News of the Week for February 22nd, 2026
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
AGs, US lawmakers support Louisiana AG in lawsuit against FDA over mailing abortion drugs
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is receiving support for the lawsuit filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over mail-in abortion drugs. Twenty attorneys general and 60 members of Congress filed briefs in support of Murill’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Louisiana in December of 2025.
Gun Rights
Colorado Introduces Sweeping Gun Bill Targeting 3D Printing, CNC Machining, and Digital Files
Audio from a town hall hosted by Colorado State Rep. Andrew Boesnecker last month revealed lawmakers were preparing a bill to regulate 3D printing around firearms. In that discussion, Boesnecker framed the proposal as a way to “close a loophole” in existing law, specifically, the idea that Coloradans could legally 3D-print unserialized firearm receivers at home.
The Supreme Court Needs to Expand Bruen
Hawaii introduced a “vampire rule” requiring businesses to post a sign expressly permitting individuals to carry a firearm onto the premises. Do homeowners have to explicitly permit citizens to knock on their doors to canvas for a political candidate, too? This is nonsensical.
The ATF Created a Backdoor Gun Registry. Lawmakers Want an Explanation.
Federal law bans the creation of a gun registry, but regulators made one anyway.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”
Apparently free speech is OK, as long as the Australian Government thinks what you are saying is true.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
Canada to Begin Euthanizing Newborn Babies from ‘Poor Families’
Canadian physicians will soon be able to legally euthanize infants born into poor families or suffering from underlying health conditions.
RFK Jr’s new chatbot advises the public on ‘best foods to insert into rectum’
A new dietary guideline from the Department of Health and Human services is offering advice on the best foods to insert in your backside
F.D.A. Reverses Decision and Agrees to Review Moderna’s Flu Vaccine
Moderna said it had held further discussions with regulators and announced that the agency would accept the company’s application for approval of its flu vaccine that uses mRNA technology.
Chlorine Dioxide, Raw Camel Milk: The FDA No Longer Warns Against These and Other Ineffective Autism Treatments
The FDA has taken down a webpage warning about therapies and products making “false claims” of treating autism. It’s part of a series of actions the agency has taken under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discredit long-established science.
U.K. Hospital Unilaterally Cuts Off Life Support of Disabled Patient over Family Objections
Readers may recall the Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans cases in the U.K., in which National Health Service hospitals took the parents of terminally ill children to court after they refused to acquiesce in doctors’ recommendations that life support be ended.
War & Terror
Trump Ignores the U.S. ‘Six Assurances’ to Taiwan
In 1982, the U.S. government under President Ronald Reagan was attempting to navigate a tense moment among the U.S., the people’s Republic of China, and the government of Taiwan. Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, with Reagan’s authorization, sent a set of statements detailing what the U.S. government had not agreed to in its negotiations with China, to American Institute of Taiwan Director James Lilley, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan. Eagleburger instructed Lilley communicate the statements to Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo. Those statements, delivered to President Chiang on July 14, 1982, are now known as the U.S. “Six Assurances” to Taiwan.
You can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone, says Dutch defense chief
No worries if the US doesn’t want to be friends with Europe anymore
Hegseth invited Christian nationalist Doug Wilson to preach at Pentagon
The self-described “paleo-Confederate” has argued that wives should submit to their husbands, women should be denied the vote and Christian slaveowners were on “firm scriptural ground.”
UK blocking Trump from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran
The disagreement over the use of British sites is behind the US president’s withdrawal of support for the Chagos Islands deal
Las Vegas power station attack could be terrorism, say police
Dawson Maloney found dead after driving car packed with weapons into a substation
National
There’s a Grim New Expression: “AI;DR”
“Why should I bother to read something someone else couldn’t be bothered to write?”
Japan Nets Chinese Trawler as Global Backlash to Beijing’s Fishing Raiders Grows
This seizure may prove to be more than an isolated enforcement action; it signals that Japan is prepared to move from warnings to concrete penalties against China’s distant-water raiders.
