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
SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES
The Trump Presidency and the Law
October 11, 2025
President Donald Trump’s novel and aggressive use of executive power has raised difficult constitutional and legal questions that our political system has struggled to navigate. In Adam J. White and Jack Landman Goldsmith, AEI has two of the most authoritative and levelheaded examiners of these challenging issues. This week, White analyzes ([link removed] ) how the Supreme Court will handle President Trump’s firing of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. And as the president increasingly deploys the military into US cities, Goldsmith assesses ([link removed] ) the considerable constitutional and statutory authorities at his disposal.
supreme-court ([link removed] )
Using the military for domestic law enforcement is a troubling distraction from their core responsibility: to deter and if necessary defeat the United States’ foreign adversaries. The Pentagon is rightly trying to increase readiness, but in a letter to The Wall Street Journal, Mackenzie Eaglen warns ([link removed] ) that the administration is still not doing enough to build up weapon stocks for a serious conflict.
One shortcoming is that the administration is not effectively working with our allies to develop an integrated strategy for expanding defense industrial capacity and technological innovation. In a new report, William C. Greenwalt highlights ([link removed] ) the neglect of the National Technology and Industrial Base—a congressionally mandated policy framework to advance just such an aim.
Unfortunately, the policymaking process is largely on hold in Washington as we enter the 10th day of a government shutdown. As Democrats and Republicans wrangle over $350 billion in Obamacare subsidies, AEI Domestic Policy Studies Director Matthew Continetti draws attention ([link removed] ) to the much more serious problem both parties are ignoring: the unsustainable growth of our debt and deficit.
This week, Danielle Pletka and Gary J. Schmitt released ([link removed] ) the fifth and final episode in their “Iraq War: 20 Years Later” video series. Featuring interviews with leading decision-makers and experts, including Generals Jack Keane and David Petraeus, weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, and historian Melvyn Leffler, these documentaries comprehensively assess the successes and failures of more than three decades of US policy in Iraq with a rigorous, fact-based approach that dispels many of the myths around the conflict.
Taking Religion Seriously
Charles Murray writes, “Millions are like me when it comes to religion: well-educated and successful people for whom religion has been irrelevant. For them, I think I have a story worth telling.” In his new book, Taking Religion Seriously, coming out on October 14, Murray offers ([link removed] ) an autobiographical account of his personal journey toward religion and Christianity. He grapples with topics that defy intellectual mastery—from the physics of the Big Bang and nature of consciousness to the reliability of biblical texts and the resurrection story—as he explains his evolution away from unreflective agnosticism. Watch a video of his conversation about the book with Nicholas Eberstadt here ([link removed] ) .
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Unburdening Patients and Clinicians Through Automation and Artificial Intelligence ([link removed] )
Brian J. Miller et al. | Journal of Medical Systems
The Trump Administration’s Higher Education Compact: Admirable Impulse, Bad Policy ([link removed] )
Frederick M. Hess | AEIdeas
Senator Warren Is Wrong About Bonus Depreciation ([link removed] )
Kyle Pomerleau | AEIdeas
Unpacking a Raft of Lawsuits Blaming Online Media for Harm to Humans ([link removed] )
Clay Calvert | AEIdeas
The Link Between Maternal Drug Use and Rising Infant Mortality ([link removed] )
Naomi Schaefer Riley and Emily Putnam-Hornstein | City Journal
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
What Are Budget Rescissions and Pocket Rescissions? ([link removed] )
Kevin R. Kosar and Philip Wallach | Understanding Congress
Two Years Since October 7 ([link removed] )
Danielle Pletka and Marc A. Thiessen | What the Hell Is Going On?
Congress and Its Elections Under Threat ([link removed] )
John C. Fortier et al. | The Voting Booth
The Misunderstood John Adams ([link removed] )
Jay Cost | The American Founding with Jay Cost
Do Phones Make Students Less Able to Focus? ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus and Daniel Willingham | The Report Card with Nat Malkus
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
While uncapped borrowing allowed tuition and underlying costs to get out of control at many graduate schools, the new loan limits in [the One Big Beautiful Bill Act] can move the needle back towards more reasonable tuition costs and debt burdens. It won’t be surprising if we soon see more graduate schools announce tuition reductions similar to Santa Clara Law’s.
—Preston Cooper ([link removed] )
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