The Senate’s Diminishing Powe r, a Devastated Iran, and More

September 25, 2020

The sheer number of federal vacancies in combination with a slew of “acting” officials in key positions have sidelined the Senate, raising important questions about our system of checks and balances. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas writes that President Trump’s repeated circumvention of the Senate confirmation process not only does lasting damage to the institution, but also has a profound effect on government performance.

Leaders in Iran are fighting two separate battles: one to save the economy from U.S. sanctions and the other to save lives and the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani discusses the difficult bind Iran is in and how the lives of ordinary Iranians have become intertwined with U.S. politics.

To learn more about how America’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran has panned out, listen to the latest episode of The Current with Suzanne Maloney.

With voting already in process in many states, the GOP is moving full-steam ahead to appoint a new Supreme Court justice. Russell Wheeler argues that Senate Republicans are using the pretense of following historical norms as a fig leaf to obscure the hypocrisy of voting on President Trump’s election-year nominee after refusing to vote on President Obama’s in early 2016.

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