Texas Republicans alarmed about comptroller candidate’s purchase of Epstein ranch
Texas Republicans are expressing alarm about a GOP state comptroller candidate, Don Huffines, for secretly purchasing a New Mexico ranch owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They and many others are calling for transparency and an investigation.
Hawaii: Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke says she did not take $35,000 in a paper bag
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke has become the center of a story involving allegations that an “influential lawmaker” accepted $35,000 in a paper bag during a January 2022 meeting. The claim came to light during the federal bribery investigation into former House Rep. Ty Cullen and Sen. Kalani English.
The California Affordability Problem That Newsom’s Fans Don’t Want to Talk About
I’ve written a bunch of profile pieces of presidential candidates over the years. I always thought the best part of them was when they told you something you didn’t already know about the candidate; by the time a politician is running, we often already know the basics.
Jesse Jackson, Charismatic Champion of Civil Rights, Dies at 84
An impassioned orator, he was a moral and political force, forming a “rainbow coalition” of poor and working-class people and seeking the presidency. His mission, he said, was “to transform the mind of America.”
Nevada ethics panel advances complaints against AG Aaron Ford
A review panel from the Nevada Commission on Ethics agreed last week to advance a complaint against Attorney General Aaron Ford to the rest of the commission, according to information obtained by the Sun.
Stephen Colbert and James Talarico Are Lying to You
Everything you need to know about the FCC’s equal-time rule, the odious lies of The Late Show host Stephen Colbert and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, and his rivals Jasmine Crockett and the little-known Ahmad Hassan.
GOP Rep’s Alleged Affair With Staffer Before Her Shock Death Exposed
A Republican congressman had an affair with one of his aides who later died after setting herself on fire outside her Texas home, according to a report. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is up for re-election in Texas’ 23rd District, had an affair with his district director, Regina Ann “Regi” Santos-Aviles, the San Antonio Express-News reported, citing text messages sent by Santos-Aviles.
Trump Order Aims to Boost Weedkiller Targeted in Health Lawsuits
An executive order aimed at ramping up production of glyphosate set off alarms among supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Scientists decry Trump’s rush to loosen radiation exposure standards
White House push to boost nuclear power could lead to more cancer cases, some researchers say
William Shatner to Release Metal Album Featuring 35 Handpicked Musicians
“This album is a gathering of forces — each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos”
Mom of 7-year-old hospitalized with brain swelling from measles: ‘I still wouldn’t have given my son the vaccine’
South Carolina parents living in the state’s measles epicenter tell Rhian Lubin of their devastation after their unvaccinated 7-year-old son, Ethan, developed encephalitis, a complication from the virus that causes swelling and inflammation in the brain
DHS Confirms Third US Citizen Killing After Newsweek Investigation
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has told Newsweek that a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent fired “defensive shots” at a driver after he “intentionally ran over” another federal agent.
Armed man shot and killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says
An armed man drove into the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, as another vehicle was exiting before being shot and killed early Sunday morning, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service.
Economy & Taxes
The Break Is Over. Companies Are Jacking Up Prices Again.
Higher tariffs, labor and health-insurance costs have pushed many businesses to raise prices
US Trade Deficit Widens, Capping One of Biggest Since 1960
The US trade deficit widened in December, capping a turbulent year of erratic tariff policy.
Las Vegas sees sharp visitor drop as leisure spending wanes
On Fridays, it still feels like peak Vegas — rolling suitcases, packed rideshare queues and the familiar churn at Harry Reid International. By Monday, the airport has quieted considerably.
U.S. trade deficit totaled $901 billion in 2025, barely budging despite Trump’s tariffs
For the full year, the U.S. ran a $901.5 billion trade deficit, down slightly from 2024 but only by 0.2%, or $2.1 billion. The report follows a year in which President Donald Trump implemented a series of aggressive tariffs aimed at leveling the global playing field.
