Experts in the News | Miller Center

Trump's Cabinet woes could cripple administration, ex-WH staffers say

"There are always tensions within the White House, there are always tensions between the President and the Cabinet," the Miller Center's Chris Lu said. "Those are worked out behind the scenes, with senior staff. The fact that the President is doing this is a terrible use of his own time."

Chris Lu

Law and Justice

For Trump, self-pardon would equal self-immolation

The constitutional text and history regarding presidential pardons shows that Trump has the Constitution, if not the politics, about right.

John Yoo & Saikrishna Prakash

How Trump should handle Iran

Last week, the Trump administration recertified that Iran is complying the nuclear agreement, setting off predictable debate between who those want to exit the deal immediately and those who see it as his predecessor’s signature foreign policy achievement. But for all the will-he-or-won’t-he attention on Trump’s decision, the focus on the nuclear deal is missing the point: The administration’s real agenda on Iran doesn’t hinge on the nuclear agreement—a dangerous deal that puts the U.S. in a impossible situation.

Eric Edelman

Why It’s the Perfect Time to Raise the Federal Minimum Wage

It’s been eight years since the federal minimum wage was last raised on July 24, 2009. At the time, the United States was in the depths of the Great Recession, and the major concern for policymakers wasn’t wages but an unemployment rate heading towards 10%. Over the past eight years, the economy has rebounded with the longest streak of job growth in history. Yet millions of people continue to work for the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour — without a pay raise in sight.

Chris Lu

American Defense and Security

Edelman to chair national defense strategy commission

The Miller Center's Eric Edelman is named chair of panel assessing military readiness

What Happened in Hamburg

Here is why the meeting not only was not a success but was likely a disaster for U.S.-Russia relations and global order. The absence of an agenda on the U.S. side (as national security adviser H. R. McMaster admitted before the event) guaranteed that Putin (who most assuredly always has an agenda) would dominate and drive the conversation. Moreover, a limit on the number of participants left Trump without the services of McMaster and his senior director for Russia, the very impressive Fiona Hill. The U.S. side is now dependent on the interpreters’ notes for a record of the discussion, not having had a Russian speaker who knows Putin well in the meeting, someone who might have picked up important nuances in the conversation.

Eric Edelman