Latest news with #KarenTumulty
Washington Post
02-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Four months in, what has DOGE accomplished? Ask us your questions.
Ask The Post's journalists Our reporters and editors answer your questions. Join our live chats or ask a question in advance. Get advice: Carolyn Hax takes your questions about the strange train we call life. Find a dining suggestion: Chat with restaurant critic Tom Sietsema. Ask for cooking help: Aaron Hutcherson and Becky Krystal are your guides to the kitchen. Chat with a columnist: Karen Tumulty discusses her columns, politics and more. Ask about the media: Erik Wemple discusses his columns and more. Explore all of our chats on our community page.
Washington Post
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Bad economic news herein (but also pictures of horses)
In today's edition: Let's say you're a Democratic governor. (Wow, congratulations!) You think you might even want to be president. (Oof, good luck.) What do you do about Donald Trump? Karen Tumulty writes, rather more delightfully than the situation requires, that it's 'a ticklish time' to be in such a position. White House aspirants need to make their name getting their licks in against the incumbent, but they also owe their state responsible stewardship.
Washington Post
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
The Catholic Church after Pope Francis
You're reading the Prompt 2025 newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox. Pope Francis died at the Vatican early Monday at age 88. Francis's 12-year papacy ushered the Catholic Church into a contemporary era: serving as first pontiff from Latin America, Francis preached a tolerance that often went against the grain of others in the church hierarchy and elevated the plight of the poor and the Global South. In the coming weeks, the College of Cardinals will begin the process of electing a new pope who could extend Francis's progressive legacy or return the church closer to its more dogmatic tradition. I'm joined by my colleagues E.J. Dionne Jr., a fellow 'cradle Catholic,' and Ramesh Ponnuru, a convert, to discuss what's next for the Catholic Church. 💬 💬 💬 Karen Tumulty Let's get started by reflecting a bit on Francis's legacy. When he was elected in 2013, expectations were that elderly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires would be a placeholder. He was an outsider who wasn't really part of the Vatican power structure. E.J., expectations were pretty low, weren't they? E.J. Dionne Jr. His election was certainly a surprise to many, as you say — he was not at the top of the pundits' lists — but he had reportedly given Pope Benedict a 'horse race' in the 2005 conclave, as someone put it. He was seen as an advocate of a more decentralized church and very dedicated to the marginalized. My Post column when he was elected in 2013 ran under the headline, 'Francis, a pope of the poor.' So, I had pretty high expectations, especially after he picked the name Francis! Ramesh PonnuruSome of those same pundits pointed to his age as a sign that he would be a caretaker pope, which I never understood given modern life expectancies. But Francis pretty quickly transcended those expectations. He enjoyed a kind of honeymoon in the first years of his pontificate. As the first modern non-European pope, he was thought to symbolize a transition to a church that included millions of new brown and Black Catholics. Western progressives, meanwhile, thought he would change the church in a way they welcomed after decades in which such hopes had been doused. But especially at the beginning, there was enough ambiguity in his actions and statements that more conservative Catholics stayed open to him. This seemed like it could lead to a refreshment of the church. Karen Tumulty So true. And when it came to doctrine, he didn't make major changes on issues such as the role of women in the church. He preached tolerance of LGBTQ+ Catholics, but did not alter the church's formal position that homosexual acts are a 'grave depravity.' Story continues below advertisement Advertisement E.J. Dionne is right about how refreshing Francis was. He sent a powerful message on Holy Thursday in 2013 when, as part of the traditional ceremony, he washed and kissed the feet not of priests but of 12 young people at a youth prison. Among them were two women and two Muslims. It told us a lot about the kind of pope he intended to be. Ramesh PonnuruThe moment that sticks with me from those early years was Francis's embrace of Vinicio Riva, who had been disfigured by a rare medical condition. That image was a powerful witness to Christian love. Karen TumultyAnd there was a lightness and joy to him. I loved his December op-ed about the link between faith and … humor. E.J. Dionne he was not deadly serious all the time. I will always love the fact that, as I mentioned in my column on Monday, he will be the only pope who ever condemned 'sourpusses.' (Maybe his translator also had a sense of humor!) He spoke of 'the joy of the Gospel' and against 'theatrical severity.' Our friend and colleague, the late Mike Gerson, liked to call him a 'troublemaker.' Karen TumultySo, what now? To be part of the Conclave (loved that movie!), a cardinal has to be younger than 80. Francis appointed 108 of the 135 cardinals who are eligible to vote. Will they continue his legacy? Ramesh PonnuruHaving said that Francis's pontificate began in promise, I'm sorry to say that, in some respects, it ended in disappointment. He did not overcome the divisions in the church within the rich world. Rather, he troubled Catholic conservatives without making the changes that progressives wanted, creating a sense of instability rather than resolution. Hence the unfortunate ideological framing that is likely