What Really Happened in 1996

The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, ruling 6-3 that children born in the United States to illegal immigrants and temporary visa holders remain U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas, who disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision, argued that the Court got the history wrong. He wrote that the 14th Amendment was intended to secure citizenship for freed slaves, “not… the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens.” He also said the amendment “has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support.” Thomas’s view was that because much of the application of Trump’s Day 1 executive order was “consistent with the original public meaning” of the clause in the 14th Amendment, it should have been upheld. If Thomas is right about the amendment’s original purpose, then this ruling isn’t preserving the Constitution but instead redefining it. President Trump called the ruling “Too

For those of us who thought the COVID-19 pandemic was over years ago, we were wrong. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced yesterday that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has signed determinations terminating the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) declarations. The move came after HHS determined that the circumstances justifying those emergency authorizations no longer exist. This change won’t go into effect until next year, though, because those who were profiting from these EUAs need to wind down their operations. Here’s how RFK Jr. explained the decision: “Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in the rule of law. By ending these COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization declarations, we’re reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and targeted.” Public confidence? It’s a little too late for that. Why? Because over a million unreported deaths and injuries were caused by

President Trump is demanding that gas companies lower prices immediately. The problem is that gas prices aren’t set by presidential decree. They are driven primarily by global crude oil prices, refining capacity, inventories, taxes, and competition. This is reminiscent of President Biden blaming grocery stores and retailers for inflation. When prices are politically inconvenient, the temptation is always to blame the companies at the end of the supply chain. Oil prices have fallen sharply over the past week, nearly erasing the “war premium” that followed the U.S.-Iran conflict. But that drop appears to be driven more by market sentiment than by a meaningful improvement in supply. Commodity strategists warned Monday that traders may be pricing in an overly optimistic outlook while underestimating the remaining supply risks. During the conflict, the United States authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help stabilize markets.

Should a defense contractor get to enrich shareholders with stock buybacks while it’s behind schedule on taxpayer-funded government contracts? The House will debate exactly that question this week as lawmakers consider an amendment to the annual defense bill that would prohibit certain Pentagon contractors from buying back their own stock if they are failing to meet production and delivery requirements. The idea is simple: if taxpayers are paying you to build missiles, ships, and fighter jets, maybe build the missiles, ships, and fighter jets before rewarding Wall Street. Enter the lobbyists. America’s weapons makers have deployed their most powerful weapon yet: their lobbyists, sent to kill the bill before it can reach the battlefield. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, and major defense industry groups are urging lawmakers to kill the proposal, arguing that it amounts to the federal government dictating how private companies allocate

The U.S. and Iran traded bombs over the weekend, despite ongoing peace negotiations. By Sunday afternoon, both sides appeared ready to climb back down the ladder. Several outlets warned that “Iran” now says it has no choice but to build a nuclear bomb. Not true. Iranian media published an opinion piece making that argument. That is not the same thing as an official Iranian government position, an IRGC directive, or a policy announcement from Tehran. The piece argued that Iran needs nuclear deterrence to force the U.S. and Israel to negotiate from a position of equality. That is a domestic strategic argument, not a declaration that Iran is building a bomb. Iran’s official position remains that nuclear weapons are forbidden under Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa, first publicly reported in 2003 and later cited by Iran at the IAEA. So no, “Iran” did not announce that it is building a nuclear

It’s hard to imagine worse optics. As much of Europe baked under a heat wave, the European Commission reportedly shut off air conditioning on the lower floors of its Brussels headquarters on Friday while keeping it running on the upper floors. Temperatures climbed above 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Guess where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her senior staff have their offices. The top floors. For years, Brussels has lectured Europeans that they must consume less energy, lower their expectations, and make personal sacrifices in the name of climate policy. But when the building got too hot, the sacrifice apparently wasn’t meant to be shared equally. The message couldn’t be clearer: austerity for the staff downstairs, comfort for the ruling class upstairs.