U.S. Border Patrol agent Carlos Rivera guides migrants to be processed after they attempted to cross the border from Mexico into Sunland Park, N.M., September 17, 2021. (Paul Ratje/Reuters) We are all familiar with the fiscal radicalism of the Democratic reconciliation bill, but it’s time to focus more on the immigration radicalism of the bill.

Thousands of migrants take shelter as they await to be processed near the Del Rio International Bridge after crossing the Rio Grande river in Del Rio, Texas, U.S. September 2021. (Adrees Latif/Reuters) Representative August Pfluger (R., Texas) is sounding alarms after visiting Del Rio, Texas, where Border Patrol agents have been overwhelmed by thousands of

The White House in Washington, D.C., August 5, 2021 (Brent Buterbaugh/National Review) 1994—D.C. Circuit chief judge Abner J. Mikva resigns from the court in order to pursue what for him might be a less political position—White House Counsel to President Clinton. A member of Congress when appointed to the D.C. Circuit by President Carter in

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the response to Hurricane Ida from the White House in Washington, D.C., September 2, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Biden will need to convince the country, and thus the Court, that we are still in a real crisis. NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T he history of the United States, insofar as concerns

Protesters pass the Massachusetts State House following the death of George Floyd, in Boston, Mass., June 3, 2020. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) Bills proposed by the state legislature would empower left-wing interest groups to determine what kids learn in schools. As battles over education heat up across the country, legislators in Massachusetts are considering a range of

The then Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders takes the stage with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez at a campaign rally at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., February 10, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters) The Congressional Progressive Caucus is deliberating whether to deploy its members to kill the $1 trillion Biden-backed infrastructure bill if

Wind farm in Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France, April 27, 2020. (Pascal Rossignol/Reuters) The week of September 13: climate policy and Europe’s energy crunch, inflation, taxation, and much more. Much of last week’s Capital Letter was focused on the growing energy crunch in Europe — a crunch that has something (but not everything) to do with needlessly destructive

Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. bathe and wash their clothes in the Rio Grande river near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S. as they wait to be processed, in Del Rio, Texas, September 2021. (Go Nakamura/Reuters) Taking advantage of an apparent lapse in border security at the junction of Del Rio, Texas

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (legalnewsline.com) 2017—Evidently unhappy that a criminal defendant wasn’t making sweeping attacks on the statute under which she was convicted, a Ninth Circuit panel presided over by Stephen Reinhardt issues an extraordinary order, months after oral argument, inviting three left-wing organizations to file amicus briefs that make those

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) speaks to the media during a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., March 11, 2021. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday called on President Biden to deploy the National Guard to Del Rio, Texas, where Border Patrol agents have been overwhelmed by thousands of

Workers look at the French Navy vessel Suffren, first of the nuclear Barracuda-class attack submarines, leaving the workshops of its construction at the Naval Group site in Cherbourg, France, in 2019. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) The U.S.–France relationship is in meltdown over a recently canceled submarine deal that Australian officials had cast doubt on for months. For

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with the Philippines’ Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin at the State Department in Washington, D.C., September 9, 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly deleted a tweet accusing Chinese leaders of weakening Hong Kong’s long-term political and social stability and affirming the

(anyaberkut/Getty Images) One downside of the new media environment is that people with no journalistic — or apparently any other! — scruples can retail complete falsehoods as they please. Take this laughably conspiratorial and fictional post. It suggests that NR is killing anti-Google articles at the behest of Google. This is false. It says “sources

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R., Ohio) attends a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, December 2, 2020. (Greg Nash / Pool via Reuters) Frankly, I’m not sure I had heard of Anthony Gonzalez until Josh Mandel called him a “traitor.” Mandel is the leading GOP Senate candidate in Ohio. Who was this traitor Gonzalez? A

(Caiaimage/Sam Edwards/Getty Images) Making stuff free is an old tactic for politicians seeking popularity.  The ancient Romans gave people free bread and circuses. Now, Democrats in Congress want to make community college free. (I don’t think I need to add that any time scarce resources are used, the thing can’t really be “free” owing to

Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisc., in August 2016. (Eric Thayer/Reuters) The special counsel’s final report on the Clinton campaign’s manufacturing of the Trump–Russia collusion narrative will be very interesting reading. NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T here is a long game and a short game going on in

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) attends a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, December 2, 2020. (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters) Representative Anthony Gonzalez (R., Ohio) announced on Thursday evening that he will not run for reelection in 2022, citing the strain on his family of political work as well as “toxic dynamics” in the Republican

U.S. Attorney John Durham (United States Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut/Wikimedia) John Durham, the special counsel tapped by the Trump administration to audit the Russia investigation, is expected to direct a grand jury to indict a cybersecurity attorney for knowingly making a false statement to the FBI. Durham is reportedly investigating whether Michael Sussmann, a

A man grabs a gun displayed at Shore Shot Pistol Range gun shop in Lakewood Township, N.J., March 19, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters) They’re just another way of fighting the culture wars. In the latest issue of National Review, I write about the lax enforcement of our gun laws and touch on a theme that is

United States Penitentiary, Marion, Ill. (Steve Starr/Corbis via Getty Images) The incarcerated population is falling, and it’s mostly hardened criminals ‘We take the big sellers, you take the small sellers.” It was a sensible division of labor, the kind that needs to be made when the federal and state governments have “concurrent jurisdiction” over a

(jittawit.21/Getty Images) Teaching that math is ‘racist’ will taint the field for everyone, including those who need it most. Math proficiency is white supremacy, proclaims Deborah Lowenberg Ball, a mathematics professor and former dean of the University of Michigan School of Education. In the latest episode of the EdFix Podcast, Ball complains that math is

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) attend a hearing in Washington, D.C., April 28, 2021. (Tom Williams/Reuters) Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) on Wednesday again raised questions about the legitimacy of the FBI’s 2018 background check into Brett Kavanaugh, saying it may have been “just as flawed” as its investigation into former U.S.A. Gymnastics team doctor

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asks a question during the nomination hearing of Ed Gonzalez for director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 15, 2021. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) sent a letter to Google on Wednesday demanding answers  about why it has “seemingly censored” ads by

President Joe Biden makes remarks to promote his infrastructure spending proposals, in Arvada, Colo., September 14, 2021. (Leah Millis ) President Biden promised not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year. He has actually said that the middle class would see a tax cut under his “Build Back Better” agenda, and that

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., February 27, 2021. (Octavio Jones/Reuters) I published a piece on NRO this morning raising doubts about Kristi Noem’s record as governor of South Dakota. As part of my reporting, I spoke with Republican lawmakers, activists, and others in the state

Supporters gather as gubernatorial recall candidate Larry Elder campaigns in the recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom in Monterey Park, Calif., September 13, 2021. (Mike Blake/Reuters) Beware the stolen-election narrative. NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T here will be much punditry in the next few days seeking to explain the California recall results. Gavin Newsom himself has

Texas State Capitol in Austin. (Nclauzing/Getty Images) We should celebrate the Texas heartbeat bill and seek more victories for the pro-life cause. The pro-life cause has just secured a major victory for the unborn and their mothers, with further protections possible soon — if its champions stay courageous and don’t flinch. The Supreme Court’s decision

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at St. Mary’s Center during a “Stop The Recall” rally ahead of the recall election in Oakland, Calif., September 11, 2021. (Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters) Personally, I don’t find it hard to imagine a Democrat winning a political race in California. Even a Democrat like Gavin Newsom. I especially don’t find it

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland attends a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., June 25, 2021. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters) Ed Whelan has some good initial thoughts on the very odd Justice Department lawsuit against the Texas abortion law, specifically the fact that the complaint does not identify an actual statutory or other

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 16, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Pool via Reuters) Senate Democrats are again demanding that Republicans help raise the debt limit to help them bypass legislative norms and debate and cram through their agenda in an unprecedented $3.5 trillion bill