Washington Monthly

Amid Ideological Attacks on Higher Ed, Surprising Bipartisan Reforms Bloom New rules on student loans and borrowing could rein in tuition growth and bring accountability to colleges for programs with poor returns.

Long sought by both the right and left, Trump-era changes to higher ed could actually protect consumers and lower costs, @jonmarcusboston.bsky.social writes.

A Health Care Plan for the Midterms Americans say health care costs are their number one pocketbook concern. In response, many are offering a panoply of non-solutions.

For candidates running for office this fall, @gooznews.bsky.social has a health care plan: protect families first.

The Republicans Who Could Save Democracy “Constitution-First” Republicans are uncomfortable with Trump’s abuses of power, and could be the key to a pro-democracy bipartisan coalition.

So-called “Constitution-First” Republicans are uncomfortable with Trump’s abuses of power, @publicagenda.bsky.social and @snfagora.bsky.social say. They could be the key to a pro-democracy coalition that cuts across party and ideology.

Another War, Another Excuse for Profiteering Every energy crisis, including the current one caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, is a windfall for oil refiners.

Every energy crisis is a windfall for oil refiners, and consumers pay the price, @halsinger.bsky.social writes.

Cocky Iran Hawks Forget the History of Blowback Iran hawks like Lindsey Graham promise that the bombing will be quick and decisive. History suggests otherwise.

Bombing Iran may be the easy part. What hawks refuse to reckon with is everything that comes next, @billscher.bsky.social writes.

Colleges Are Finally Confronting Their Outcomes Data Hesitancy to use college outcomes data, like post-graduation earnings, is giving way to acceptance and even enthusiasm.

Call it denial: Many in higher education were hesitant to use data that provided insights into students’ post-graduation earnings.

@mitzkow.bsky.social on why grief, acceptance, and even enthusiasm will follow.

Cocky Iran Hawks Forget the History of Blowback Iran hawks like Lindsey Graham promise that the bombing will be quick and decisive. History suggests otherwise.

“Cocky Iran Hawks Forget the History of Blowback” — my latest for @washingtonmonthly.com

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/10/i...

Text: Once ICE facilities are built, the problem of producing inmates for them to hold will be easily solved. The damage to our society will be irreversible. Newport does not want to be part of the new society that mass deportations will produce. But it’s getting a taste of it. A helicopter, dedicated by law to search and rescue, was taken away and used to patrol the borders. The government simply ignored a bargain struck by the U.S. Congress with a group of constituents who had played by the rules of democracy, using the First Amendment right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” If the nation looks away from the deportation industrial complex, it will grow. The work will affect and warp its institutions, laws, and communities, large and small, even the ones in paradise.

Powerful, gripping new story by @garrettepps.bsky.social in @washingtonmonthly.com, about the reaction in small-town coastal Oregon when ICE and the "deportation industrial complex" arrived.

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/09/i...

Newport went on alert; an ICE prison could harm its economy. A town meeting attracted 800 people; residents expressed outrage at theft of helicopter and the idea of an immigration prison in their community.
Crabs, A Helicopter, and One Town's Fight Against ICE washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/09/i...

Repeat After Me: ‘I Am Somebody’ Jesse Jackson was furious over injustice. He was also full of hope. His funeral was a reminder that the two were never meant to be separated.

Jesse Jackson was furious over injustice. He was also full of hope. His funeral was a reminder that the two were never meant to be separated, David Masciotra writes.

Newport, Oregon, is another battleground in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration as the administration plans numerous detention facilities in small towns.

@garrettepps.bsky.social reports.

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/09/i...

The Corporate Conspiracy of Silence on “Affordability” Some of America’s biggest companies rely on public benefits to subsidize the wages they pay their employees.

Some of America’s biggest companies rely on public benefits to subsidize their employees. Why aren’t they defending their workers against cuts? @anne-s-kim.bsky.social unpacks.

Texas Democrats Chose Faith Over Fighting Talarico’s U.S. Senate primary victory over Crockett shows that Democrats may be tired of taking pages from Trump’s playbook.

James Talarico’s winning message of unity and faith-driven action rebukes theories that Democratic voters want their candidates taking pages out of Trump’s playbook.

With Iran, Obama Displayed “The Art of the Deal.” Trump Didn’t. Trump’s persona depends on the perception that he’s mastered “The Art of the Deal” His war on Iran proves otherwise.

“With Iran, Obama Displayed ‘The Art of the Deal.’ Trump Didn’t.”

My @washingtonmonthly.com look at why a deeply insecure Trump couldn’t strike a deal with Iran and can’t quit lying about the president who could

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/06/w...

With Iran, Obama Displayed “The Art of the Deal.” Trump Didn’t. Trump’s persona depends on the perception that he’s mastered “The Art of the Deal” His war on Iran proves otherwise.

