Impeachment: Careful What You Wish For
Reading Time: 4 minutes Constitutional expert Laurence Tribe settles the arguments on impeachment with context, background, history, and forecasting of the act of removing top civic officials.
Mulvaney Tries to Make Consumer Watchdog Disappear: Will His Magic Act Work?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Mick Mulvaney now heads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency he once called a “sick, sad joke.” He’s made the bureau more industry-friendly, turning the consumer watchdog into more of a lapdog. Will his gambit work?
Farewell to a Hypocrite
Reading Time: 3 minutes Having failed to fully gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, House Speaker Paul Ryan is calling it quits. What’s next for one of Washington’s biggest hypocrites?
Musings of a Mass Shooting Survivor
Reading Time: 6 minutes WhoWhatWhy editor Toni Johnson shares her experience of being a mass shooting survivor, and decries the failure to have an honest conversation about gun violence in America.
Privatizing Veterans Affairs: A Risky Gamble?
Reading Time: 9 minutes A privatization of healthcare services would not just mean sweeping changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs, it could also change how the government does business — one way or another.
Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen’s Unexplored Russia Connections
Reading Time: 26 minutes With the FBI raid on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s office, everyone is scrambling for explanations. But as WhoWhatWhy reported last year, Michael Cohen’s background has long demanded close scrutiny. He came out of nowhere, backed by Russia-connected figures, and bought his way into Donald Trump’s heart. Here’s the full story as it appeared on September 18, 2017.
Group With Ties to Trump Opioid Chief Scores Big
Reading Time: 7 minutes A small group with ties to President Donald Trump’s opioid czar has just been awarded $24 million in federal grants.
Fighting Abortion Texas Style
Reading Time: 17 minutes This excerpt from author Robin Marty’s book, Crow After Roe, chronicles the various ways Texas lawmakers worked with anti-abortion advocates to sharply decrease women’s access.
Will Republicans Counter Millennial Protests with New Voter Suppression Laws?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Personal attacks on the Parkland students have shown that their political opponents are scared. Will they resort to new voter suppression schemes to keep millennials away from the polls in November?
Trump, Kushner, Russia — and the Blackstone Mystery
Reading Time: 8 minutes President Donald Trump’s close friend, billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, and his company, Blackstone, have interesting Russia connections. Thus far, though, they’ve flown beneath the radar.
Why the March for Our Lives Might Be a March for the Ages
Reading Time: 5 minutes Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people participated in the March for Our Lives, calling for gun restrictions. Where will this lead?
Role of Judges in Hiding Trump Activities Helped Pave Way for Eventual Victory
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s possible Donald Trump might not have won — might not even have run for president — were it not for the action of a panel of judges years ago.
The Puzzling Putin-Trump Relationship
Reading Time: 4 minutes President Donald Trump once again had people scratching their heads over his (in)actions involving Russia. Why does he so frequently seem to act with Vladimir Putin’s interests in mind — at the expense of the American people?
Subpoena of Trump Organization Records Brings Mueller Closer to Sater, Cohen
Reading Time: 3 minutes General Counsel Robert Mueller is scrutinizing Donald Trump’s business dealings and getting closer to the president’s friends who have Russian connections.
Canadian Lumber Tariffs Highlight Downsides of Trade Wars
Reading Time: 5 minutes Economists warn that President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of tariffs on aluminum and steel could backfire. That’s exactly what happened when the administration imposed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber last year.
ACLU Battles Voter-Suppression Architect Kobach in Kansas Court
Reading Time: 3 minutes Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is in court this week defending one of his voter disenfranchisement schemes. And hardly anybody is paying attention.
Like Death and Taxes, Budget Riders Are Forever
Reading Time: 5 minutes As Congress prepares to pass a spending bill, the war against riders intensifies. When one party holds power in both the legislative and executive branches, these additional bill provisions may be the best way to amplify and solidify a partisan agenda.
Youths Suing US Gov’t on Climate Change to Get Day in Court
Reading Time: 2 minutes A group of children and teenagers has been trying to force the US government to take action on climate change for years. Now it looks as though they will finally see their day in court.
What Gun Background Checks Can’t Detect: Stupidity
Reading Time: 5 minutes Raised age requirements and background checks for gun purchases won’t fix absent-mindedness. Or stupidity.
What Can a Gun-Toting Church Tell Us About Conservatives?
Reading Time: 8 minutes When Barack Obama said segments of Pennsylvania were clinging to guns and religion, he identified the dynamic that would lead to Donald Trump’s election. That sentiment was on display once more at a gun-blessing ceremony that most of the media covered — and got totally wrong.