who typically defend Trump whatever he does. Why? My theory is that, in addition to their assessments of the policy per se, many of Trump’s critics suspect that he is making a terrible political mistake that, if not swiftly corrected, could imperil the rest of his agenda. Joe Biden’s economy was not good, and voters understood that. That, along with the open border, is the main reason they elected Donald Trump. Had Trump focused on the economy without making any peculiar or disruptive moves, he’d likely have had around a year before he, rather than Joe Biden, was blamed for the status quo — yes, even if there was a recession. But now? Well, now — even if it’s unfair, which it partly would be — a lot of people are going to associate any downturn with Trump’s decisions.
The President Promises ‘Pain’ . . . for Us
Is there anything at all that the targets of Trump’s sweeping tariffs primarily targeting America’s North American allies could do to avert a trade war, the president was asked on Friday night. “No,” Trump replied. “Nothing.”
More Supreme Court Chaos on What a Dissent Is?
In a post last June, I spelled out how the Court’s practice on labeling a separate opinion as a concurrence in the judgment or a dissent appears surprisingly chaotic. Today’s ruling in City of San Francisco v. EPA provides another example—more precisely, on the closely related question whether a separate opinion is a straight dissent or is a dissent in part.
Want to Contain Iran? Don’t Abandon Ukraine.
A Russian defeat would stymie its efforts to support Iran.
Trump Spikes the Football After the Opening Drive
On the menu today: Good news for those of you who are tired of this political newsletter gallivanting around dangerous countries and telling you what brain nuggets taste like; I’m back in the United States, and the news of the morning is Donald Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress, smashing all records for length and delivered with all of the modesty and humility of the World Series winning team spraying each other with champagne in the locker room. I’m surprised Trump didn’t change his entrance theme from “Hail to the Chief” to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” Trump is in an ebullient mood, and when looking at the issue of illegal immigration, you can’t blame him. But there are some seriously ominous rattles coming from the American economic engine, and it’s a spectacularly early dire sign to see congressional Republicans insisting that their constituents will be just fine with paying higher prices because they so fervently believe in Trump’s tariff agenda. Read on.
Trump Remains the Undisputed Ringmaster at the Carnival of Fools
I know that we don’t call the first speech the president traditionally makes to both houses of Congress at the start of their administration a “State of the Union” — technically it’s just an address to a Joint Session of Congress. The reasoning behind this tradition is that most presidents don’t have much of note to discuss a mere month into their term in office, only a vision to set forth. But it’s fair to argue this doesn’t apply to Donald Trump — not only because he is returning to office, but because the first month of Trump’s second administration has been historically newsmaking. And Trump certainly framed his speech in those terms, opening by announcing “America is Back!”
Trump’s speech justifiably boasted about one big, inarguable success
The president’s address to Congress highlighted one clear winner: Immigration.
DOGE Goes Deep State
A smaller government with a more powerful set of unaccountable executive officials is unlikely to be much of a win for liberty.
How Trump Is Killing the U.S. Defense Industry
It turns out that abandoning allies and tossing out security guarantees is bad for business.
In Defense of Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Two days ago, Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the 5–4 majority that ruled against President Trump in the case of Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. This has occasioned a great deal of criticism of Barrett from the right — to the point at which many commentators have felt comfortable describing her as a “mistake,” or even as a “DEI hire.”
Like DOGE, Virginia Is Leading The Way On Government Efficiency
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is one of the most high-profile experiments in Trump’s second administration. With billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk at the helm, DOGE has been tasked with slashing government waste and reducing bureaucratic staffing levels. While DOGE’s efforts have been bold and aggressive out of the gate, its reforms are also sparking controversy and creating uncertainty due to their unselective nature. In contrast, Virginia has pursued a more methodical approach to reducing red tape, saving taxpayers billions while avoiding the turbulence that accompanies indiscriminatory spending cuts.
Mindlessness Is Still Not a Virtue
The topic: Is it okay to criticize Trump over this failure, or is criticizing Trump over this failure akin to “turning against” him? I would like to use this opportunity to once again make a point that I have been making since January 20, 2017: that this is a profoundly stupid way to look at politics as the citizen of a free country, and that everybody who does so ought to be mightily ashamed of himself.
Cut Spending by Using the Law, Not by Breaking It
Concerns about Elon Musk and DOGE have been growing under the surface of Republican Washington in the past week. And hints of their bubbling to the surface have been evident in two notable events reported in the political press on Thursday.
May Government Refuse to Hire Notre Dame Students, Because Notre Dame Teaches and Promotes Anti-Abortion Ideology?
No? Then how can government refuse to hire Georgetown alumni, so long as Georgetown “teach[es] and promote[s] DEI”?
Trump Is Weaponizing the DOJ Just Like He Accused Democrats of Doing
Trump’s appointees are wielding federal power in a manner that appears every bit as corrupt as what he complained about on the campaign trail.
If Trump truly were a Russian asset, what would he be doing differently?
Suppose you were Vladimir Putin, emperor and autocrat of all the Russias. And suppose you somehow controlled the president of the United States. What would you make him do?
“The Court Shouldn’t Bruen-ize the Free Exercise Clause”
Some thoughts from Michael McConnell, Douglas Laycock, Stephanie Barclay, and Mark Storslee.
Trump Is Targeting Media and Chilling Free Speech
The president campaigned on a promise to defend the First Amendment, but he’s now attacking free speech through a variety of disreputable strategies.
What We’re Doing to Ukraine is Evil
President Trump’s actions are going far beyond negligence.