Trump’s Credit-Card Cap Would Crush the Economy
Similar moves in 1980 caused a recession and likely cost Jimmy Carter his presidency.
Trump’s Tariffs Lose 6–3
Donald Trump’s assertion of presidential power to set tariffs was rejected this morning by a 6–3 Supreme Court. Frankly, Trump was lucky to get three votes for his position. Trump will need to go back to the drawing board to find a different legal basis for presidential tariff power; some such powers have been granted by Congress, but none as extensive and unconstrained as the emergency presidential powers Trump claimed to locate in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA).
The Court Ruled. Now the CBO Needs to Update Its Revenue Projections
This is not a case for tariff revenue but a fiscal reminder: There is no shortcut out of this fiscal hole. Not tariffs, not emergency powers, not wishful thinking. Just the hard work of reforming spending, especially the programs that are the drivers of our future debt, before the market forces that choice on us in the most painful way possible.
Learning Resources Tariff Case: The Majority Opinion on the ‘How’ Questions
I’ll be walking through today’s big tariff decision in a series of posts, starting with this one on the bottom-line result and the breakdown of the justices.
Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Sweeping Tariffs
The Supreme Court on Friday struck down most of President Trump’s tariffs after finding the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not give him the power to impose sweeping protectionist measures.
Tariffs Are a Tax on Americans No Matter What the White House Says
The Trump administration has both a tariff problem and an economic reasoning problem.
It Turns Out, the President’s Power Is Checked by More Than Just His Own Mind
The president’s power is not checked merely by his own morality and his own mind. His power is held in check by the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of that Constitution. It is worth remembering that the president begins his term by taking the oath of office, swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” If you walk around insisting that the only limit on your power is your own mind, you are not preserving, protecting, or defending the Constitution and its limits on the power of the presidency.
Fed’s Preferred Gauge Shows Accelerating December Inflation Trends
The personal-consumption expenditures price index increased by 0.4% in December
Supreme Court Strikes Down Tariffs
On a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court ruled this morning that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not empower the President to impose tariffs. As a result, President Trump’s “drug trafficking” and “reciprocal” tariffs have been struck down.
Even Without the ‘Emergency’ Powers SCOTUS Rejected, Trump Has a Bunch of Tariff Options
There are many laws that explicitly authorize the president to impose taxes on imports, but they include limits that Trump was keen to avoid.
The Supreme Court Got It Right on IEEPA—But Don’t Pop the Champagne Yet
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs is a welcome victory for constitutional governance and the rule of law. But anyone hoping this spells the end of the administration’s tariff spree should think twice. Even without IEEPA, the president retains ample statutory authority to quickly recreate much of the current trade policy chaos.
Learning Resources Tariff Case: The Thomas Dissent
This is the fourth installment of my series on today’s big tariff decision; see here, here, and here for the first three. I’ll deal briefly here with the lone dissent by Justice Clarence Thomas, who also (along with Justice Samuel Alito) joined the main dissent by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which argued that IEEPA’s language invoked traditional tariff powers.
Economic Growth Slowed in Fourth Quarter, Hurt by Government Shutdown
U.S. GDP grew at 1.4% annual rate in 2025’s final quarter
I Got 99 Delegations, but a Tariff Ain’t One
Words from noted rapper I-Eepa,
“The Day Will Come When Those Disappointed by Today’s Result” as to Tariffs …
“will appreciate the legislative process for the bulwark of liberty it is.”
“No Recipe for a Republic”
“[C]ontinual and permanent accretion of power in the hands of one man,” stemming from broad readings of Congressional delegation to the Executive.
“Our Founders Understood That Men Are Not Angels, and We Disregard That Insight at Our Peril When …”
“we allow the few (or the one) to aggrandize their power based on loose or uncertain authority.”
The Supreme Court Keeps the Taxing Power with Congress
We told you so.
