Republicans are refusing to support an increase in the debt ceiling, but not doing so risks an unprecedented default. An economist explains why it’s time to get rid of the debt limit once and for all.
No guessing who in this 1864 depiction may have been compensated after slavery ended.
API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
History is full of examples of nations paying out to compensate for slavery. But the money never went to those who suffered under the system, only those who profited.
Joe Biden at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware, in January.
Chip Somodevilla/AFP
Endless filibustering has paralysed the US Senate, and with it all of Congress. Will this form of obstructionism be one of the main challenges facing Biden, as some Democrats fear?
Donald Trump is now the subject of a second impeachment trial. Although Democrats were initially optimistic, it is unlikely to succeed given the position of Republicans.
Rioters storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking to intimidate politicians into overturning the presidential election.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
Death threats against Republicans who oppose Trump are not just the result of angry people. They are, instead, an attempt to intimidate people into sticking with his movement.
Senate Republicans must now decide whether to convict the president — an unlikely outcome. But even if they do, purging Trump from the party will prove more difficult.
On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump addressed his supporters in Washington. Shortly afterwards, thousands of them will forcibly enter the Capitol.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
In his January 6 speech in Washington DC, Donald Trump urged his supporters to force their way onto Capitol Hill, is a perfect compendium of his inflammatory populist rhetoric.
Removing Trump from office in nine days is virtually impossible. Congress can impeach now and try him later, but this could distract from President-elect Joe Biden’s all-important first 100 days.
Joe Biden in Atlanta, Georgia, at a rally in support of Democratic senatorial candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Drew Angerer/AFP
It is often said that Joe Biden’s ability to govern will depend on the outcome of Georgia’s January 5 runoff elections, which determine which party controls the senate. The reality is more nuanced.
In a photo from 2004, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, right, speaks with a fellow legislator on the floor of the state Senate chamber.
AP photo/Randy Squires
Congress and the White House are trying to wrap up negotiations on a nearly $1 trillion coronavirus bailout, but Senate Republican demands for a liability shield has been a key obstacle.
‘Tug-of-words’ posts debating the merits of socialism versus capitalism are all over social media platforms.
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Robert Kozinets, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
An analysis of social media commentary about socialism versus capitalism shows that people are talking past each other, but some are engaging in more nuanced discussions as well.
The Biden administration can make significant changes in health care for Americans.
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
The US economy historically does better under Democratic presidents than Republicans, with far fewer months spent in recession
Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, is one of relatively few women appointed to the federal judiciary by the current administration.
Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images
Amy Coney Barrett may be a woman, but Trump’s other judicial appointments are 85% white and 76% male – the least diverse group of federal judges since Ronald Reagan.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with reporters, July 30, 2020.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Holcim (US), Inc. Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan