Michael McKenna

Sen. Cornyn’s filibuster flip shows self-preservation, not principle

A week ago, Sen. John Cornyn wrote a letter to the editors of the New York Post explaining that, after 24 years in the Senate, he had come to the sudden epiphany that the filibuster had to go.

March 15, 2026

Carbon border tariffs threaten to become America’s next energy tax

Last week in these pages, Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican, offered a few thoughts with respect to my column about his attempt to create the foundation for a tax on carbon dioxide.

March 11, 2026

To win in November, Republicans must focus on seniors

The news at the end of last week that employment actually fell by 92,000 in February underscored the strong possibility that November may bring difficult midterm elections for Republicans.

March 8, 2026

Trump checks Iran off presidential punch list previous leaders avoided

The administration has given a lot of scattershot and ad hoc reasons for attacking Iran.

March 4, 2026

Miracle on Ice 1980 revived American confidence; 2026 men’s hockey gold medal entertained a nation

The staging of the American hockey team during the State of the Union was pretty good.

March 1, 2026

Why are we still doing State of the Union addresses?

Like most of us, I watched the State of the Union (well, some of it) Tuesday night.

February 25, 2026

George Washington deserves celebration while Presidents Day deserves retirement

Last week, we had to suffer through, once again, the misery and degradation that is Presidents Day.

February 22, 2026

It’s Rubio, Trump in defense of Western civilization

In 1095, Pope Urban II, in a speech to the Council of Clermont, urged Christians in Western Europe to help the Byzantine church and liberate the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

February 18, 2026

Trump should insist on E-Verify

Last week, the Trump administration essentially declared defeat in Minnesota and announced that it would withdraw pretty much all of the federal agents who had been part of the immigration enforcement surge.

February 15, 2026

Thanks to Sen. Kevin Cramer, Republicans vote for an energy tax

A week or two ago, it surfaced that Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer had inserted language into the energy appropriations bill to require the Department of Energy to lay the foundation for a nationwide energy tax.

February 11, 2026

The problem with nationalized law enforcement

For the past millennium, local laws and customs have been predictably enforced in ways that made sense to those who lived under it.

February 4, 2026

Spanberger and Virginia Democrats’ extremist reign begins

The crew over at the U.S. Census Bureau released their latest batch of state population data last week.

February 1, 2026

Stealing from the sick: New York’s Medicaid disgrace

What kind of morally compromised person steals money from the poor and the sick and dying?

January 28, 2026

After Trump, Republicans face a reckoning over conservatism

Some folks in President Trump's orbit of "influencers" have been engaged in an ongoing debate about which person or faction may be able to properly claim the mantle of conservatism.

January 25, 2026

Politics, not the electrical grid, stands as the top obstacle for data centers

Last week, President Trump publicly encouraged the PJM Interconnection to change its rules to encourage the building of more power plants.

January 21, 2026

Republicans should not panic about midterm elections just yet

At the moment, it is fashionable to predict that congressional Republicans are going to lose their current majority, at least in the House of Representatives, in the wake of November's elections.

January 18, 2026

Trump must focus on the voters’ agenda

It has been a tough few days for the president as he works through problems left for him by his predecessors and some problems of his own making.

January 14, 2026

What the Chinese learned from America’s raid on Venezuela

In our 50-year-long twilight struggle with the Soviet Union, it was often said that the U.S. overestimated the capabilities of the Russians and consistently underestimated their threat.

January 11, 2026

Victory in Venezuela, with some caveats

Let's start off with the truth: Venezuela was a multidecade mess tolerated by presidents of both parties, and President Trump deserves all the credit for being man enough to rip off the bandage.

January 7, 2026

Entering 2026 with gratitude, humility and resolve

Like a lot of other people, I stayed up on New Year's Eve to watch thousands of people in my native city celebrate the dropping of a ball and, more important, seeing the start of another year.

January 4, 2026