Harvard Law & Policy Review

The Progressive Journal of the American Constitution Society

Learn About our submission process

by on

The ACA is working – and there is no replacement

By Jonathan Gruber, MIT* One of the most contentious public policy issues of the early days of the Trump Administration is the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). President Trump and congressional Republicans decry the law as a failure and say that it must be repealed and replaced with something better. This line of argument is problematic in two different ways. First, the claim that the ACA is a failure is wrong. Second, there is no replacement that does not significantly worsen the …

Continue Reading about The ACA is working – and there is no replacement →

by on

Alternative Facts in the War on Immigrants

By Philip L. Torrey* For the past couple of weeks, many of us have rightly focused on the chaos that Trump’s hasty and ill-conceived executive orders on immigration have created. But buried in the fine print of the “Interior Enforcement” executive order is a provision that signals an equally alarming threat; one that has gone largely unnoticed. The ominous provision signals the makings of a new propaganda machine that is designed to fuel Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign by twisting facts to …

Continue Reading about Alternative Facts in the War on Immigrants →

by on

President Trump Overstepped his Authority on Sanctuary Cities

  By Eddie Nasser* In Executive Order No. 13768 issued January 25th, President Trump attempted to follow through on a major campaign promise to cut all federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities.” Not only is the order bad policy, it also seems unlikely to withstand a challenge in court. Section 9(a) of the order mandates that jurisdictions “that fail to comply with applicable Federal law do not receive Federal funds, except as mandated by law.” It directs that “the Attorney …

Continue Reading about President Trump Overstepped his Authority on Sanctuary Cities →

by on

How elites profit from the myth of American bankruptcy

By Harry Stein* After years of hysterical warnings about a “looming fiscal crisis” from deficits under President Barack Obama, Republican leaders in Congress are suddenly willing to increase deficits for President Donald Trump. This deficit flip-flop is certainly hypocritical, but it also obscures the true nature of the threat posed by Trump. Trump is taking office at a time when America’s fiscal system is extremely strong. The primary threat is not that America will go broke; it is that …

Continue Reading about How elites profit from the myth of American bankruptcy →

by on

Executive Order 9066: #NeverForget

By Jessica Huey* It was the worst day of his life. That was all he would ever say about it. Looking at black and white photos of my great-grandfather, the stoicism etched in his expression is impossible to ignore. But to understand his story—that of a quiet, Japanese merchant who came to America with his wife to start a new life in the early 1900s—it becomes clear the extent to which living in America, filled with its golden grain and promises, also took its toll on him. Like millions …

Continue Reading about Executive Order 9066: #NeverForget →

by on

The Silencing of Senator Warren

By Charles Tiefer* The press coverage of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s silencing under Senate Rule XIX was colorful, but sadly shallow. Much more daunting than a one-cycle news bite or a catchy hashtag, the incident in fact revealed that today’s narrow Republican Senate majority is poised to use procedure to subjugate the minority Democrats to an extreme. In the news bite version of the story, the Warren silencing was simply a clash of personalities against a background of quaint Senate rules …

Continue Reading about The Silencing of Senator Warren →