Today, we will be doing something a bit different. This is our debut article of a new series we’re calling A Week in Politics, where I go over political events that occurred over the course of the last week in the U.S. and around the world.
The United States
Bad news hit the Trump administration with Friday’s terrible jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the U.S. had only added 22,000 jobs in August, far short of Wall Street’s forecasts of 80,000. The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.3% – the country’s highest since October 2021, when the country was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. This terrible report can be partly attributed to the Trump administration’s tariffs, which have increased uncertainty, costs for businesses, and complicated corporate plans. Some have blamed businesses for their rapid adoption of AI into their systems, and hurting demand for recent college graduates and other entry-level workers, although there is ongoing debate as to what extent AI is actually hurting job growth. President Trump responded to the jobs report on TruthSocial by criticizing Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, saying that he should have moved earlier to cut interest rates. Cutting interest rates would, in theory, help job growth by driving consumer spending and making it cheaper for businesses to expand operations.
This jobs report presents a major concern to the Trump administration. This jobs report shows that many major industries have lost jobs, that hiring is weaker this summer than previously thought, and that job growth is at its lowest level in fifteen years. Especially after the last two job reports from June and July, which showed negative job growth overall, the United States may be heading into a period of “stagflation”, in which the economy experiences stagnant economic growth and high unemployment numbers. This will be yet another challenge to respond to for the Trump administration, which has blamed the numbers thus far on the previous president and has promised that everything will be better in the next several months.
Also on Friday, President Trump formally announced that the Department of Defense would now also be known as the Department of War. The aim of this rename, apparently, is to “project strength and resolve”. The Department of War had been the previous name of the department from 1789 until 1947, when it was renamed to the DOD. The name change approved by Trump via executive order is still unofficial, however, as Congress has to approve an official renaming of the department. Still, the “War” name has been put all over the Pentagon, its website URL, and various social media accounts.
Source: Reuters
This rebranding comes as tensions escalate between the United States and Venezuela. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the U.S. military conducted a precision strike on a Venezuelan boat reportedly used by the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua for smuggling drugs, killing eleven people. On Friday, things escalated much more with the Trump administration deploying ten F-35 jets to Puerto Rico in a bid to respond to drug cartels in Venezuela and Latin America. So far, the Trump administration has denied that it seeks war with Venezuela, although there are reports that it is seeking to carry out strikes within the country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is accusing the U.S. of seeking regime change, and has sent Air Force jets to fly over the U.S.S. Jason Dunham in international waters. Caution must be exercised on both sides, as a misstep can lead to war between the U.S. and Venezuela. The U.S. must look to the actions taken in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, and be wary of intervening militarily overall.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. went through a strenuous hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. Many senators on that committee, both Democrats and Republicans, criticized Kennedy’s actions in his first eight months as HHS chief, including the recent resignations and dismissals of several public health officials, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Another source of contention was Kennedy’s shifting vaccine policy, in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been canceled in funding for research for future vaccines, and in which the FDA has limited the groups of people approved to get the updated COVID-19 shot to anyone age 65 and older and any person 6 months and older who has at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk of severe COVID-19 infection. In response to claims that he is limiting vaccine access and criticism of his other actions, Kennedy has consistently defended his policies.
RFK Jr. at Wednesday’s hearing. Source: Getty Images
It is clear that Kennedy’s policies are ultimately being influenced by his status as an anti-vaxxer. Kennedy’s shifting vaccine policies and his other actions threaten public health as a whole, as the U.S. enters flu season. It is high time for Kennedy to do what many Democrats and his own family have been saying, and that is to resign. An anti-vaxxer should never have been put in charge of public health in the first place.
On immigration news, it has been reported that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been wrongly and illegally deported earlier this year, is now being processed for deportation to the tiny African country of Eswatini after his detention by ICE in late August. Garcia’s proposed deportation to Eswatini is part of the ongoing efforts by the Trump administration of using “third-country deportations”, in which they have deported several individuals to Latin American and African countries because it has been deemed “impracticable, inadvisable, or impossible” to return them to their home countries. In the vast majority of cases, the individual being deported has never been or has no connection to the third country they are being deported to, and this is the case for Garcia. We will continue to see how his case evolves over time.
