Today, Richard Epstein provides a legal analysis of the Trump administration pressuring ABC to drop Jimmy Kimmel from its programming; Michael McConnell offers an overview of a case on tariffs now before the Supreme Court; and Eyck Freymann discusses his new book The Arsenal of Democracy and its innovative contributions to scholarship on American security in a launch event recorded at the Hoover Institution.
Law & Policy
In an essay for the Civitas Outlook, Senior Fellow Richard A. Epstein analyzes the free speech controversy sparked by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr pressuring ABC “to take down the show Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following the comedian’s remarks last week concerning the “motivations and political identity” of the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk. “In a sane world,” Epstein writes, Kimmel would have “quickly apologized for his tasteless remark. But also in a sane world, the FCC head and President Trump should not have unleashed their attack dogs on either Kimmel or ABC.” Epstein reviews relevant case law to make the argument that executive branch power cannot be used “to target individuals or institutions it dislikes, or those who speak critically of it.” On this basis he concludes that broadcast licenses cannot be “withheld because an applicant has views that are different from those of the head of the FCC or the president.” Read more here.
Senior Fellow Michael McConnell joined TrendMacro to discuss how a pending Supreme Court case on tariffs revolves around historical issues concerning presidential executive power. He explains that the authority to impose tariffs properly belongs to Congress, evidenced by the fact that this power is the first enumerated to the legislative branch in the Constitution. McConnell says that in response to the Court of Appeals ruling against the tariffs last month, the Trump administration could have run out the clock and continued to collect tariffs while the lower court considered technical questions. But the administration is rushing it to the Supreme Court instead, in what McConnell sees as a necessary move for the government to win in the court of public opinion by acting consistently as though the tariffs are a necessary response to an emergency. Read more here.
Security and Defense
On September 11, Hoover Fellow Eyck Freymann launched his new coauthored book, The Arsenal of Democracy: Technology, Industry, and Deterrence in an Age of Hard Choices, at an event at the Hoover Institution office in Washington, DC. The launch featured a welcome reception followed by a conversation with Freymann and coauthor Harry Halem (Yorktown Institute) and Hoover Distinguished Visiting Fellow Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. The Arsenal of Democracy is the first book to integrate military strategy, industrial capacity, and budget realities into a comprehensive deterrence framework. While other books explain why deterrence matters, this book provides the detailed roadmap for how America can actually sustain deterrence through the 2030s—requiring a whole-of-nation effort with coordinated action across Congress, industry, and allied governments. This balanced, comprehensive, and actionable work offers the essential implementation guide for policymakers, defense officials, investors, and strategists. Watch or read more here.
Energy and the Environment
Writing at the Financial Post, Visiting Fellow Bjorn Lomborg argues that massive spending by world governments on mitigating climate change could be applied to more immediate humanitarian needs. As he writes, “even hundreds of trillions of dollars spent on traditional climate policy can only deliver tiny benefits, whereas just billions of dollars of simple, proven policies could transform lives, alleviate poverty, promote health, and boost resilience.” Lomborg maintains that climate policies intended to curb greenhouse gas emissions carry a high cost and threaten the reliability of energy supplies. The real solution, he says, “is energy innovation.” Additional research and development of green tech, the climate researcher concludes, “will accelerate breakthroughs that will make green energy cheaper than fossil fuels, making an energy transition possible for everyone, not just wealthy elites.” Read more here.
Hoover Library and Archives
The Hoover Institution has acquired the Jack T. Young papers, which chronicle the remarkable story of Young’s life through personal writings, correspondence, photographs, official reports, news clippings, films, maps, and printed materials. Together, the materials follow Young’s path from explorer to soldier, and mediator to military advisor. Born in Hawaii in 1910, Young served as an interpreter and guide on the Kelley-Roosevelt-Field Museum Expedition, traveling with Kermit Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. along the Mekong River. Young later volunteered to fight for the Nationalist army in the Chinese Civil War, before commissioning into the US Army in 1943 and running intelligence operations behind Japanese lines. He also served with distinction in the Korean War and Indochina. Young’s papers detail his life and illuminate the complex history of China before and after the 1949 Communist takeover, as well as its evolving relationship with the United States in the twentieth century. Read more here.
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