Maxwell School News and Commentary
Filtered by: Government
Gadarian Talks to Christian Science Monitor About Trump Expanding the Power of the Executive Branch
“The executive branch is expanding its powers beyond what any other administration has tried to do,” says Shana Gadarian, Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking. “That’s the crisis we’re in.”
See related: Federal, United States
Monarch Discusses Trump’s Proposed Changes to American Trade Policy in Directorship Magazine Article
“We know that President Trump is not afraid to have an actual trade war,” he continued. “We saw it in 2018 and 2019, where almost all goods coming from China were hit with the highest tariffs we've seen in almost 100 years. And those were very disruptive,” says Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics.
See related: Canada, China, Federal, International Affairs, Latin America & the Caribbean, Tariffs, Trade, United States
Taylor Speaks With NPR LA’s ‘AirTalk’ About the Rising Tensions Between Ukraine and Trump
“One thing I would call attention to is that President Trump and Russian President Putin had an hour and a half long conversation last week. And since that conversation Trump has repeated multiple Putin talking points about the war,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.
See related: Defense & Security, Federal, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine, United States
The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U.S. Religion, Media, and Politics
Mark Brockway, assistant teaching professor of political science, has co-authored “The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U.S. Religion, Media, and Politics” (The MIT Press, 2025). The book explores the American right, evangelical rhetoric and attacks on liberalism over the last eight decades.
See related: Political Parties, U.S. Elections, United States
Lovely Quoted in China Daily Article on the Impact of Trump’s Tariffs on US Small Businesses
For the U.S., tariffs “can cause job loss in sectors that use imported intermediate and capital goods,” says Mary Lovely, professor emerita of economics.
See related: China, Federal, International Affairs, Tariffs, Trade, United States
O’Keefe Talks to the Washington Post About Trump Ending the Presidential Management Fellows Program
“This is one of the most unsettling, tragic pieces of news yet,” says Sean O’Keefe, University Professor and member of the presidential management program’s inaugural class. “This is a firing of convenience. They are looking for a headcount reduction; there is nothing qualitative about this.”
See related: Federal, United States
Monarch Speaks With Newsweek About US tariffs and the Housing Market
Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics, says that it is “clear” tariffs on products like steel and aluminum will increase the cost of building housing and developments and, therefore, drive up the prices of housing in the U.S.
See related: Canada, Federal, Infrastructure, International Affairs, Latin America & the Caribbean, Tariffs, Trade, United States
Lovely Discusses Trump’s Arbitrary Trade Policy in New York Times Article
“What Mr. Trump is doing with tariffs is a result of a lost consensus about how the United States should interact with other countries in the global economy. He is stepping into that vacuum, filling it with the unrestrained and autocratic use of import taxes, moves that appear to be based on personal whim rather than on U.S. trade law,” says Mary Lovely, professor emerita of economics.
See related: Congress, Federal, International Affairs, Tariffs, Trade, United States
Keck Weighs In on Trump’s Threats to Ignore Court Orders in HuffPost Article
“Lots of the fights that they have picked—especially Musk’s out-of-control, rampant destruction of federal agencies from within—a lot of those fights they are not going to win in court,” says Thomas Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics.
See related: Congress, Federal, Law, United States
Reeher Speaks With LiveNOW from FOX About the Latest With Trump's Cabinet Confirmations
“ I thought that [Pete] Hegseth, the defense secretary, was the most problematic overall, of all the ones that stayed in the process. I think given that Hegseth has made it through, that tells me that the other ones are likely to make it as well,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.
See related: Congress, Federal, United States