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Opinion | Government Shutdowns Might Get a Lot ScarierA government shutdown like the one that might happen next week will interrupt many essential government functions. But it won’t cause a run on the banks or shake the financial system. It will not cause disruptions in the payment of Social Security or Medicare benefits. That’s because Congress has given scores of government agencies power to independently finance themselves, reasoning that their functions are too important to be left to the uncertainties of the annual appropriations process. But now, the constitutionality of independent agency funding is at risk in a case pending before the Supreme Court. The opinion could lead to a sea change in how essential government agencies function — and to potential chaos every time Congress engages in brinkmanship over funding. In the case, known as CFSA v. CFPB, the Community Financial Services Association is seeking to block the enforcement…

The PatriotPhotographs by Ashley GilbertsonThe missiles that comprise the land component of America’s nuclear triad are scattered across thousands of square miles of prairie and farmland, mainly in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. About 150 of the roughly 400 Minuteman III inter­continental ballistic missiles currently on alert are dispersed in a wide circle around Minot Air Force Base, in the upper reaches of North Dakota. From Minot, it would take an ICBM about 25 minutes to reach Moscow.These nuclear weapons are under the control of the 91st Missile Wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command, and it was to the 91st—the “Rough Riders”—that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid a visit in March 2021. I accompanied him on the trip. A little more than two months had passed since the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and America’s nuclear arsenal was on Milley’s…

The Real Issue in the UAW StrikeThe United Automobile Workers’ strike against the Big Three manufacturers that began earlier today is exacerbating the most significant political vulnerability of President Joe Biden’s drive to build a clean-energy economy.A trio of bills Biden passed through Congress during his first two years in the Oval Office has generated a torrent of private-sector investment into clean-energy projects. But so far most of that green investment and the jobs it will create are flowing into red-leaning communities that are generally hostile to both the Democratic Party and labor unions.Congressional Democrats provided all the votes for the legislation that is catalyzing the rapid growth of the new green economy. But with so many of the new energy projects benefiting red places, many people in progressive circles worry that this historic transformation will fail to generate either sufficient political rewards for the president and congressional Democrats, or…

Newt Gingrich Calls on House Republicans to Expel ‘Actively Destructive’ Matt Gaetz from GOP Con…Newt Gingrich, a longtime Republican Party elder and former Speaker of the House, is calling on the House GOP to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) from their conference over his efforts to team up with House Democrats to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In a column for the Washington Post, Gingrich minced no words, leading with the assertion that Gaetz “is an anti-Republican who has become actively destructive to the conservative movement.” “Some behavior crosses the line — and when it does, there has to be consequences,” argued Gingrich. He continued: If Gaetz were simply a loudmouthed junior member who attacked McCarthy every day, that would be fine, too. He would just be isolated with a small group of lawmakers who can’t figure out how to get things done. They’d huddle together seeking warmth and reassurance from…

New Net Neutrality Rules Could Threaten Popular ServicesNet neutrality regulations have been dead for years. They should stay that way. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has moved to reopen and relitigate the issue. Net neutrality boosters believe we need strict laws to keep internet service providers (ISPs) from prioritizing, slowing down, or blocking specific types of content, such as an application or a website. Such rules were enacted in 2016, under the Obama administration. They were removed after Donald Trump’s FCC chair, Ajit Pai, brokered a 2017 agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address potential harms caused by ISPs while simultaneously repealing strict net neutrality laws. This was a good outcome. The FCC would serve as the expert on broadband, and the FTC would bring cases when consumers were harmed. Consumers got protection, and the FCC was prevented from adding another layer of bureaucracy (and from grabbing…

The Republicans’ Exercise in FutilityYesterday was not a good day for House Republicans or for their struggling leader, Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In the morning, McCarthy was forced to scrap a procedural vote on a GOP proposal to avert a government shutdown that will commence at the end of this month if Congress doesn’t act. In the afternoon, a handful of conservatives tanked McCarthy’s bid to advance legislation funding the Pentagon.The failure of the proposal to prevent a shutdown was the more ominous defeat, both for Republicans and for the country. Yet even if McCarthy manages to pass a version of this, it will almost certainly be an exercise in futility. For starters, it would fund the government for a mere 30 additional days. And its basic provisions—cutting spending by 8 percent for all but the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments, restarting construction of the southern border wall, cutting off pathways…