My Old School

It's still standing.

Good Afternoon:

On my way to lecture at Columbia this morning, I found myself walking by my old elementary school. I was pleased to see it still has a playground on the roof. When I was a child, we didn’t have recess. We had “roof.”

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Yesterday on #DogShirtTV, inspired by the estimable

Holly Berkley Fletcher

’s recent shingles vaccination, the estimable John Hawkinson and I discussed the varying purposes of and motivations behind vaccination. Then Holly talked about the role of the intelligence community in a healthy society, and why she hates what Tulsi Gabbard has been up to:

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The Situation

In yesterday’s “The Situation” column, I consider the indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.)—whom the Trump administration has accused of assaulting law enforcement during an oversight visit to an immigration facility. I highlight the political convenience of this case—and others like it—and their weakness compared to those traditionally seen in the federal criminal system.

What they all have in common is this quality of flowing directly from the political interests of the Trump administration. Abrego Garcia and Petrova would not have happened but for the maniacal desire to deport as many people as possible as quickly as possible—and to use the criminal justice system to justify positions taken in the immigration system that may have backfired. Dugan, Huerta, and McIver result from the desire to crack down on people who in any way impede the rush to deport.

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Yesterday On Lawfare

Compiled by the estimable Caroline Cornett

More Americans Say Campus Protests Driven by Anger With Israel Than by Antisemitism

Shibley Telhami discusses the results of a May survey that found more Americans see the campus protests as driven by anger with Israeli actions rather than by antisemitism. Telhami notes that when first asked about measures the administration has taken toward universities over the protests, respondents’ sympathy for the protesters increased.

In reaction to the Trump administration’s actions toward universities over the campus protests, more Americans express increased support for the protesters than increased support for the critics of the protesters. This finding could be a function of the assessment that the protests were caused more by anger with Israel than by antisemitism, as well as by our finding in April that more Americans see the Trump administration’s actions themselves as being motivated more by confronting critics of Israel than by confronting antisemitism.

Understanding Executive Orders 14148 and 14236

Bertina Kudrin examines two of President Donald Trump's executive orders that combined revoke 91 of former President Joe Biden’s actions—including those related to climate, industrial policy, civil rights, and more—as well as the broader trend of presidents using executive orders to dismantle the policies of previous administrations.

President Trump has relied on executive orders as a means of making and effectuating policy, a trend that seems to have grown stronger in his second term. As of this writing, Trump has signed 161 executive orders in 2025 alone. And the orders are changing in character—Trump’s first term did not feature such a single mass repeal order like EO 14148. Although he reversed many Obama-era policies, it was often done through various separate actions. The concentrated, list-style repeals seen in these orders have little precedent and may reflect a broader trend of EOs becoming more partisan, seen as easy tools for presidents to undo their predecessors’ actions. Note that previously the Biden administration had set a record in 2021, by revoking 42 of Trump’s EOs in its first 100 days. Some commentators have dubbed the trend as “unilateral pingpong” between administrations. Should power keep changing hands between parties, it is likely that Trump—and future presidents—will take more unilateral executive actions, including EOs, that will eventually become the new norm.

Podcasts

On Lawfare Daily, Christina Knight joins Kevin Frazier to discuss testing and evaluating frontier artificial intelligence models and the status of international coordination on those efforts.

On Rational Security, Scott R. Anderson sits down with Molly Reynolds, Quinta Jurecic, and Chris Mirasola to talk through the week's major national security news, including the Trump administration’s deployment of the California National Guard and active duty Marines to Los Angeles, the rescissions package before Congress, and Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States and indictment on criminal charges.

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Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is goslings. Lots of goslings. Way too many goslings:

Video Source

In honor of today’s Beast, get a long line of children to follow you.