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Veterans Are Defending the Constitution against a New Enemy: The Secretary of War

Veterans Are Defending the Constitution against a New Enemy: The Secretary of War

​Performer Bad Bunny on stage.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks National Controversy As Trump Announces Boycott

Voting

Trump’s Call to ‘Nationalize’ Elections Collides With the Constitution

Trump’s Energy Promise Collapses as Electricity Bills Keep Rising

Trump’s Energy Promise Collapses as Electricity Bills Keep Rising

Alex Pretti’s Death Is a Code Blue for the U.S.

Alex Pretti’s Death Is a Code Blue for the U.S.

The 35 Republicans who support the insurrection commission​

Capitol insurrection

Nearly three dozen Republicans joined with Democrats to approve an investigation into the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Sara Swann
By Sara SwannMay 20, 2021
Sara Swann

As a staff writer, Sara covers a variety of democracy reform issues, including voting rights, money in politics, gerrymandering and civic education. Prior to joining The Fulcrum in May 2019, Sara reported on local government on Maryland's Eastern Shore for the USA Today network. She is a native West Virginian and a graduate of Syracuse University.

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The House voted Wednesday to establish an independent commission investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Thirty-five Republicans broke from the GOP leadership to join the Democratic majority in supporting the bill.

Some of these Republicans had previously broken with the party on major votes that defined their stance on democratic institutions, including two votes on the impeachment of Donald Trump as well as certification of the 2020 election results.

Use the chart below to see how each GOP member voted on these critical issues.

The legislation's chances of passing in the evenly split Senate remain slim.




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Family First: How One Program Is Rebuilding System-Impacted Families

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Family First: How One Program Is Rebuilding System-Impacted Families

“Are you proud of your mother?” Colie Lavar Long, known as Shaka, asked 13-year-old Jade Muñez when he found her waiting at the Georgetown University Law Center. She had come straight from school and was waiting for her mother, Jessica Trejo—who, like Long, is formerly incarcerated—to finish her classes before they would head home together, part of their daily routine.

Muñez said yes, a heartwarming moment for both Long and Trejo, who are friends through their involvement in Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. Trejo recalled that day: “When I came out, [Long] told me, ‘I think it’s awesome that your daughter comes here after school. Any other kid would be like, I'm out of here.’” This mother-daughter bond inspired Long to encourage this kind of family relationship through an initiative he named the Family First program.

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Wisconsin Bill Would Allow DACA Recipients to Apply for Professional Licenses

American flag, gavil, and book titled: immigration law

Photo provided

Wisconsin Bill Would Allow DACA Recipients to Apply for Professional Licenses

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin lawmakers from both parties are backing legislation that would allow recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to apply for professional and occupational licenses, a change they say could help address workforce shortages across the state.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 759, is authored by Republican Rep. Joel Kitchens of Sturgeon Bay and Democratic Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez of Milwaukee. The bill has a companion measure in the Senate, SB 745. Under current Wisconsin law, DACA recipients, often referred to as Dreamers, are barred from receiving professional and occupational licenses, even though they are authorized to work under federal rules. AB 759 would create a state-level exception allowing DACA recipients to obtain licenses if they meet all other qualifications for a profession.

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Overreach Abroad, Silence at Home
low light photography of armchairs in front of desk
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash

Overreach Abroad, Silence at Home

In March 2024, the Department of Justice secured a hard-won conviction against Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, for trafficking tons of cocaine into the United States. After years of investigation and months of trial preparation, he was formally sentenced on June 26, 2024. Yet on December 1, 2025 — with a single stroke of a pen, and after receiving a flattering letter from prison — President Trump erased the conviction entirely, issuing a full pardon (Congress.gov).

Defending the pardon, the president dismissed the Hernández prosecution as a politically motivated case pursued by the previous administration. But the evidence presented in court — including years of trafficking and tons of cocaine — was not political. It was factual, documented, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If the president’s goal is truly to rid the country of drugs, the Hernández pardon is impossible to reconcile with that mission. It was not only a contradiction — it was a betrayal of the justice system itself.

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America’s Operating System Needs an Update

Congress 202

J. Scott Applewhite/Getty Images

America’s Operating System Needs an Update

As July 4, 2026, approaches, our country’s upcoming Semiquincentennial is less and less of an anniversary party than a stress test. The United States is a 21st-century superpower attempting to navigate a digitized, polarized world with an operating system that hasn’t been meaningfully updated since the mid-20th century.

From my seat on the Ladue School Board in St. Louis County, Missouri, I see the alternative to our national dysfunction daily. I am privileged to witness that effective governance requires—and incentivizes—compromise.

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