There is growing momentum in Congress to limit elected officials’ ability to buy and sell stocks while they serve in public office. Government watchdogs have long called for such a ban, but it took on new life after reports that several lawmakers may have profited from stock sales during the COVID-19 pandemic that could have been influenced by intelligence briefings. For example, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for stock trades he made shortly after he was briefed about COVID-19 in early 2020. Burr unloaded as much as $1.7 million of stocks following…

More than 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the onset of the war on terror, policymakers are still debating the need to house suspected terrorists at a U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Opened in January 2002 under then-President George W. Bush, the infamous detention center has been the source of much conflict. Proponents have argued that Guantanamo was and still is needed to protect Americans’ safety, while detractors question the facility’s practice of detaining individuals without judicial oversight and the legacy of controversial interrogation techniques that have violated the Geneva Conventions. Some Guantanamo detainees who have…