It has been a painful few months watching federal support for health and human services, museums, libraries, public broadcasting, science, education, diplomacy and environmental protection be intentionally and indiscriminately gutted by President Donald Trump. What’s more troubling is that neither Congress nor the courts have meaningfully ...Read more

Americans have become woefully familiar with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the purveyor of flagrant misinformation about medical treatments. And with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the minimizer of health crises such as the spreading measles outbreak. And with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the antivaccine crusader.

Now let's meet ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s goal of more manufacturing in the United States is laudable. However, the approach of using tariffs as a weapon is reckless and will lead to price hikes and supply chain disruptions and destroy the backbone of America — small businesses.

As a small business owner, I know firsthand the pain of tariffs imposed on ...Read more

The "Newsom for president" bandwagon hit another rut this week.

A new poll by the L.A. Times and UC Berkeley found California's registered voters believe — by a margin of more than 2 to 1 — the state's gallivanting governor is more focused on boosting his chances of winning the White House than fixing the multitude of problems facing him ...Read more

The election of an American pope, Leo XIV, is a fitting culmination of a conclave that had the feel of an American presidential election, except shrouded in secrecy and mercifully brief.

Conservatives and liberals rallied around their favorite candidates, dished dirt on the opposition and adopted slogans (“unity” and “diversity”) aimed...Read more

By all indications, the pharmaceutical industry won’t be spared from tariffs. In April, the Commerce Department took its first step toward imposing levies on drug imports. The goal, according to the White House, is to encourage companies to manufacture in the U.S.

Yet tariffs are unlikely to increase American self-sufficiency anytime soon. ...Read more

Since the early 2000s, governors and legislators from both parties have signed onto a climate agenda in California that is making energy steadily unaffordable.

Gasoline in California, according to AAA, which tracks national gas prices daily, costs an average of about $4.78, compared with $3.16 nationally. The cost of electricity in the state is...Read more

Ahead of Mother’s Day this year, the White House has been exploring various policies to boost America’s low birth rate, including a baby bonus (i.e. government cash transfers at the time of a child’s birth).

This may sound like a strong incentive to have more children, but even though quite a few countries have attempted this (Canada, ...Read more

A family of seagulls — two adults feeding a chick — had gathered by the papal chimney a couple of minutes before white smoke billowed out to announce the election of a new pope. The Holy Spirit is usually represented by a dove, so what to make of this trinity?

In any case, it’s just one small detail in a poignant day. There are already ...Read more

In picking a new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Vatican had a chance to honor the late Pope Francis’ legacy as the greenest pope in modern history. In choosing the American (and Peruvian) Cardinal Robert Prevost — henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV — his fellow cardinals appear to have seized that opportunity. Humanity’...Read more

Nearly four months into his second term, it’s becoming clear that President Donald Trump’s xenophobic views on immigration are reshaping what it means to become a U.S. citizen.

His vision tilts heavily toward the wealthy and well-to-do, with special shortcuts for them and barriers to entry for the rest — particularly the world’s ...Read more

During the past few weeks, President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff wars have rattled the stock market, decimated many Americans’ retirement funds and promised to send grocery prices soaring — and his administration hasn’t even gotten to critical pharmaceutical tariffs yet. But that will likely be the next shoe to drop.

Trump...Read more

New York Times Opinion Columnist David Brooks recently published a column with a title pointing to “Trump’s Single Stroke of Genius.”

This immediately caught my attention. Brooks is not a great fan of President Donald Trump, to say the least, yet, he conceded that the administration exudes relentless energy, noting “I don’t know ...Read more

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week cutting federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, he was right about one thing: We do live in a moment of media abundance.

But his market-based notion of abundance fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of public broadcasting, which is not ...Read more

At the end of March, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about religious freedom. In late April, it heard two more. By summer, the Court could decide to give religious employers another tax break, let religious parents excuse their children from classes that mention queer people, and give religious charter schools access to public ...Read more

As immigration scholars, we’ve long studied the policies and politics that shape how people cross borders, build communities and seek opportunity. We’ve interviewed families, analyzed survey data, collaborated with immigrant organizations, informed local governments and documented the complex ways in which immigration law shapes everyday ...Read more

When Pope John Paul II visited Chicago in 1979, an estimated 1.5 million people flocked to see the Holy Father, who said a three-hour Mass in Grant Park. This newspaper called it “the largest crowd ever assembled in one place in Chicago history.”

And for decades, a visit from the pope felt like the best Chicago Catholics could ever hope for...Read more

When Donald Trump signed an executive order last week cracking down on truckers who don't speak the best English, there was one industry expert I needed to call: my dad.

Lorenzo Arellano drove big rigs across Southern California for 30 years before retiring in 2019. His six-day workweeks kept us well-fed and clothed and allowed him to afford a ...Read more

Media coverage of President Donald Trump’s recommended Department of Energy budget has been predictably negative. It has focused heavily on his proposed cuts, with the word “slash” appearing in numerous headlines. But his budget is more accurately described as a major policy shift—and a very beneficial one.

If Congress passes this ...Read more

A recent executive order to dismantle the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is another policy change in America's long history of systematically suppressing minority economic advancement. This decision, which threatens to unravel decades of progress in fostering minority entrepreneurship, demands immediate attention and action.

Since ...Read more