to dominate coverage of this conclave. But the demographic and geographic transition within the church has proceeded, and the church in Africa and Asia might not be preoccupied by the same issues that divide left and right here. Karen TumultyThat's right! This Conclave is going to look like none we have seen before. More global; less White. And yet — still no women. Foot-washing is great symbolism, but it is not empowering. E.J. Dionne enormous demographic change in the College of Cardinals that began before Francis but that he hugely accelerated is very important. As Father Tom Reese wrote in America magazine last fall: 'For the first time in history, a majority of the cardinals at the next conclave will be from outside of Europe, quite a change from the conclave that elected Pius XII in 1939, which was 89 percent European. More than half (56%) of the cardinals at that conclave were Italian.' E.J. Dionne Jr. If punditry is always hard at Conclaves, it's especially difficult this time because many of the new cardinals in a far more global college have never met. In the past, the large role played by Italian prelates in the Vatican made them the power brokers. It is by no means clear who the power brokers will be this time — other than the Holy Spirit, of course. E.J. Dionne to the 'Conclave' movie, lots of people now know who the 'camerlengo' is, the man (played by John Lithgow in the film) who runs things, including the Conclave itself. Americans will be interested that the camerlengo this time, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, was born in Ireland but served as a priest and bishop for many years in the Washington Archdiocese and in Dallas. Ramesh PonnuruThe church in the United States and elsewhere remains badly scarred by the abuse scandal and the stubborn refusal of too many bishops to take it sufficiently seriously. (I speak as someone received into the church by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, which I suppose demonstrates that the sacraments are valid no matter how disgraceful the man who administers them.) Among the high hopes for Pope Francis that did not come about was that he would clean house. His patronage of the Rev. Marko Rupnik, an abuser of nuns, stung every Catholic who thought that the princes of the church had learned something about this grave evil. The next pope, let us pray, will do better. E.J. Dionne moved in a better direction on the issues around the scandal over time, but it remains a very serious problem. And the steps on empowering women were real but far from what should happen. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Karen TumultySo, let's close with this question: What is the first big thing that the new guy will have to do — other than picking his name — that will signal the course on which he plans to take his papacy? (Speaking of names, there was once a Pope Hilarius.) Ramesh PonnuruA crucial early decision for the next pope has very little to do with any culture-war issues. It is whether he will stand with the persecuted church, especially in China, or continue to seek accommodations with authorities who respect neither religious liberty nor the dignity of the human person. E.J. Dionne Jr.I suspect that the non-European and non-North American cardinals will be broadly Francis-sympathizers on issues related to poverty, social justice and the climate. But the divisions around the role of women and LGBTQ+ issues cut across the regional divides. The dividing lines might be over whether to press forward with the progressive side of Francis's pontificate, to consolidate, or to roll back. One of the first two seems to me more probable. E.J. Dionne never want to take a job after someone who has left such a big mark. The comparisons almost always hurt the new person. It will be very hard to find anyone like Francis. I hope for someone who continues Francis's mission on behalf of the poor, the migrants, the marginalized and the planet. And while it makes some uncomfortable, I hope he leaves the tough debates we are having open. Francis did not create the divisions in the Church. He let the debates go forward. They need to play themselves out among the faithful and not just in the leadership. Karen TumultyThat sounds like a good place to leave this. We will have so much to watch. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - The Constitution has already collapsed, and we are to blame
In a 2021 column for this publication and in my latest book, 'Grand Old Unraveling,' I argued that the U.S. Constitution isn't working. Earlier this month, Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty contended that we are witnessing a 'constitutional collapse.' She is right. President Trump has accelerated the unraveling of that once meticulously constructed document. He has halted the work performed by several agencies funded by Congress, fired thousands of civil service employees without cause and removed inspectors general and leaders of the U.S. military. He has even attempted to rewrite the Constitution by voiding birthright citizenship guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. In an interview with me, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) deplored Trump's 'highjacking' of congressional powers, noting that Republicans in Congress are 'not willing to do their jobs.' Attempting to prick the conscience of his Senate colleagues, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) wonders why they have not fought to preserve their constitutional power of the purse. Sadly, the only answer he can find is, 'We gave it up!' With the emergence of what American Enterprise Institute scholar Jack Landman Goldsmith calls Donald Trump's 'Caesarean presidency,' Republicans have been content to forfeit their constitutional