Articles by Eleanor Stratton

Climate Lawyer Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: ‘It’s Really Just a Carbon Tax’

David Bookbinder used to be the lawyer representing Boulder, Colorado, in its climate lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. He’s no longer actively involved in the case. Which apparently freed him up to say what the lawsuit is actually trying to accomplish. “Essentially, the tort...

How Trump’s $2000 Promise To American Taxpayers Works In Practice

President Trump announced on his social media platform that Americans can expect checks for $2,000, funded by “massive Tariff Income pouring into our Country from foreign countries.” The money would go to “low and middle income USA Citizens” – direct payments from trade policy revenue....

Supreme Court Blocks Order Requiring Full SNAP Funding During Government Shutdown

A federal judge gave the Trump administration 24 hours to send $4 billion to 42 million hungry Americans. The administration’s response wasn’t to comply – it was to race to the Supreme Court for permission to ignore him. By 9:30 PM Friday, the Supreme Court granted that permission. The...

Democrats Offer Compromise to End Shutdown. Republicans Call It ‘Political Terrorism.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer walked onto the floor Friday morning with what he called “a very simple compromise.” The government would reopen at current spending levels. Three bipartisan appropriations bills would pass. And expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies – the ones keeping...

Supreme Court Protects Gay Marriage

The Supreme Court issued one of its shortest decisions Monday morning. No explanation. No noted dissents. Just a single sentence declining to hear an appeal that asked them to overturn the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Kim Davis – the Kentucky county clerk who went to jail in 2015...

Reagan Judge Throws Away Lifetime Appointment to Speak Freely About Trump Administration

Mark Wolf spent 40 years on the federal bench. He had a lifetime appointment – the kind of job security that exists nowhere else in American life. He could have served until he died, drawing his salary, wielding his power, secure in the knowledge that no president could touch him. Sunday, he...

Eight Democrats Just Ended the Shutdown

Eight Democratic and Independent senators walked onto the floor Sunday evening and voted to end the longest government shutdown in American history. They knew what was coming – fury from their base, accusations of betrayal, charges that they’d surrendered without getting anything in return....

Bernie Sanders Crashes Schumer’s Victory Lap, Exposing a Deep Fracture in the Democratic Party

It was meant to be a routine victory lap for the Senate Minority Leader, a moment to celebrate a surprisingly good election night for his party amidst a grueling government shutdown. But the carefully orchestrated press conference was suddenly upended by an uninvited guest with a very different...

It’s the Economy, Stupid: How Trump’s Forgotten Promise Cost the GOP on Election Night

The results of Tuesday’s off-year elections have sent a shockwave through the Republican Party. Losses in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, coupled with a stunning socialist victory in the New York City mayoral contest, have forced a painful internal reckoning. While party leaders...

New York City Mayoral Race Sees Record Turnout as Polls Close on Mamdani-Cuomo Showdown

Polls closed in New York City Tuesday night in a mayoral race that drew more than 2 million voters – the first time turnout has exceeded that threshold since 1969. The contest pits Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist who won the Democratic primary, against Andrew Cuomo, the former...

The SCOTUS Tariff Case That Could Redefine Presidential Power

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat in the middle rows of the Supreme Court chamber Wednesday, flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The three men responsible for negotiating Trump’s trade deals watched as the justices spent two and a half hours...

Poverty as Probable Cause? Proposed Drug Testing for SNAP Recipients Faces Significant Constitutional Obstacles

Representative David Rouzer introduced H.R. 372 in January requiring states to drug test SNAP food stamp recipients quarterly or lose federal funding. The bill mandates testing for anyone arrested for drug offenses in the past five years, screens others for “risk of substance abuse,” and denies...

With Hours to Spare, Federal Judges Step in to Stop Trump from Cutting Off Food Stamps for 42 Million Americans

The clock was just hours away from striking midnight on the first of the month, a deadline that threatened to plunge 42 million Americans into a food crisis. As the government shutdown dragged on, the nation’s food stamp program was set to go dark. In a last-minute, dramatic intervention, the...

Trump’s “Proof of Citizenship” Order Just Got Killed

The long and heated war over who gets to set the rules for America’s elections has just seen a decisive battle. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a permanent, final ruling on the President’s attempt to unilaterally change how Americans register to vote. U.S. District Judge Colleen...

Trump Threatens to “Choke” NYC if “Communist” Mamdani Wins

The race for mayor of New York City has just been nationalized in the most dramatic way possible. On the eve of the election, the President of the United States has intervened, not just with an endorsement, but with a direct and constitutionally explosive threat against the city’s 8 million...

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment Meets Day 30: Why the Founders Made Sure Congress Always Gets Paid

Senator Lindsey Graham wants to amend the Constitution to force members of Congress to forfeit their paychecks during government shutdowns. He introduced the proposal Wednesday – on day 30 of a shutdown that has left 1.3 million federal workers unpaid while senators and representatives continue...

Trump Orders Immediate Resumption of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Testing

President Trump announced Wednesday night that he has ordered the Department of War to resume nuclear weapons testing “immediately” to match other nations’ programs. The directive ends a 33-year American moratorium on nuclear testing that has been maintained by presidents of both parties...

He Flipped a Table on Campus, Got Fired, Then Allegedly Threatened Trump. The FBI Just Arrested Him.

Derek Lopez flipped a Turning Point USA table at Illinois State University, got fired from his teaching assistant position, and then allegedly posted threats against President Trump online. The FBI and Secret Service arrested him Tuesday following a month-long joint investigation. He faces federal...

Whistleblower Exposes Deadly “Shockwave”: Illegal Immigrant Licenses Tied to Fatal Crashes?

The vast network of interstate highways is the circulatory system of the American economy, powered by millions of commercial truck drivers moving goods across the continent. But a series of horrific, fatal accidents involving undocumented immigrants behind the wheel of semi-trucks has just blown...

“I’d Love a Third Term.” Is It Time Americans Take Trump Seriously?

This is a story about more than just one man’s ambitions. It is a profound test of one of our republic’s most essential constitutional guardrails – the 22nd Amendment – and a sobering look at what happens when unwritten norms of presidential restraint begin to crumble. President Trump’s...