Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, accompanied by his wife Pamela Northam makes an announcement during a news conference Richmond, Va., February 2, 2019. (File photo: Jay Paul/Reuters) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced new coronavirus restrictions on Thursday and offered an exhortation to Virginians of faith to practice health precautions when attending church services, assuring them that

New York governor Andrew Cuomo delivers remarks on COVID-19 in Manhattan, N.Y., November 15, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Emmy award-winning New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced last night that he will be adding the Edward M. Kennedy Institute Award for Inspired Leadership to his trophy case. That Cuomo has been a caustic, ineffective, self-interested, and all-around

President-elect Joe Biden speaks to reporters following an online meeting with members of the National Governors Association (NGA) executive committee in Wilmington, Del., November 19, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) For a long time, it has been more or less normal for members of Congress to employ their children in their congressional offices, campaign committees, and political

Frances Gogh receives the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine injections at Guy’s Hospital in London, England, December 8, 2020. (Victoria Jones/Pool via Reuters) Outside the fringes, wariness is understandable, but misguided. On Tuesday, doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were administered to members of the public, for the first time ever, anywhere, in Great Britain.

Hunter Biden celebrates onstage at an election rally after the media projected his father as the winner in Wilmington, Del., November 7, 2020. (Jim Bourg/Reuters) Hunter Biden, son of incoming president Joe Biden, said on Wednesday that federal investigators are conducting a probe into his taxes. The investigation by the FBI and IRS started in

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times recently highlighted the fact that sexual-assault videos and other horrifying material — “child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags” — could be found on Pornhub. How does that happen on a major

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T he Supreme Court this week rejected a Republican bid to undo the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania. No one on the Court dissented — and “no one” includes the newest associate justice, Amy Coney Barrett. This is somewhat confusing when we consider that one of the central accusations leveled

Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., October 23, 2019. (Erin Scott/Reuters) The Federal Trade Commission and 48 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook on Wednesday, which, if successful, could lead to the first court-ordered breakup of a U.S. corporation in a

A worker cleans a table along the sidewalk outside of “Eat at Joes” restaurant amid coronavirus restrictions limiting restaurants to take-out only in Los Angeles County in Redondo Beach, Calif., November 30, 2020. (Mike Blake/Reuters) A California judge on Tuesday ruled that Los Angeles County had acted “arbitrarily” and without rational justification in banning outdoor

(digicomphoto/Getty Images) A government report reveals serious problems with Medicaid’s integrity. Americans are conditioned to expect inefficiency and waste in government programs. We make jokes about long lines at the DMV and the Bridge to Nowhere as if slow-moving bureaucracy and fiscal profligacy are features of the system. But a recent report from the Centers

During a recent social-media spat over the meaning of “Court-packing,” an intrepid person named J. D. Graham got onto the Wayback Machine and found out that sometime between November 1 and December 1, 2020, Dictionary.com, whose “proprietary source is the Random House Unabridged Dictionary,” changed the meaning of the phrase. Here it is before: an

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Rarely are the stakes so high in a special election as in the two Senate runoffs in Georgia on January 5. Incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue seeks another full term, against former House staffer and failed 2017 congressional candidate Jon Ossoff. Appointed Republican senator Kelly Loeffler runs for the last two years of

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn departs after his sentencing was delayed at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., December 18, 2018. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the criminal case against Michael Flynn as moot following President Trump’s pardon of his former national security adviser last month. Judge Emmet Sullivan of the

A gavel sits on the chairman’s dais in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing room on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 14, 2019 (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) With 229 judges confirmed and counting, including three Supreme Court justices and 53 circuit court judges, President Donald Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell have been cementing an

On the menu today: As of tomorrow, under U.S. law, the 2020 presidential election is really, really, really over, under something called the “safe harbor deadline.” The Supreme Court might weigh in on Representative Mike Kelly’s suit, which aims to invalidate all of the mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania this … Read More

Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) speaks during the confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 14, 2020. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters) Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) has called on President Trump to veto any new coronavirus relief package that doesn’t include checks to Americans. Negotiations for a new round of

Army General Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command, briefs the media on U.S. Central Command’s role in defeating ISIL during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., October 17, 2014. (Master Sergeant Adrian Cadiz/USAF) President-elect Joe Biden is expected to select retired four-star Army general Lloyd Austin for secretary of

From left: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed wave from the White House balcony after a signing ceremony for the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle East neighbors, in a strategic realignment of

California attorney general Xavier Becerra (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) California attorney general Xavier Becerra, Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is no mere supporter of a “women’s right to choose.” He’s an abortion enthusiast, a fanatic, a devotee.  Over the course of his decades-long career in public life, Becerra has made it plain that in his ideal America,

A sign in the reception of Goldman Sachs in Sydney, Australia, May 18, 2016. (David Gray/Reuters) Goldman Sachs is considering moving its $8 billion asset management arm to Florida, according to a new report, signaling another potential blow to New York City’s role as the heart of the U.S. financial industry. The company is weighing

(Lighthaunter/Getty Images) The pandemic exposes the error of equating ‘merit’ with cognitive ability. In a new book, David Goodhart advocates a rebalancing of dignity and status. Head, Hand, Heart: Why Intelligence Is Over-Rewarded, Manual Workers Matter, and Caregivers Deserve More Respect, by David Goodhart (Free Press, 368 pages, $27) Never call a dead metaphor too

Volunteers serve people during a free dinner service at the Emergency Assistance Program at the Chicago Catholic Charities in Chicago, November 1, 2013. (Jim Young/Reuters) It does more good for those in need — and comes with the added advantage of helping nonprofits maintain their independence from the government. Which is the better way for

(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Congress must distinguish between wasteful ‘stimulus’ and targeted ‘relief.’ Joe Biden’s prospective Treasury secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, is a long-time supporter of government stimulus spending to spur recovery from recessions. Right now, she has supporters among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, who agree that the economy needs hundreds of billions of dollars

DACA recipients and their supporters celebrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. June 18, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to accept new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Originally implemented by President Obama, DACA authorizes employment for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds as people receive recognitions during a meeting regarding the coronavirus outbreak, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, September 8, 2020. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters) The Trump administration is working to make its hawkish China policy the new normal. The administration’s record on China is decidedly mixed. Withdrawal

A man walks through an empty campus green at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., April 3, 2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) The number of high school seniors applying for federal student financial aid for college has dropped significantly since the previous year, signaling that college attendance may remain low during the 2021–2022 school year. Schools and students

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T he people of the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and elsewhere have spoken. By majority vote, they have chosen Joe Biden over Donald Trump. Isn’t it outrageous to suggest that the vote of the people of those states should be cast for someone other than the candidate preferred by the

President Donald Trump attends a service at the International Church of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., October 18, 2020. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Can I ask a question in long form? Even at this late date, I’m not sure enough ink has been spilled in understanding Donald Trump’s peculiar political success and his bond with (a

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks during Republican National Convention in Washington, D.C., August 26, 2020. (RNC via Reuters) The Daily Beast and Business Insider tried to spin the nursing home death of Kristi Noem’s 98-year-old grandmother into a political hitjob, despite the fact that the death was not COVID-related and the nursing home enacted

Even though the election has ended, the controversies will not. With Michael Flynn now in the rear-view mirror, President Trump reportedly is considering issuing pardons to his children (Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka), his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and even Rudy Giuliani, though none have been charged with a … Read More