Category: Politics

Trump’s Second Term Might Have Already Peaked

already, term, might, trumps, Peaked, second0 comment

Sign up for Trump’s Return, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump presidency. Ever since Donald Trump emerged as a credible threat to return to the White House, the guardrails that seemed to restrain him in his first term—political, legal, psychic—have collapsed with astonishing speed. His nominees are sailing through their confirmation hearings, including some who are underqualified and ideologically extreme. Titans of business and media are throwing themselves at his feet as supplicants. He has obliterated long-standing norms, unashamedly soliciting payoffs from corporations with business before the government.…

Read More...

That’s Not How Constitutional Amendments Work

work, Constitutional, Amendments, That's0 comment

Presidents typically spend their final days in the White House taking care of odds and ends: issuing pardons, signing some last executive orders, thanking staff. Joe Biden is doing all of those things—and also trying to change the Constitution on his way out the door. This morning, Biden declared on X that “the Equal Rights Amendment is now the law of the land.” Well, there you have it: The Constitution has a 28th amendment, and women’s rights have been enshrined across the country. Or not. Biden can’t change the Constitution,…

Read More...

Pete Hegseth Declines to Answer

Answer, Declines, Pete, Hegseth0 comment

Pete Hegseth, President-Elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of defense, was initially considered one of his most endangered nominees. But after the MAGA movement organized a campaign to threaten Republicans who expressed reservations about Hegseth’s fitness, criticism dried up quickly. “We gave the Senate an attitude adjustment,” Mike Davis, a Republican operative known for his florid threats to lock up Trump’s political targets, told Politico. That attitude adjustment was on vivid display in Hegseth’s confirmation hearing today before the Armed Services Committee. During the proceedings, the Republican majority displayed no…

Read More...

These Bizarre Theories About the L.A. Wildfires Endanger Everyone

about, These, endanger, everyone, bizarre, theories, wildfires, L.A.0 comment

There has been no shortage of explanations for the devastation wrought by the wildfires still burning across greater Los Angeles. Some commentators have argued that sclerotic local governance left the region unprepared to respond to such a large-scale disaster. Others have invoked the impact of climate change or the perils of the Santa Ana winds. And some have blamed the Ukrainians or Israel. “We sent $ 250 billion to Ukraine,” Charlie Kirk, the CEO of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, wrote on X. “And yet we can’t get…

Read More...

Bad News for Trump’s Legislative Agenda

News, agenda, Legislative, trumps0 comment

The success of President-Elect Donald Trump’s legislative agenda will depend on whether Republicans can close ranks in Congress. They nearly failed on their very first vote. Mike Johnson won reelection as House speaker by the narrowest of margins this afternoon, and only after two Republican holdouts changed their votes at the last minute. Johnson won on the first ballot with exactly the 218 votes he needed to secure the required majority. The effort he expended to keep the speaker’s gavel portends a tough slog for Trump, who endorsed Johnson’s bid.…

Read More...

The President Trump Is Pushing Aside

president, Aside, Trump, pushing0 comment

Only one historic site bears the name of America’s 22nd and 24th president—and it’s no Monticello. The Grover Cleveland Presidential Library and Museum occupies a one-story building in Caldwell, New Jersey, behind the house where its namesake spent the first few years of his life. The museum is the size of a small living room. A Dunkin’ sits across the street. The site befits Cleveland’s legacy. He was a large man but not larger than life; his two terms in the White House were most remarkable for the four years…

Read More...