• NATIONAL DEBTU.S. Debt Tops 100% of GDP, “Deeply Troubling” for Economy, National Security

    By Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square

    The U.S. national debt is now larger than the entire American economy and is only set to keep growing, further exacerbating the affordability crisis and risking national security.

  • DHS SHUTDOWNThe Homeland Security Shutdown and the Power of the Purse

    By Scott Levy

    The current Department of Homeland Security shutdown shows that the effects of a shutdown in appropriations are not fixed by Congress alone. They depend on executive choices about which functions to sustain, which funds to deploy, and where disruption will be felt. Without clearer constraints on that discretion, Congress’s power of the purse becomes increasingly illusory in the very moments it is meant to matter most.

  • COUNTETRING DRONESWhy the U.S. Military Is Stuck Using $1 Million Missiles Against Iran’s $20,000 Drones

    By Aaron Brynildson

    It may sound hard to believe, but the almost trillion-dollar U.S. military is struggling to fight cheap drones in its war with Iran. The drones Iran uses cost between US$20,000 and $50,000 to build. In response, the U.S. military sometimes fires missiles worth more than $1 million to shoot one down.

  • CHINA WATCHChina Surpasses U.S. in Research Spending – the Consequences Extend Far Beyond Scientific Ranking and Clout

    By Caroline Wagner

    The Trump administration has presided over a dramatic disinvestment in U.S. scientific research. A hollowed-out research base may cause the U.S. not only to fall behind, but also to progressively lose its ability to benefit from science. China’s rapid rise in science thus arrives at a moment when the U.S., under this administration, appears no longer interested in maintaining U.S. scientific leadership.

  • ASSAULT ON SCIENCEPanicking Scientists, Canceled Experiments – Federal Funding Cuts Turned My Work as a Research Dean into Crisis Management

    By Nara Parameswaran

    None of us in research leadership positions around the country had ever faced anything like the Trump administration’s attacks on universities and science. Countless breakthroughs that have altered the course of human and animal health have been made possible by sustained federal research investment through agencies such as NIH. Declines in support for these researchers, coupled with reduced graduate enrollment and ongoing visa challenges, risk erasing an entire generation of scientists, with consequences that will reverberate for many years.

  • DHSSenate Funds DHS without ICE or Border Patrol, Heads to House

    By Andrew Rice, The Center Square

    The U.S. Senate agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security early Friday, without including funds for ICE and Border Patrol.

  • THE PROBLEM WITH ICEThe One Big Beautiful Bill Made ICE Shutdown-Proof and Eroded Fiscal Norms

    By Dominik Lett

    DHS is temporarily funded until February 13 – but whether the DHS is shut down or not, ICE and CBP will still be able to pursue their immigration crackdown largely undisrupted due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). By shifting immigration enforcement and defense spending outside the normal appropriations process, Republicans have short-circuited the system of checks and balances that restrain the growth and abuse of government power. The long-term result will be less oversight, weaker constraints on fiscal irresponsibility, and greater partisanship.

  • TARGETING SCIENCETrump’s Second Term Is Reshaping U.S. Science with Unprecedented Cuts and Destabilizing Policy Changes

    By Kenneth M. Evans

    President Donald Trump is far from the first president to be deeply skeptical of the academic research community. But his relentless attempts to overhaul the federal support system for research and development have set a new precedent for the level of mutual distrust and its consequences for scientists.

  • INFRASTRUCTUREBridge, Building Maintenance Backlogs Will Hit State Budgets as Federal Aid Declines

    By Kevin Hardy

    The growing backlog of bridges and public buildings in need of repair or replacement poses an increasing threat to state finances, but tracking of maintenance liabilities varies wildly across the states. A new analysis estimates $1T in deferred projects.

  • TERRORISMFederal Judge Extends Order on NYC Anti-Terrorism Funds

    By Chris Wade, The Center Square

    The Trump administration has been given another week to make its case to withhold more than $33 million in counter-terrorism funds for New York City’s transit system. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan has extended a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from clawing back the grant funding approved by Congress for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority until at least Oct. 22.

  • CYBERSECURITYFederal Shutdown Deals Blow to Already Hobbled Cybersecurity Agency

    By Richard Forno

    Unfortunately, adversaries do not reduce their attacks against the U.S. based on available federal cyber defense funding or the status of cybersecurity laws. In fact, malicious hackers often strike when their target’s guard is down.

  • RISKS TO SCIENCE & PUBLIC HEALTHFunding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity

    The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.

  • How Federal Research Support Has Helped Create Life-Changing Medicines

    The Trump administration is proposing a nearly 40 percent budget reduction to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which sponsors a significant portion of biomedical research. A new study finds that over 50 percent of small-molecule drug patents this century cite at least one piece of NIH-backed research which would likely be vulnerable to that potential level of funding change.

  • ENERGY SECURITYStates Fast-Track Wind, Solar Permits and Contracts to Beat Trump’s Deadline

    By Alex Brown

    Since taking office, the Trump administration has pursued a number of policies aimed at dismantling support for renewable energy, particularly targeting wind and solar power, which President Trump described as a “scam.” Federal tax credits have brought project costs down 30-50%, advocates say.

  • TARGETING SCIENCEThe True Cost of Abandoning Science

    By Steven R. Furlanetto

    “We now face a choice: to remain at the vanguard of scientific inquiry through sound investment, or to cede our leadership and watch others answer the big questions that have confounded humanity for millennia —and reap the rewards.”