Like many other components of our constitutional system meant to restrain an overreaching executive, the Senate power of 'advice and consent' on the president's nominees is in a state of disrepair. Early in his administration, Donald Trump strong-armed senators to confirm Cabinet appointees; later, unable to get around the objections of a few Democratic senators, he deployed a complicated legal shell game to install a handful of prosecutors to top positions in blue states across the country. Five courts have now rejected this scheme'creating a significant mess for the Justice Department and calling into question the longevity of Trump's strategy to evade congressional checks and hand prosecutorial power to his loyalists. The two most recent rejections came in quick succession over the past two weeks. On Monday, a panel of appeals-court judges upheld a lower court's ruling that Alina Habba'formerly Trump's personal lawyer'had no authority to lead the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office. The Monday before that, a district judge in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Lindsey Halligan'also formerly Trump's personal lawyer'had likewise been unlawfully slotted into the job of chief prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office there....

As the author of a newsletter that focuses primarily on politics and current affairs, I sometimes struggle to come up with a strong topic for a post. But at other times, like today, the topic falls unbidden into my lap, feeling obvious. Donald Trump's aggregate approval ratings continue to languish. He's now settling in at a new floor in the 41 to 42 percent range, with his disapproval hovering just above 55 percent. This is largely because of economic discontents. Prices for food and housing remain elevated, due in part to the president's trade policies. Interest rates are also higher than consumers prefer and grew accustomed to over recent years. Millions of Americans who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act have seen their premiums skyrocket over the past couple of months'something Republicans in Congress bragged about during the recent record-setting government shutdown, which the president just so happened to decide was an ideal time to tear down a wing of the White House so he could oversee the construction of a gargantuan gold-plated ballroom in its place....

As the Trump administration carries out what many observers say are illegal military strikes against vessels in the Caribbean allegedly smuggling drugs, six Democratic members of Congress issued a video on Nov. 18, 2025, telling the military 'You can refuse illegal orders' and 'You must refuse illegal orders.' The lawmakers have all served either in the military or the intelligence community. Their message sparked a furious response on social media from President Donald Trump, who called the legislators' action 'seditious behavior, punishable by death.' One of the lawmakers, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, told The New York Times that she had heard from troops currently serving that they were worried about their own liability in actions such as the ones in the Caribbean. This is not the first time Trump has put members of the military in situations whose legality has been questioned. But a large percentage of service members understand their duty to follow the law in such a difficult moment. We are scholars of international relations and international law. We conducted survey research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Human Security Lab and discovered that many service members do understand the distinction between legal and illegal orders, the duty to disobey certain orders, and when they should do so....

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Superior Court of California in Santa Cruz County, makes a series of allegations against Archer and George Kivork, a former Joby employee. Joby alleges Kivork, who was hired by Archer, stole trade secrets that were then used by Archer. In the lawsuit, Joby alleges that two days before announcing his resignation, Kivork 'exfiltrated a cache of highly valuable Joby filings containing confidential partnerships terms, business and regulatory strategies, infrastructure strategies for vertiports and airport access, and technical information about Joby's aircraft and operations,' the complaint states. Joby claims Archer approached one of its strategic partners and shared detailed information about confidential terms of its exclusive agreement with Joby. According to the complaint, this information was known to Kivork and contained in the files he allegedly stole. 'This is corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,' the complaint states. 'Kivork and Archer's behavior has left Joby with no choice but to bring this action to protect Joby's valuable confidential and proprietary information.'...