Learning Resources Tariff Case: the Kavanaugh Dissent
The main dissent in Learning Resources was written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Kavanaugh dissenting did not surprise me greatly; at the argument, while he didn’t give away where he was headed, he seemed the justice most sympathetic to the government’s argument for broadly deferring to presidential powers to negotiate with foreign countries.
The U.S. Balance-of-Payments Deficit Is Essentially Zero
Andy McCarthy is right on the money, literally, in his post today. He argues that the new 10 percent global tariff Trump is imposing under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act is flatly illegal. The law authorizes limited duties only “to deal with large and serious United States balance-of-payments deficits.”
Why Trump’s Section 122 Tariffs Are Illegal
President Trump’s attacks on the Supreme Court are an unmitigated disgrace. The Court tried in good faith — and, for what it’s worth, successfully in my view — to uphold the law. By now, the president has to know that the fallout of his ravings will be harassment of the justices by elements of his base that are as deranged as he is. Is the plan to ignite a riot on the Supreme Court steps this time, while he can still pardon the rabble-rousers as he did the Capitol rioters?
Why the “Lesser Included Action” Argument for IEEPA Tariffs Fails
The Supreme Court yesterday struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, holding that the statute’s authorization to “regulate… importation” doesn’t include the power to impose tariffs. The majority’s strongest argument is simple: every time Congress actually delegates tariff authority, it uses the word “duty,” caps the rate, sets a time limit, and requires procedural prerequisites. IEEPA has none of these.
Trump’s new flat-rate tariff will boost China and Brazil
US allies including the UK, EU and Japan hardest hit after Supreme Court rules against previous levies
Did Biden save unions? Now we have numbers.
The latest numbers show that when you think of organized labor, think of government employees.
International
Dog Suddenly Crashes 2026 Winter Olympics Cross-Country Race with a Sprint to the Finish
“Anybody lost their dog?” the on-course announcers joked during the women’s cross-country team sprint event
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on his birthday
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested at his Sandringham home on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. Around six unmarked cars were spotted arriving at the former prince’s home in Wood Farm just after 8am today – his 66th birthday. He has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. It comes as detectives assess claims made in the Epstein files against the former Duke of York, including allegations he shared sensitive state information with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while he was a UK trade envoy.
The Dictator’s Daughter
On succession in North Korea.
No Statute of Limitations in Former Prince Andrew’s Public Corruption Case
I’m taking a few days away, but I was surprised, as many no doubt were, to hear reports that the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested by British police this morning. It’s a good time to note the quirks — as they will seem to Americans — of the United Kingdom’s justice system: in this instance, the lack of a statute of limitations for major crimes.
Russia Takes the Gulag Out of the Gulag History Museum in Moscow
The museum had preserved the history of brutality inflicted by the Soviet Union on its people. It will now focus on Nazi war crimes.
Opinion
The Kinds of Abstractions Armies Fight For
It’s the dead of midwinter and that means that I’m spending my days watching curling and moguls and luge and foreign policy speeches at the Munich Security Conference.
Epstein Files Feeding Frenzy Is No Moral Panic, Expert Declares
I have been singled out for censure in a guest op-ed published at MSNOW (the erstwhile MSNBC). So has Quillette proprietor Claire Lehmann. So has Reason contributor Brendan O’Neill. I don’t know how the Washington Post’s Jason Willick escaped the opprobrium that is his due, but he belongs in this odious bucket, too. Our offense was to have seen in the reaction of America’s public figures to the so-called Epstein files the telltale signs of a classic moral panic. It turns out that we’re just not expert enough in the subject to know what we’re talking about.
