Government | Washington Monthly

DOGE Is Done, But the Wreckage Remains

by Anne Kim August 26, 2026September 8, 2026

Elon Musk’s ill-considered rampage through government has left Americans vulnerable to long-term health and safety threats, says Brookings Institution expert Elaine Kamarck.

A couple exits the Northumberland County Assistance Office, which helps residents apply for and manage Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, in August 2026.

Books

Death by a Thousand Papercuts

by Anne Kim August 25, 2026August 24, 2026

Congress Should Stop Russ Vought’s Latest Power Grab

by Gabe Menchaca August 13, 2026August 13, 2026

Independence Day, From Jefferson to Reagan to Trump

by Jack Rakove July 4, 2026July 3, 2026

The James H. Shannon Building on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2015.

Trump’s Dangerous Litmus Test for NIH Grants

by James D. Zirin June 15, 2026June 15, 2026

Political Science: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listen during an Oval Office event on health care affordability, April 23, 2026. Kennedy’s HHS has become central to the administration’s campaign against research it deems ideological. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump Escalates War on Science

by Merrill Goozner June 8, 2026June 5, 2026

The director of EveryLibrary, which fights for library budgets and against book bans, discusses censorship and those drag-queen story hours.

“The Library is One of the Best Libertarian Arguments for Limited Government”

by David Masciotra May 14, 2026May 13, 2026

The Miracle and Mystery of Artemis II

by Bart H. Welling April 10, 2026April 10, 2026

Proof Over Promise: The VA’s Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program has achieved some genuine good, but its scope remains limited. Pictured here, Shepherd’s Men, who raise funds and awareness for treatment options and suicide prevention for veterans, march in September, 2020, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The VA’s Anti-Suicide Grant Program That Needs Fixing

by Russell Lemle March 24, 2026March 23, 2026

Trump's Federalism: The president hosts NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani amid growing anxiety over vanishing federal support for cities.

Trump’s Washington Is Ghosting States and Cities

by Philip Rocco, Jay Rickabaugh, and Jen Nelles November 27, 2025November 26, 2025

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