Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

A Look Back At The Most Popular Stories of 2024

A Look Back At The Most Popular Stories of 2024
a close up of a calendar with numbers on it

The Fulcrum is a trusted platform where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy.

We amplify marginalized perspectives through news articles, opinion pieces, and investigative reports. Thanks to our contributors, we foster an inclusive dialogue vital for a thriving democracy.


Here are the most popular stores published on The Fulcrum:

"White" and "Colored" water fountainsKamala Harris is Black & Asian and Why Does Trump Care? kickstand/Getty Images

Kamala Harris is Black & Asian and Why Does Trump Care?

In 2024, 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, it is unfortunate that, because of statements made by a candidate for the presidency, we need to remind Americans that the color of one’s skin is a terribly unreliable indicator of one’s so-called racial heritage.

Department of Veterans Affairs buildingProject 2025: The Department of Veterans Affairs Air Force Reserve Command

Project 2025: The Department of Veterans Affairs

Project 2025, a conservative plan for a second Trump administration, aims to make the Department of Veterans Affairs more efficient and responsive, which is a commendable objective. But the focus on conservative political goals and extensive outsourcing risks politicizing the VA and potentially undermining its ability to serve veterans effectively.

John Roberts at the State of the UnionIn Trump v. United States, Chief Justice John Roberts produced an astonishing and convoluted treatise that denigrates a key principle of our jurisprudence championed by the founders, writes Toscano. Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images

Conservatives will rue the day they compromised the rule of law

Defenders of democracy had hoped the Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States would begin with the words “No man is above the law.” But Chief Justice John Roberts avoided the phrase entirely in his opinion. Instead, he produced an astonishing treatise that denigrates a key principle of our jurisprudence championed by the founders.

Mark Esper sitting next to Donald TrumpDefense Secretary Mark Esper (left) and other leaders stood up to Donald Trump when he was president. Trump would likely face similar resistance if he wins another term. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

What would really happen if Trump wins?

If Donald Trump wins, American democracy will undergo a severe stress test. Yet again. But it won’t plunge into dictatorship, authoritarianism or fascism. Instead, if Trump wins, America will have an incoherent and volatile mix of some government institutions that function democratically and some that don’t.

Joe Biden speaking in PennsylvaniaThe speech Joe Biden won’t give Anadolu/Getty Images

The speech Joe Biden won’t give

If President Joe Biden reached out to independent voters in a way that legitimized their concerns about the self-serving nature of the Democratic and Republican parties, he could probably win with 60 percent of the vote. But he won’t. And neither will Donald Trump.

If Donald Trump implements the Heritage Foundation's policy plan, he'll take us down the path of authoritarianism, writes Corbin. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Project 2025 is a threat to democracy

On Jan. 20, 2025, will the duly elected and inaugurated president of the United States keep America as a democracy that dates back to the 1630s or will the commander-in-chief start changing the country to authoritarian-fascism? That depends on whether Trump wins and he follows the Project 2025 playbook.

People working in a grocery storeLatino-owned businesses, such as the Aztec Farmers Market in Houston, contribute billions of dollars to the economy each year. Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Trump's right! A massive invasion is happening at the southern border

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed an invasion is taking place on the southern U.S. border. He is absolutely right. But it's not an invasion of people taking over cities and jobs, it's an invasion of communities playing a significant role in shaping the cultural, social and economic landscape of the United States.

White House with "stop" barrier in frontIf Trump wins, should Democrats turn over the keys to the White House? Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

If Trump wins, should Democrats turn over the keys to the White House?

The Democrats, believing Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, have few options if he wins, and none of them are good. A Trump victory will force our leaders and all of us to confront a series of tragic choices.

Donald TrumpWas Trump right when he said he could ‘shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters’? MEGA/Getty Images

Has 'just about every law enforcement agency in the country' endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024?

Former President Donald Trump claims he is “supported by just about every law enforcement agency in the country; I think, maybe every one.” But police unions — not law enforcement agencies such as police or sheriff’s departments — endorse candidates.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stageTracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" at the Grammys. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

Today's pop artists can have tremendous influence on politics and poltiical divide, if only more of them were willing to speak out.


Read More

Keep artificial intelligence out of American classrooms

Fourth-grade students read books in the elementary school at the John F. Kennedy Schule dual-language public school on Sept. 18, 2008, in Berlin.

(Sean Gallup/Getty Images/Tribune Content Agency)

Keep artificial intelligence out of American classrooms

Norway is, by almost any metric, a profoundly successful nation. It’s rich, democratic and relatively corruption-free. It’s not a socialist country, but fans of a robust welfare state and high taxes see much to admire in the very progressive Norwegian model. It also benefits from having the biggest and arguably best-run sovereign wealth fund in the world.

And yet, Norway nearly ruined its children.

Keep ReadingShow less
An illustration of orange-colored megaphones, one megaphone in the middle is red and facing the opposite direction of the others.

A growing crisis threatens U.S. public data. Experts warn disappearing federal datasets could undermine science, policy, and democracy—and outline a plan to protect them.

Getty Images, Richard Drury

America's Data Crisis: Saving Trusted Facts Is Essential to Democracy

In March 2026, more than a hundred information and data experts gathered in a converted Christian Science church to confront a problem most Americans never see, but that shapes nearly every public debate we have. The nonprofit Internet Archive convened this national Information Stewardship Forum at their San Francisco headquarters because something fundamental is breaking: the country’s shared foundation of facts.

For decades, the United States has relied on a vast ecosystem of federal data on health, climate, the economy, education, demographics, scientific research, and more. This data is the backbone of journalism, policymaking, scientific discovery, and public accountability. It is how we know whether the air is safe to breathe, whether unemployment is rising or falling, whether a new disease is spreading, or whether a community is being left behind.

Keep ReadingShow less
Warrantless Surveillance and TPS for Haitians

Bamilia Delcine Olistin restocks product at Bon Samaritain Grocery, a Haitian-owned grocery, on February 3, 2026 in Springfield, Ohio. A federal judge issued a temporary stay blocking the Trump administration's attempt to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants, but Haitian TPS beneficiaries and residents of Springfield continue to face uncertainty over their protected status.

Getty Images, Jon Cherry

Warrantless Surveillance and TPS for Haitians

Warrantless Surveillance

Almost 3 weeks ago, House Republicans appeared to be spitting mad because the Senate had had the temerity to pass a DHS funding agreement overnight by unanimous consent and then recess. The Senate did that because it was the best deal that could get passed. (The House still hasn’t acted on that Senate DHS funding bill.)

But last night, around 2 am, the House passed a 10 day extension of existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 authorities by unanimous consent and then recessed until Monday. Apparently, it’s fine when the House does it. Why did the House do this? Because it was the best deal that could get passed.

Keep ReadingShow less