The U.S. Congress returned from its August recess this past week and was immediately confronted with a flutter of activity on Capitol Hill, as Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers flocked there to demand the release of all of the so-called “Epstein files.” Currently, there is a discharge petition circulating in the House of Representatives that would call on the government to release all of the Epstein files. The White House has been trying to kill the measure, calling it an effort by Democrats to distract from the administration’s wins, even as the measure is being backed in a bipartisan fashion. The Trump administration would do an enormous of public goodwill by releasing all of the Epstein files.
Epstein accusers at a press conference. Source: New York Times
In New York, a high-profile retirement occurred in the form of Congressman Jerry Nadler (D), whose district includes a portion of Manhattan. Nadler, a longtime liberal stalwart who has been in Washington since 1992, once chaired the House Judiciary Committee, which oversaw both of President Trump’s impeachments during his first term. The 78-year-old congressman has stated that his intention to retire has been spurred by last year’s drama over President Biden’s decision not to run for re-election late. This reason is a laudatory one, as more members of Congress who are in their late seventies and older should consider retirement to make way for the younger generation.
In the Senate, Iowa’s junior senator Joni Ernst (R) confirmed reports that she would not be running for re-election in 2026 after two terms in office. This comes after remarks she made earlier this year defending President Trump’s Medicaid remarks, stating that “we are all going to die anyway”. In response to this news, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R) of Iowa’s 2nd district, which is anchored in northeastern Iowa, has announced she would run for the open Senate seat, and has quickly gained endorsements from the president and top Republicans. Currently, we are rating the Senate race in Iowa as Likely R until we can assess further the Democratic candidate’s strength, and the race in Iowa’s open 2nd district as Lean R.
In New York City, reports earlier this week emerged that incumbent mayor Eric Adams was offered a job by the Trump administration in either the Department of Housing and Urban Development or as ambassador to Saudi Arabia to take him out of November’s mayoral election. This comes as opposition struggles to unify around a candidate who can defeat Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary in an upset following a campaign that revolved around democratic socialist policies. Trump and his allies have reportedly been trying to support former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who lost the primary to Mamdani and is now running as a third-party candidate. Adams, surprisingly enough, due to his prior investigations on bribery from Turkish agents, defiantly announced in a press conference on Friday that he would be staying in the race, declaring himself the only one who can defeat Mamdani and calling Cuomo a “liar” and a “snake”.
Adams speaks at a press conference Friday announcing his intent to stay in the race. Source: WABC
This is yet another failed attempt by anti-Mamdani supporters to consolidate around someone who can beat the upstart progressive challenger, as Adams continues to deal with his unpopularity and corruption scandals, Cuomo with his sexual assault allegations, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa’s inability to advance further in the polls. It would be very safe to say that Mamdani will likely coast to victory this November, given the unpopularity of his opponents and the city’s status as a Democratic stronghold.
Finally, Republican lawmakers in the state of Missouri began efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map, seeking to gain the Democratic-held 5th district. This is part of wider efforts across the country, backed by the Republican Party, to gain an advantage ahead of the 2026 midterms, as midterm elections historically bring poor results to the president’s party. Time will tell if Missouri passes a new congressional map, and if other Republican and Democratic states follow suit.
The World
Much has been happening around the world, and we begin in the People’s Republic of China, where China staged a massive military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Allied victory over the Japanese in the Second World War. Several world leaders attended the parade, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Notably, most Western leaders did not show up at the event, which is chronicled further in this article. The parade occurs after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which saw Armenia and Pakistan establish ties after previous tensions between the two and Russia’s Putin indicating a willingness to work with the U.S. and Ukraine on matters regarding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since its conquest in March 2022. The summit and the parade consolidate China’s emerging role as a leader on the global stage, promoting displays of diplomacy as the U.S. continues to isolate itself through tariffs and America First rhetoric.
