Essays

Page 29 of 54

Judgment / August 20, 2026

The Administrative State’s Fusion of Powers Is the Real Constitutional Crisis

Ask most Americans what separates our constitutional republic from the British system, and the textbook answer comes quickly. Parliament fuses the executive...

1 min read

JudgmentAugust 20, 20261 min read

The Nuclear Option Isn’t the Senate’s Real Crisis—the Administrative State Is

Every few years, Washington works itself into a familiar panic over the Senate filibuster and the so-called nuclear option. The story is always the same...

AttentionAugust 20, 20261 min read

What a Government Shutdown Reveals When You Pay Attention

There is no better accidental audit of the federal government than a government shutdown. I want to say that directly, because almost nobody else will. The...

JudgmentAugust 19, 20261 min read

Congress Has No General Power to Investigate: The Forgotten Limit on Congressional Oversight

Here is the line you will not hear in most civics classrooms: the Constitution never grants Congress a general power called oversight. The word appears...

JudgmentAugust 19, 20261 min read

Executive Orders Are a Constitutional Judgment Test, and We Keep Failing It

Stop counting executive orders. Start counting constitutional violations. Every four or eight years, the country discovers the executive order as if it were...

JudgmentAugust 19, 20261 min read

The Hidden Cost of Cloture: How the Senate’s 60-Vote Rule Built the Administrative State

Most debates about the filibuster are badly framed. The question is not "obstruction versus deliberation." Every constitutional conservative wants...

JudgmentAugust 19, 20261 min read

The Public Good Is a Byproduct, Not a Plan

There is no phrase in American politics more useful to a politician and more corrosive to liberty than "the public good." It sounds noble. It shuts down...

JudgmentAugust 18, 20261 min read

Due Process vs. the Administrative State: The Wall Against Bureaucratic Tyranny

Here is the due process story almost nobody is telling: the gravest threat to due process in America today is not a criminal defendant walking on a...

JudgmentAugust 18, 20261 min read

Gridlock Is the Point: Presidential vs. Parliamentary Government

Ask most people whether a presidential or parliamentary system is better and the conversation turns to efficiency within a minute. Parliamentary systems...

JudgmentAugust 18, 20261 min read

Impeachment Is Not a Vote of No Confidence

Most Americans now think of impeachment as Congress's way of firing a president. That is not what the Constitution says. It is not what the Framers...