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Michael McKenna

Michael McKenna, a columnist for The Washington Times, is the president of MWR Strategies. He was most recently a deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House. He can be reached at mike@mwrstrat.com.

Columns by Michael McKenna

It’s the economy, stupid

A memo containing a certain amount of hyperventilating, hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about the Senate race in Ohio recently emerged from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

August 26, 2026

Fredericksburg City Council can help build the next American century

Mike Rogers, the Republican running against Abdul El-Sayed for the Michigan Senate seat, recently announced that he was in favor of a "pause" in data center building in the Wolverine State.

August 23, 2026

Who should control your life: You or the federal government?

Despite the fact that Republicans have won just one Senate race in Michigan since 1972, there seems to be a lot of confidence about the party's ability to dispense with Abdul El-Sayed.

August 19, 2026

Democrats need an agenda before socialists write one for them

The Democratic National Committee in May released a draft -- in desperate need of an editor and a proofreader -- of its long-awaited autopsy of what went wrong in the 2024 campaign.

August 16, 2026

Democrats cannot escape their overeducated socialist wing

For most of the past nine months, the Democrats have had a modest but durable 5-point advantage in the generic ballot test.

August 12, 2026

AI will happen with or without America

On August 6, 1989, what would become the internet went live for the first time at CERN.

August 8, 2026

Democrats risk winning Congress while losing the center

As we head towards the bell lap of the 2026 campaign, a few of its features and likely consequences are coming into focus.

August 5, 2026

We must fix America’s permitting problem

Many people in and around Washington are convinced that reform of the process by which we permit power plants and pipelines and transmission lines is hopelessly broken and need reform.

August 2, 2026

Immigration debates should confront cultural compatibility

A couple of months ago, freshman Rep. Brandon Gill, Texas Republican, made what should be classified as an anodyne observation about the comparative values of various cultures and societies.

July 29, 2026

America’s greatness comes from invention and improvisation

On July 23, 1903, Henry Ford, down to his last couple of hundred dollars, sold his first Model A to Ernest Pfennig, a Chicago dentist.

July 26, 2026

Republicans need a pro-growth case for data centers

It is not easy being a Republican. Lots of times, the party's elected officials seem to lose track of the narrative, of what they should favor and what they should oppose.

July 22, 2026

Congress’ old guard has overstayed its welcome

The great Jack Kemp once said that during their first terms in office, when using the word "we," members of Congress meant "the folks and me back home," but by their third terms, "we" meant "the other members of Congress and me."

July 19, 2026

OMB proposal treats academics like what they are: Political operatives

A few weeks back, the Office of Management and Budget proposed a rule that would change the way federal research funding is awarded, managed and terminated.

July 15, 2026

Modern life has turned children into an economic cost calculation

There has been a bit of a boomlet in concern from the usual suspects in academia, think tanks and the intelligentsia about the pending global depopulation.

July 12, 2026

Trump appeals to corporate America’s better angels

For successfully appealing to the better angels of the corporate hierarchy, we should be grateful to President Trump.

July 8, 2026

Supreme Court win for Trump will make independent agencies more partisan

The unitary executive team had a pretty big win at the Supreme Court last week.

July 5, 2026

Happy birthday to the United States of America. What happens next?

As we wander toward Independence Day, a lot of politicians will mention President Lincoln's description of the United States as "the last, best hope for mankind."

July 1, 2026

Elon Musk fortune exposes Washington’s tax-and-spend envy

In circles where people worry more about their net worth than salvation or the fate of the Yankees, big news this month was that Elon Musk either became or is about to become the world's first trillionaire.

June 28, 2026