While President Donald Trump has issued a 90-day pause on his “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs, the global economy remains unsettled by the continuing 145 percent tariff on China, 10 percent across-the-board tariffs on other countries, and broader absence of clarity, strategy, and consistency from the White House. Matthew Continetti highlights the dangers of this approach by drawing parallels between the Trump administration’s ambitions and Richard Nixon’s own attempt to reorder the global economy in the 1970s.

On trade policy and beyond, Congress has been a bystander as the administration has relied almost entirely on executive power to advance its agenda. While Republican leadership focuses its efforts on budget reconciliation, Philip Wallach assesses the dangers of abdicating broader legislative duties in the latest edition of The American Enterprise.

As the Department of Government Efficiency’s experience has underlined, it’s difficult to achieve meaningful reductions in federal spending without congressional action. In new testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, health care expert Brian J. Miller identifies opportunities for Congress to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid by encouraging innovation and the use of artificial intelligence.

Improving the efficiency of federal welfare programs can also strengthen their ability to promote upward mobility and economic self-sufficiency. In testimony before the House Committee on Agriculture, Angela Rachidi proposes reforms that would improve the work incentives of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Both the administration and Congress have successfully refocused America’s colleges on the urgent need to improve viewpoint diversity. Higher education reform leaders Jenna Silber Storey and Benjamin Storey outline a suite of models that universities can use to address this urgent challenge in the short, medium, and long term.