Executive Branch

President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29, 2024. Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.

Hunter Biden and the Future of Clemency Hunter Biden and the Future of Clemency

Biden knows there is a better way to use it—other people’s children also deserve mercy.

Dec 4, 2024 / Rachel E. Barkow and Mark Osler

Kash Patel at the Team Trump Bus Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 10, 2024.

Kash Patel Is Trump’s Scariest Cabinet Appointment Yet Kash Patel Is Trump’s Scariest Cabinet Appointment Yet

The president-elect wants to put a “deep state” conspiracy theorist in charge of the actual deep state.

Dec 3, 2024 / Chris Lehmann

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, on Capitol Hill to discuss his nomination with senators.

The Senate Must Reject Scandal-Plagued Pete Hegseth The Senate Must Reject Scandal-Plagued Pete Hegseth

And then it must keep rejecting Trump’s cabinet picks.

Dec 3, 2024 / Joan Walsh

Takes one to know one: Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, former underboss of the Gambino crime family, who confessed to 19 murders when he testified against his boss, John Gotti, is a fan of President-elect Trump.

Donald Trump’s Government of Gangsters Donald Trump’s Government of Gangsters

Who is being naïve now?

Dec 2, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Donald Trump, Kid Rock, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pose for a photo as they attend UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York, in November 2024.

Somehow, Americans Are Liking Trump Better Every Day Somehow, Americans Are Liking Trump Better Every Day

The incoming administration's cabinet appointments are a bizarre disaster. So why are the president-elect's approval ratings going up?

Nov 26, 2024 / Chris Lehmann

Scott Bessent speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, DC, July 10, 2024.

Only a Working-Class Party Can Challenge Donald Trump’s Corruption Only a Working-Class Party Can Challenge Donald Trump’s Corruption

GOP plutocracy thrives as long as Democrats remain beholden to Wall Street.

Nov 26, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Black and white photo of people waving to a train.

America Has Done Mass Deportation Before America Has Done Mass Deportation Before

From the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to the deportation of Mexican-Americans during the Great Depression, Trump can easily find precedents for his policy. None of them ended well.

Nov 25, 2024 / Eric Foner

A residential building is damaged by Russian rocket fire in Odesa, Ukraine, on November 18, 2024.

Biden’s Mindless Escalation Is a Final Betrayal of Ukraine Biden’s Mindless Escalation Is a Final Betrayal of Ukraine

Instead of preparing for inevitable negotiations, the outgoing president adds fuel to the fire.

Nov 22, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Matt Gaetz speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

BREAKING: Matt Gaetz Quits, and Journalism Still Matters—a Lot BREAKING: Matt Gaetz Quits, and Journalism Still Matters—a Lot

Forty-five minutes after CNN contacted Trump’s attorney general nominee about additional allegations of sexual misconduct, he was done.

Nov 21, 2024 / John Nichols

RFK Jr. at a podium pointing his finger.

How Nominally Pro-Choice RFK Jr. Can Get Anti-Abortion Groups to Back His HHS Nomination How Nominally Pro-Choice RFK Jr. Can Get Anti-Abortion Groups to Back His HHS Nomination

He can pick a strident abortion opponent like Roger Severino, who wrote the Project 2025 chapter on HHS, as his number two.

Nov 21, 2024 / Joan Walsh

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