Latest Stories By Louis Jacobson

Some of the most important moves by the Supreme Court in the past few years haven’t followed the traditional process of briefs, oral arguments, and private discussions among the justices to produce lengthy, heavily footnoted opinions. Some procedural actions by the justices have come to be known collectively as the “shadow docket” — and as […]

For President Joe Biden and congressional leaders, time is running out to increase the nation’s debt ceiling.  Put simply, if the debt ceiling isn’t suspended or raised in the next week or two, the United States won’t be able to cover its bills — not just checks to American seniors, veterans and federal employees but […]

In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly as president, President Joe Biden said the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other threats present world leaders with a stark choice at “the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world.” “We’re challenged by urgent and looming crises, wherein lie enormous opportunities, […]

With President Joe Biden moving to tighten vaccine requirements, some Republicans have pushed back, arguing that Biden’s policies unduly constrain personal liberty. During a Sept. 16 interview on the conservative channel Newsmax, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., focused on the prospect that Biden could make vaccination a requirement for interstate travel, such as on a plane. […]

Republicans are calling for the ouster of Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, following an account of Milley’s actions in the wake of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol building.  According to the Washington Post, the forthcoming book “Peril,” by Post writers Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, tells how […]

With the national coronavirus vaccination effort stalling amid hesitancy among roughly one-third of Americans, President Joe Biden has announced tougher measures aimed at getting more shots in arms and the delta variant under control.  On Sept. 9, Biden set out three major steps to tighten vaccination requirements: A mandate for federal employees to be vaccinated, […]

Congress is considering how much of President Joe Biden’s public investment agenda to implement — but in an unusually confusing fashion. In August, the Senate passed a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill backed by Biden, winning the support of all Senate Democrats as well as 19 Republicans. The infrastructure bill now needs to be approved […]

President Joe Biden’s decision to follow through on a U.S. pledge to withdraw from Afghanistan led to a rush of people seeking to leave the country, including Afghan nationals who had worked with the U.S. military or non-governmental organizations. “We’re going to continue to try to get you out,” Biden said Aug. 26 following the […]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At a special West Virginia University meeting on Sep. 1, faculty members began consideration of a proposal to strengthen the university’s rules on the coronavirus by making vaccines mandatory on campus. Currently, the university “strongly” recommends that students, faculty, and staff get vaccinated, but it does not require them to do so. […]

U.S. officials are working on one of the largest airlifts in U.S. history ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline to leave Afghanistan. The evacuation effort includes American citizens as well as thousands of refugees and Afghans who helped the U.S. military over two decades of war. Images and footage have shown hectic conditions inside and […]

This summer, a wide range of states scrambled to create lotteries to incentivize citizens to get vaccinated for the coronavirus. In all, 26 states offered some type of incentive, with a majority using a lottery drawing, according to the National Governors Association.  On May 10, Ohio became the first in the nation to launch a […]

In Saigon, April 1975, throngs of desperate Vietnamese people scaled the walls of the American embassy, hoping to get to any helicopter that would carry them away to safety.  In Kabul, August 2021, equally desperate Afghans mounted the walls of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, and filled the runways, also hoping to find escape. The […]