The Chess Clock Debates

An originalist and a living constitutionalist debate how the Senate handle President Trump's nomination of Judge Neil Gorusch to the Supreme Court.

Two moderates who think compromise on healthcare is desirable debate whether Obamacare has failed, what really needs to be fixed, and how Republicans can reach agreement with themselves, their base, and Democrats. 

Georgetown Law professor David Luban takes on Middle East scholar Daniel Byman over whether the call to service includes service in a Trump administration. Luban argues that decent people should stay away. Byman argues that there are still contributions to make, even under Trump.

Two recent college graduates debate the new student activism.

Two fiscal conservatives take on the question of the debt ceiling: Junk it, says Philip Wallach of the Brookings Institution. Keep it and use it as an instrument to force fiscal discipline, responds the Heritage Foundation's Romina Boccia.

Jonathan Rauch, author of a new Brookings ebook on "Pollitical Realism," takes on Norm Eisen, former White House official and ambassador to the Czech Republic, on whether we've gone too far with political reform. Roll it back, says Rauch, while Eisen argues we've done well and could do even better with more transparency. 

Should the United States arm Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia? Kori Schake--former National Security Council, Defense Department, and State Department staffer and a fellow at the Hoover Institution--argues that we should. Ryan Evans, founder of the War on the Rocks web site, says no.  

This week, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Congress against the will of the White House and to objection of many Democrats. Whose fault is the faltering relationship between the United States and its closest Middle Eastern ally? Natan Sachs of the Brookings Institution argues that Bibi is to blame. David Hazony of the Israel Project puts the blame on Barack Obama.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Suzanne Maloney takes on Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Michael Doran over Doran's recent article in Mosaic magazine, "Obama's Secret Iran Strategy."  

Two Daily Beast journalists duke it out over whether journalists should have a privilege against testifying about their confidential sources. Shane Harris argues that they should. James Kirchick says they should not.   

Brookings Institution scholars Jonathan Rauch and Isabel Sawhill debate the question: "Can Marriage Be Saved?" Rauch, a noted journalist and same-sex marriage advocate, takes the affirmative view, and Sawhill, an economist and scholar of domestic poverty and family policy, takes a dimmer view.  Welcome to the Chess Clock Debates