Executive

The Senate Delays a Key Nomination Hearing

The move pushes back the examination of Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for education secretary. But three other Cabinet picks are still set to receive confirmation hearings before they have obtained ethics agreements.

• Russell Berman
• January 9, 2017

Being Trans, and an Immigrant, Under the Trump Administration

Many transgender Americans have only been openly trans under an Obama administration that respected their rights. That is about to change.

• Meredith Talusan
• January 5, 2017

A President Without an Administration

The Trump transition is behind schedule in vetting its nominees, and struggling to fill senior positions before the inauguration.

• Russell Berman
• January 3, 2017

Obama Leaves the Constitution Weaker Than He Found It

Even for those like me who admire the 44th president, the constitutional record is disturbingly mixed.

• Garrett Epps
• January 3, 2017

Obama's Faith in White America Was Not Misplaced

Donald Trump’s rise, and Hillary Clinton’s loss, is not a sign that America is irredeemably bigoted.

• Daniel Foster
• December 30, 2016

Did Jeff Sessions Champion Desegregation?

Trump’s nominee for attorney general claims to have “filed 20 or 30” desegregation cases as U.S. attorney in Alabama, but there’s little evidence to support that.

• Adam Serwer
• December 7, 2016

Trump Could Be in Violation of the Constitution His First Day in Office

Unless he divests himself of his business holdings, the president-elect could violate constitutional rules meant to guard against corruption.

• Norman L. Eisen and Richard W. Painter
• December 7, 2016

Ben Carson, Poverty Fighter?

Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s next housing secretary brings no formal experience in the federal bureaucracy, but his vision for reviving inner cities will likely stem from his own upbringing.

• Russell Berman
• December 5, 2016

Why White Evangelicals Are Feeling Hopeful About Trump

They’re worried about poverty, hunger, drug addiction, and the “softness” of the country. And they’ve got high expectations for their president.

• Emma Green
• December 1, 2016

Trump Excuses the White Working Class From the Politics of Personal Responsibility

The Republican Party long insisted that the troubles of the inner city were cultural—but rather than apply the same logic to struggling blue-collar communities, Trump blamed their problems on external forces.

• Peter Beinart
• November 28, 2016

The Signal Sent by Picking Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

The United States’s top law-enforcement official possesses sweeping discretionary power—and the Alabama senator’s record suggests how he’ll use it.

• Garrett Epps
• November 21, 2016

Will Jeff Sessions Roll Back Civil-Rights Protections?

Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general has a record of hostility toward the federal government's role in curtailing discrimination on the basis of race, sexuality, and immigration status.

• Adam Serwer
• November 18, 2016

Liberals Have a Choice: Reach Out to Trump Voters, or Condemn Them

If progressives want to win back political influence in America, they may need the support of the people they see as racists.

• Emma Green
• November 15, 2016

The U.S. Media Is Completely Unprepared to Cover a Trump Presidency

Donald Trump and his surrogates have shown an uncanny ability to lie in the face of objective facts. They will now have the power of the federal government to help them.

• Adam Serwer
• November 11, 2016

The Jewish Struggle to Understand Trump's Election

Synagogues hosted prayer and healing services on Wednesday for congregants grappling with the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

• Emma Green
• November 10, 2016

The Trump Transition Begins

President Obama pledges a smooth transfer of power to a man he tried so desperately to defeat.

• Russell Berman
• November 10, 2016

What It Feels Like to Win an Election as the Underdog

The Philadelphia GOP was supposed to be a minority party in a Democratic-leaning swing state. On election night, something else entirely happened.

• Emma Green
• November 9, 2016

A Final Pep Rally for Clinton

The Democratic nominee spoke to a celebratory crowd in Philadelphia—but elsewhere, Americans remain divided.

• Emma Green
• November 8, 2016

All Eyes Are on Pennsylvania

Politicians are descending on the Keystone State, which will help determine which party wins the Senate—and the White House.

• Emma Green
• November 7, 2016

Why Only Cafeteria Catholics Can Survive in American Politics

What Tim Kaine and Mike Pence say about the diluted identity of the American Church

• Emma Green
• September 21, 2016