responsibilities. Defending Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says that while Musk's actions may be unconstitutional, 'nobody should bellyache.' Not surprisingly, as Scanlon told me, there have been 'daily crossings of constitutional boundaries' in the 40 days of Trump's second administration. This abdication of congressional responsibility did not begin with Trump. For decades, Congress has been willingly ceding vast authority to the president, including the power to declare war. It has written vague statutes and left it to the executive branch to provide the regulations needed for implementation and. It has allowed presidents to declare emergencies that allow for the waiving of laws and other unchecked actions. The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) once lamented the absence of congressional leadership. In 2017, he refused to overturn the Affordable Care Act, saying, 'We are an important check on the powers of the executive. Our consent is necessary for the president to appoint jurists and powerful government officials and in many respects to conduct foreign policy. Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president's subordinates. We are his equal.' That is no longer true. The presidential system created by the Founders has morphed into an American-style parliamentary system. Party-line voting has become the norm in Congress. And confirming presidential nominees is now a matter of party loyalty. One senior White House official described the current confirmation process as a 'pass-fail' test, adding, 'The Senate needs to advise and consent, not advise and adjust.' Yet it is too easy to blame our leaders for our constitutional collapse. The decline of civic education is a major factor contributing to the Constitution's demise. Following the 2001 passage of George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Law, with its emphasis on reading and math test scores, civics classes are now of secondary (or even tertiary) importance. The result is a grotesque lack of civic knowledge. A 2024 report from the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute for American Democracy found that one in three respondents did not know there are three branches of government, much less what those branches are and what they do. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed the civics scores of eighth graders had declined. The citizenship exam given to those seeking to become naturalized U.S. citizens is one that many native-born Americans would undoubtedly fail. In 1796, President George Washington called for the creation of a national university, saying, 'The primary object of such a national institution should be the education of our youth in the science of government.' More than a century later, public schools took upon themselves the task of providing civic education to newly arrived immigrants. A 1920 Massachusetts conference of educators concluded, 'We believe in an Americanization which has for its end the making of good American citizens by developing in the mind of everyone who inhabits American soil an appreciation of the principles and practices of good American citizenship.' The lack of basic civic education makes the task of explaining what is happening in the nation's capital extraordinarily difficult. Scanlon noted that in a 'post-truth age' people not only don't understand how government works but 'they are easily swayed by every Tom, Dick and Harry Huckster with a Twitter account.' In 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote, 'Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government [such that] whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right.' But when citizens are poorly informed, they can be easily manipulated by those seeking to undo our founding principles. Then, to paraphrase Jefferson, it becomes impossible to set things right. Donald Trump has shown little respect for the Constitution. In his first term, he argued that Article Two gives him 'the right to do whatever I want.' At the start of his second administration, Trump posted a quote purportedly from Napoleon: 'He who saves his country does not violate any law.' In 2022, resurrecting the tired old chestnut that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump called for 'the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.' Today, he has set about doing just that. And he has help. Russell Vought, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, believes we are in a 'post-constitutional moment.' The result, says Vought, is the creation of a 'new regime that pays only lip service to the old Constitution.' Federal officeholders, including the president, are required to swear or affirm they will 'defend' the Constitution. But for Trump and his compliant Republican colleagues, these are merely pro-forma pledges. For them, paying lip service to the Constitution means reciting words without meaning. The Constitution has already collapsed. John Kenneth White is a professor emeritus at The Catholic University of America. His latest book is titled 'Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.' He can be reached at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
The Constitution has already collapsed, and we are to blame