Trump’s persona depends on the perception that no one negotiates better deals. His war on Iran proves otherwise, argues @billscher.bsky.social

“Executive Orders Are Not Laws. . .They Can Be Undone Quite Easily” Channyn Lynne Parker, the CEO of Equality Illinois, speaks with David Masciotra on progressive politics and threats to civil rights.

David Masciotra interviewed Equality Illinois CEO Channyn Lynne Parker about the Trump administration’s assault on civil rights and why you don’t start a fire if you’re sitting farthest from the exit.

Reform on Ice Democrats need an achievable program that addresses the affordability issue plaguing the majority of Americans: health care costs.

Trump’s undeclared war in the Middle East postpones the much-needed debate over health care affordability—the #1 issue bedeviling average Americans. @gooznews.bsky.social on why Democrats proposals for reform fall short.

The Architect of Empathy: Suzannah Lessard (1944-2026) Our Suzannah Lessard, a celebrated author and progeny of Stanford White, had a tumultuous upbringing and a nuanced moral imagination.

Suzannah Lessard, one of the first editors of the Washington Monthly, died in January at age 81.

@mattizcoop.bsky.social writes in memoriam.

All the Ways Trump’s War on Iran Is Disastrous We should be deeply disturbed about what follows the targeted assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"'Normal international relations' are impossible if a head of state can be murdered whenever another head of state feels like it."

@billscher.bsky.social on why we should be deeply disturbed about what follows the targeted assassination of a foreign leader.

All the Ways Trump’s War on Iran Is Disastrous We should be deeply disturbed about what follows the targeted assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“All the Ways Trump’s War on Iran Is Disastrous” — my latest for @washingtonmonthly.com

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/03/a...

Trump’s Iran Strike: What It Says About Russia—and Us If Russia were stronger, this never would have happened. If Trump weren’t so authoritarian, he might not have risked it.

If Moscow were stronger, the Iran strike never would have happened. If Trump weren’t so authoritarian, he might not have risked it, @markoskounalakis.com writes.

Graduate Loans Should Reflect Graduate Earnings Congress should align graduate loan limits with earnings by field to prevent runaway tuition and unmanageable debt.

Scrapping unlimited Grad PLUS borrowing was a start toward ensuring public buy-in for higher education. Now federal loan policy should align debt limits with what graduates are likely to earn.

The GOP's cruel plans for another Big Ugly Bill The Republican Study Committee's framework for a second reconciliation bill aims to make life even more miserable for immigrants, including legal residents.

The House Republican Study Committee's next plan is to strip all *legal* immigrants (green card, refugees, asylees) of any access to federal benefits.

Me @washingtonmonthly.com, plus reax from our writers on Iran, and more:

open.substack.com/pub/washingt...

The GOP’s Cruel Plans for Another Big Ugly Bill The Republican Study Committee’s blueprint for a second Big Ugly Bill would strip immigrants, including legal residents, of federal benefits.

The Republican Study Committee’s framework for a second reconciliation bill aims to make life even more miserable for immigrants, including legal residents. @anne-s-kim.bsky.social unpacks the proposal in the Monthly's weekend newsletter.

Trump’s Iranian Gambit: It Didn't Have to Come to This The president scuttled the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program, leaving us blind and with few allies.

Trump pulled us out of the imperfect but functional Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, leaving us blind, without our strongest allies, and crossing our fingers.

Trump’s Iranian Gambit: It Didn't Have to Come to This The president scuttled the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program, leaving us blind and with few allies.

Me in the @washingtonmonthly.com

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/28/t...

Trump’s Iranian Gambit: It Didn't Have to Come to This The president scuttled the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program, leaving us blind and with few allies.

NEW @mattizcoop.bsky.social in @washingtonmonthly.com

“sticking with the JCPOA … would have made sense. We’d still have our allies. We wouldn’t be alone, save for Israel.”

washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/28/t...

Bill Scher (@billscher.bsky.social) and Matt Lewis (@mattklewis.bsky.social) are live on Substack discussing allegations against Trump in the Epstein files:

washingtonmonthly.substack.com/live-stream/...

Tucker Carlson’s Long, Strange Trip Jason Zengerle’s new biography traces Tucker Carlson’s rise from bow-tied neocon to flannel-clad conspiracist.

From bow-tied neocon to flannel-clad conspiracist, a once-talented writer becomes a promulgator of MAGA bilge.

It’s Time for the Media to Press Trump on Allegations of Abusing a Minor Trump faces allegations in the Epstein files, including claims involving a minor. The media should investigate him as it has others.

The president should be scrutinized with the same intensity as others in the Epstein Files, argues @billscher.bsky.social.