AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
AEI This Week
AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
EMBRACING PLURALISM
The Constitution Is the Solution—Not the Problem
September 27, 2025
Many Americans have come to blame the Constitution for America’s dysfunction—seeing it as an obstacle to majority rule. In a Constitution Day lecture at the University of Tennessee, AEI Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Director Yuval Levin explains ([link removed] ) how this mindset has exacerbated our political divisions by abandoning the Constitution’s blueprint for accommodating and resolving disagreement.
founding_documents_principles_constitution_declaration ([link removed] )
By directing decision-making at the Department of Justice, President Donald Trump appears to be using federal law enforcement power, not persuasion, to settle political scores. This was evident this week with the decision to charge former FBI Director James Comey over the objections of Justice Department prosecutors. Jack Landman Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, dissects ([link removed] ) the full legal implications of the administration’s aggressive direction of the Department of Justice.
The president’s unilateral imposition of steep tariffs to promote manufacturing has also raised separation-of-powers issues. In new research for AEI’s Center for Technology, Science, and Energy, international trade economists Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Ye Zhang estimate ([link removed] ) the costs and likely effects of these increased trade barriers.
Unlike cash welfare, which was reformed in the 1990s, government housing programs do not impose work requirements or time limits on recipients. In new analysis based on data provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Howard Husock and Bruce D. Meyer reveal ([link removed] ) the full scope of the dependency these programs generate and propose reforms to better promote upward mobility for recipients.
Under federal law, households receiving cash welfare are automatically eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In a new AEI report, Angela Rachidi and Erik Randolph document ([link removed] ) how states have used this link to expand food stamp eligibility beyond congressional intent.
New Approaches to Characterize Industries: AI as a Framework and a Use Case
Despite the widespread assumption that artificial intelligence can fundamentally transform the American economy, business leaders, policymakers, and the wider public have little data and evidence to rely on to understand and respond to this shock. In a new edited volume published by AEI, Brent Orrell brings together ([link removed] ) leading economists, data scientists, and policy experts to determine how to measure AI’s real impact on industries, jobs, and skills. The authors, including AEI scholar Will Rinehart, highlight innovative strategies that can guide smarter education, training, and economic policy.
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
The Fight Inside Amnesty International over Its Hamas Report ([link removed] )
Charles Lane | The Free Press
What Frederick Douglass Found in Abraham Lincoln ([link removed] )
Allen Guelzo | National Review
With China Undermining US Biotech, Here’s How the FDA Can Counter ([link removed] )
Scott Gottlieb | The Washington Post
Could Trump’s Campaign Against the Media Come Back to Bite Conservatives? ([link removed] )
Jonah Goldberg | Los Angeles Times
Is Erika Kirk the Future of MAGA? ([link removed] )
Matthew Continetti | The Free Press
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
What Is Next After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk? ([link removed] )
Danielle Pletka and Marc A. Thiessen | What the Hell Is Going On?
Is College Really Worth It? ([link removed] )
Beth Akers | AEI video
Jefferson, the American Sphinx ([link removed] )
Jay Cost | The American Founding with Jay Cost
Why Are Test Scores Falling? ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus et al. | The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Conduct of the Iraq War ([link removed] )
Danielle Pletka and Gary J. Schmitt | AEI video
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
In recent decades, progressive policymakers have intentionally promoted neologisms like food or housing insecurity instead of pointing to genuine hunger or homelessness—which in America are much more rare. Progressives’ logic was simple: Adopt and promote broad terms that suggest wider need, then argue for more government welfare benefits.
—Matt Weidinger ([link removed] )
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