In a 2021 column for this publication and in my latest book, ' Grand Old Unraveling,' I argued that the U.S. Constitution isn't working. Earlier this month, Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty contended that we are witnessing a ' constitutional collapse.' She is right. President Trump has accelerated the unraveling of that once meticulously constructed document. He has halted the work performed by several agencies funded by Congress, fired thousands of civil service employees without cause and removed inspectors general and leaders of the U.S. military. He has even attempted to rewrite the Constitution by voiding birthright citizenship guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. In an interview with me, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) deplored Trump's 'highjacking' of congressional powers, noting that Republicans in Congress are 'not willing to do their jobs.' Attempting to prick the conscience of his Senate colleagues, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) wonders why they have not fought to preserve their constitutional power of the purse. Sadly, the only answer he can find is, ' We gave it up!' With the emergence of what American Enterprise Institute scholar Jack Landman Goldsmith calls Donald Trump's ' Caesarean presidency,' Republicans have been content to forfeit their constitutional responsibilities. Defending Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says that while Musk's actions may be unconstitutional, ' nobody should bellyache.' Not surprisingly, as Scanlon told me, there have been 'daily crossings of constitutional boundaries' in the 40 days of Trump's second administration. This abdication of congressional responsibility did not begin with Trump. For decades, Congress has been willingly ceding vast authority to the president, including the power to declare war. It has written vague statutes and left it to the executive branch to provide the regulations needed for implementation and. It has allowed presidents to declare emergencies that allow for the waiving of laws and other unchecked actions. The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) once lamented the absence of congressional leadership. In 2017, he refused to overturn the Affordable Care Act, saying, 'We are an important check on the powers of the executive. Our consent is necessary for the president to appoint jurists and powerful government officials and in many respects to conduct foreign policy. Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president's subordinates. We are his equal.' That is no longer true. The presidential system created by the Founders has morphed into an American-style parliamentary system. Party-line voting has become the norm in Congress. And confirming presidential nominees is now a matter of party loyalty. One senior White House official described the current confirmation process as a ' pass-fail ' test, adding, 'The Senate needs to advise and consent, not advise and adjust.' Yet it is too easy to blame our leaders for our constitutional collapse. The decline of civic education is a major factor contributing to the Constitution's demise. Following the 2001 passage of George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Law, with its emphasis on reading and math test scores, civics classes are now of secondary (or even tertiary) importance. The result is a grotesque lack of civic knowledge. A 2024 report from the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute for American Democracy found that one in three respondents did not know there are three branches of government, much less what those branches are and what they do. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed the civics scores of eighth graders had declined. The citizenship exam given to those seeking to become naturalized U.S. citizens is one that many native-born Americans would undoubtedly fail. In 1796, President George Washington called for the creation of a national university, saying, 'The primary object of such a national institution should be the education of our youth in the science of government.' More than a century later, public schools took upon themselves the task of providing civic education to newly arrived immigrants. A 1920 Massachusetts conference of educators concluded, 'We believe in an Americanization which has for its end the making of good American citizens by developing in the mind of everyone who inhabits American soil an appreciation of the principles and practices of good American citizenship.' The lack of basic civic education makes the task of explaining what is happening in the nation's capital extraordinarily difficult. Scanlon noted that in a 'post-truth age' people not only don't understand how government works but 'they are easily swayed by every Tom, Dick and Harry Huckster with a Twitter account.' In 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote, 'Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government [such that] whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right.' But when citizens are poorly informed, they can be easily manipulated by those seeking to undo our founding principles. Then, to paraphrase Jefferson, it becomes impossible to set things right. Donald Trump has shown little respect for the Constitution. In his first term, he argued that Article Two gives him 'the right to do whatever I want.' At the start of his second administration, Trump posted a quote purportedly from Napoleon: 'He who saves his country does not violate any law.' In 2022, resurrecting the tired old chestnut that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump called for 'the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.' Today, he has set about doing just that. And he has help. Russell Vought, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, believes we are in a ' post-constitutional moment.' The result, says Vought, is the creation of a 'new regime that pays only lip service to the old Constitution.' Federal officeholders, including the president, are required to swear or affirm they will 'defend' the Constitution. But for Trump and his compliant Republican colleagues, these are merely pro-forma pledges. For them, paying lip service to the Constitution means reciting words without meaning. The Constitution has already collapsed.
