The Agenda

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    Latest

    Trump's war on regulations is real. But is it working?

    A year in, Trump's rule rollback isn't as dramatic as he claims. But a radical experiment is underway.

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    3 things Trump did this week while you weren't looking

    As the government nears a shutdown, Trump keeps making policy moves.

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    Is the GOP tax law already working?

    Ignore Wal-Mart’s wage hike. Here are the economic numbers you should really be looking at.

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    The real people behind Trump's 'shithole' comment

  • On the radar

    • Jan. 19-23: Vice President Mike Pence on foreign travel to Egypt, Jordan and Israel
    • Jan. 21-27: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on foreign travel to London, Paris, Warsaw and Davos
    • Tuesday, Jan. 23: The Council on Foreign Relations hosts a discussion on "How to Stand Up to the Kremlin: Defending Democracy Against Its Enemies"
    • Tuesday, Jan. 23: The American Enterprise Institute holds a discussion on "Intelligence Beyond 2018" with CIA Director Mike Pompeo
    • Tuesday, Jan. 23: The Heritage Foundation holds a seminar on "Trump Antitrust Policy after One Year"
    • Wednesday, Jan. 24: The International Spy Museum holds a discussion on "A Year in Review" with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
    • Wednesday, Jan. 24: The Hudson Institute holds a discussion on "U.S. Responses to the North Korean Threat"
    • Wednesday, Jan. 24: Senate Budget Committee hearing on oversight of the Congressional Budget Office
    • Jan. 25-27: Families USA holds its 37th annual Health Action Conference
    • Friday, Jan. 26: The American Enterprise Institute holds a discussion on education savings accounts and the future of educational choice
    • Friday, Jan. 26: The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on "What's next for Trump's regulatory agenda"
    • Friday, Jan. 26: Commerce Department releases first estimate of 4th quarter GDP
    • Jan. 30-31: Federal Reserve board meets to set monetary policy
    • Friday, Feb. 2: Labor Department releases January jobs report
    • Wednesday, Feb. 14: Labor Department releases January inflation figures
    • Wednesday, Feb. 28: Commerce Department releases second estimate of 4th quarter GDP
    • Friday, March 9: Labor Department releases February jobs report
    • Tuesday, March 13: Labor Department releases February inflation figures
    • Sunday, March 18: Russian presidential election
    • March 20-21: Federal Reserve board meets to set monetary policy
    • Wednesday, March 28: Commerce Department releases final estimate of 4th quarter GDP
    • Saturday, March 31: Expiration of Federal Aviation Administration and Children's Health Insurance Program
    • Friday, April 6: Labor Department releases March jobs report
    • Wednesday, April 11: Labor Department releases March inflation figures
    • Friday, April 27: Commerce Department releases first estimate of 1st quarter GDP
    • May 1-2: Federal Reserve board meets to set monetary policy
    • Friday, May 4: Labor Department releases April jobs report
    • Thursday, May 10: Labor Department releases April inflation figures
    • Saturday, May 12: Iraq parliamentary elections
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    The school-first solution

    A top economist games out how to spend education money for health payoffs.

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    Healthier kids? Just hand their families cash.

    It sounds crude. But a welfare experiment from 100 years ago offers a dramatic lesson in what really helps poor children.

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    A prescription for ... resiliency?

    If you could inoculate kids against stress, it might just change their futures. Inside the effort to find out if it works.

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    Health care’s ‘upstream’ conundrum

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    Why we need a new approach to North Korea

    It's time to stop focusing narrowly on a nuclear deal, and expand to address its broader problems.

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    138 things Trump did this year while you weren't looking

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    Newman’s Own tax break

    Why the GOP bill has a carveout for one celebrity charity.

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    How to fix Puerto Rico's power system

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    Why the 'fix' to Congress's sexual harassment policies could backfire

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    Why FEMA is making a big mistake in Puerto Rico

    The agency is proposing one mega-contract for delivering relief to the island. Here's a better way.

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    Is Washington bungling the Census?

    Washington is supposed to tell us what we need to know about America—a wonky but crucial mission that's suddenly in trouble.

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    What our cyberwall knows

    Was that hacker Russian? As the government learns from constant attacks, companies want to know why it doesn't share more of what it's finding out.

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    When big data went to war — and lost

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    Overpasses: A love story

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    Innovation vs. the ants

    When cutting-edge research labs get old, they face a new kind of challenge: Upkeep is expensive, and it's not sexy.

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    The little-noticed bombshell in Trump's immigration order

    The travel ban got all the headlines, but experts are realizing another provision could clamp down on normal tourism and even diplomats.

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    That time Obama negotiated his own Carrier-style deal

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    Is Washington creating more Flints?

    The untold story behind this year’s water scandal is that D.C. has been turning its back on America’s crucial water systems, leaving cities and states with the bill.

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    Arne Duncan’s Wars

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    The Debrief

    FEMA head Craig Fugate explains what keeps him up at night

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    Uber vs. Laws

    Will the “sharing economy” help kill off government regulation?

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    Leaked: What’s in Obama’s trade deal

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    I became a wired wonk

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    The U.S. government’s predatory-lending program

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    Billions over budget. Two years after deadline. What’s gone wrong for the ‘clean coal’ project that’s supposed to save an industry?

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    The strange story of the first Cuban import in half a century

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    Congress tries to hide a submarine

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    How Trump's attack on Mexico could hurt border security

    Mexico has stepped up its cooperation—a lot. What happens when the president says it's shirking?

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    The wrong state to have an accident

    Obamacare was supposed to improve health care equality. But for some people, state politics has made the problem much worse.

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    The holes in the overtime rule

    Despite Obama's sweeping new regulation, America's 1930s-era labor law is still leaving a strange assortment of workers in the cold.

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    Trump's Wall plan could actually increase crime

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    Cats, weed, and outer space

    A field guide to the 2016 scorecards you probably didn’t know about (until now)

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    Al Gore: Optimist?

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    The new Obama rule that’s making stockbrokers swear

    Whose interest is a retirement adviser supposed to serve?

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    Trade with Cuba? We already do $300 million worth

    A look inside our little-known export pipeline suggests who might benefit when the embargo lifts.

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    Round 1 goes to the lobbyists

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    The government program with a 116% default rate

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    Under Trump, regulation slows to a crawl

    The president promised a less active government. Data show something starker: It has almost ceased issuing significant rules entirely.

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    The Flint of California

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    Our best frenemy

    China's hackers aren't delicate cat burglars. They're smash-and-grab artists helping build an economy, and that makes the Chinese hacking problem harder to fix than you think.

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    Congress just outlawed changes to the $1 bill

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    The Katrina disaster that hasn’t ended

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    The 7-year-old government loan program that has never made a loan

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    The Big Idea

    Tax Harvard!

    President Barack Obama wants to make college more affordable. Here's how.