Trump Crypto Corruption and the Failure of Lawfare
Petty corruption was a recurring theme of the first Trump presidency. Donald Trump’s vast business empire presented inherent, unfixable conflicts of interest: you can’t put your assets in a blind trust when those assets are skyscrapers, hotels, and golf courses with your name written on them in huge gold letters. It was easy enough for foreign governments and potentates to seek favor with Trump by staying in his hotels and giving preferred treatment to his business interests abroad, and Trump cannot have been unaware of that. As I argued at the time, the square peg of commercial transactions with a preexisting legitimate business of the president’s didn’t quite fit the round hole of the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, but it was still ethically shady. Because it was generally done through preexisting legitimate businesses — in most cases by nominal exchange for legitimate services such as renting hotel rooms — however, it was not nearly as brazen as the naked influence-peddling of the Biden family in exchange for nothing but access to the Bidens. It was, more or less, what Americans reasonably expected Trump to do when he was given the job, and his voters didn’t care.
Will Texas Commit Suicide?
Tomorrow, early voting starts in Texas for the Texas Senate primaries and other races. In that state, the Republicans in Texas risk everything for all of us and right now, they seem willing to commit suicide.
Populism’s Self-Defeating Trap
Populist rhetoric is exceptionally effective for pursuing and gaining power, but it provides no program for the complexities of actual governance.
America’s Run of Dunning-Kruger Administrations
The Incite Institute, a social science research center at Columbia University, is releasing a new oral history of the Obama presidency. Judging from the coverage in the New York Times, a key theme is how Barack Obama and just about the entire White House team around him were completely blindsided by the rise and election of Donald Trump.
Let’s Build Conservative Scholarly Journals
Breaking the progressive academic-publishing monopoly is a crucial opportunity for reform.
Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America
In December 2025, former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That’s the primary topic for this far-reaching conversation about mortality, faith, and what truly matters when time is short. Sasse reflects on “redeeming the time” — holding ambition lightly, loving family more deliberately, and resisting the urge to make politics or professional success the center of life.
The Cost of ‘Strategic Autonomy’
France’s President Macron has long been an advocate of “Europe,” by which he mainly means the EU, achieving “strategic autonomy.” After the bust-ups of the last few months between the U.S. and its allies, the need for that autonomy is viewed in many European capitals as being much more pressing.
The SAVE Act’s Virtuous Goals Are Not Worth the Cost
Republicans in Congress, supported vocally by the Trump administration, are pushing for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act. It now appears to have majority support in the Senate after passing the House. The SAVE Act aims at a virtuous and popular end: ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections. And many of the criticisms of the bill are overblown. But the SAVE Act continues a step in the wrong direction in federalizing elections. Worse, calls for Republicans to end the Senate filibuster in order to pass it would cause great mischief in exchange for very modest ends. Senate Republicans should not sell their patrimony for this mess of pottage.
The Funniest Thing That Could Possibly Happen
Based upon the current polling average at RealClearPolitics, if the California gubernatorial primary were to be held today, the result would be the funniest thing possible in American politics: a general election featuring two Republican candidates, shutting out the Democrats.
Trump’s Stupid and Vile Attack on Supreme Court Justices
Donald Trump’s ability to sink to new lows for presidential conduct is, alas, no longer a surprise, but his response to yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling against him on tariffing authority was appallingly awful.
Amy Coney Barrett Is Doing Her Job
“She’s a big problem” blared a tweet featuring a photograph of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Given the opposition she faced from Democratic senators and the broader left during her confirmation hearings in 2020, one might suspect that the post came from a progressive critic. But the post, which has been liked more than 117,000 times, was one of many by supporters of President Donald Trump in response to Barrett’s vote not to lift an order by a federal judge directing the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay out nearly $2 billion in foreign aid. She has also faced accusations that she was a “DEI hire” and calls to step down.
Alysa Liu Is a Spunky, Gen Z National Treasure and a Force of American Athleticism
Following American figure skater Alysa Liu’s gold medal win at the Olympics, many have called her patriotic story of enduring Chinese communist intimidation to represent Team USA and trounce the competition as nothing short of inspiring. Democrats on X, however, are telling Republicans that it’s not their victory lap to take, as Liu is likely a typical woke Gen Z girl.
Illegal Immigration Is a Law Enforcement Problem
It requires law enforcement solutions.