L-R: Russian President Putin, Chinese President Xi, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif arriving at the military parade. Source: AP
Earlier this week, political turmoil in Southeast Asia continued. In Indonesia, protests have engulfed the nation’s capital as a continuation of earlier protests this year over economic frustrations and a proposed hike in housing subsidies for members of the country’s parliament. Several houses belonging to members of Parliament, including that of the foreign minister, have been robbed and looted. In response to the demands, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto agreed in a press conference to revoke allowances for MPs and put a moratorium on foreign trips. Meanwhile, in Thailand, the country’s Parliament opposition leader Anutin Charnvirakul to serve as prime minister after his predecessor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was thrown out of office last week. Shinawatra had been removed from office by the country’s highest court after a phone call between her and Cambodian leader Hun Sen was leaked to the public, appearing to show her as deferent to her counterpart in the wake of the Cambodia-Thailand border conflict. Remarkably, Shinawatra follows in a trend of family members being removed from office. Her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had been ousted in a military-backed coup in 2006, while her aunt, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was also ousted in a military-backed coup in 2014. Since Thailand has a long history of coups, one can hope that this political mess does not lead to another coup in the next several months. Lastly, in the Philippines, controversy continues to brew over a massive case of alleged corruption in flood control projects, where questions arise over where billions of Philippine pesos went in the wake of reports of “ghost projects”, in which flood control projects that were listed as completed were never actually completed in the first place. Several contractors and politicians were implicated in the corruption, with one private contractor who denied any wrongdoing even as the Philippine senate questioned over her family’s fleet of 28 luxury cars and vehicles. As a country that regularly suffers a brutal typhoon season that displaces and kills thousands of people, the evolving scandal is the latest in a series of corruption scandals that regularly plague the Southeast Asian nation.
In the Middle East, the war in Gaza continues to claim many lives and cause much controversy. The world’s leading organization on researching genocide and war crimes, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, has declared that Israel’s actions constitute a genocide in Gaza. The backlash against Israel continues, with Belgium becoming the latest Western country to say that it would conditionally recognize a Palestinian state at this month’s United Nations General Assembly session. This is yet another part of the tide of Western countries turning against Israel amid growing criticism of its conduct in the war and increased sympathy for the plight of Palestinians in the area. This is a noteworthy shift, as the West has long hesitated to recognize a Palestinian state due to concerns over Israel-Palestine relations. Meanwhile, France has issued an arrest warrant for the former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for a 2012 bombing that killed two journalists. Assad had been toppled in December of 2024 and is now living secluded in Moscow, shielded from the public by his Russian allies.
In Africa, Mali has filed a lawsuit against Algeria at the International Court of Justice, accusing Algeria of destroying a Malian drone to allegedly hinder the Malian government’s attempts to put down armed rebellions in the ongoing Mali War. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Human Rights Office reported that M23 rebels, the Congolese armed forces, and other groups have been committing serious crimes, including torture and sexual abuses, some of which may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some good news, however, came when the World Health Organization declared that mpox was no longer a public health emergency of international concern, as cases continue to decline on the African continent.
Finally, in the United Kingdom, a shake-up occurred in the British government with the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who had underpaid a stamp tax on a property purchase. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has carried out a major government reshuffle, placing Foreign Secretary David Lammy as his new deputy and ousting several other ministers. This move comes in the wake of growing unpopularity and discontent with the Labour government, which had won power in a landslide victory in 2024. Polls show that the far-right Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, could likely win power if a general election were to be held today. Starmer needs to fight off the loss of public goodwill and the erosion of public trust that has plagued his ministry in recent months.
Emil Ordonez, a rising college freshman, is the founder and editor-in-chief of Polinsights. He has been deeply passionate about politics and history since learning every U.S. President at the age of five. He was compelled to start this blog after meeting many people who were misinformed or had become apathetic about how society worked. He hopes to provide factual knowledge and insights that will encourage people, especially the young, to get more engaged in their respective communities. In his free time, he edits for Wikipedia and makes maps for elections. He aspires to work in Congress or even the White House in the future.
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