Nation Topics - Executive Branch | The Nation

Even with supermajorities in both houses of Congress behind them, American presidents cannot pass the kind of transformative progressive legislation that Barack Obama promised in his 2008 presidential campaign. Here's why.

What effect will the reduction in troops in Iraq that Obama has promised have on defense spending?

The Obama Administration has announced a plan to reduce the budget deficit through a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending. What are possible long-term effects?

The Bay State election results are a chapter in a story that predates Obama's presidency.

As welcome as it was, the removal of George W. Bush was not enough to cure what ails us.

The Nation asked members of our community and beyond: looking back at Obama's first year in office, what was the high point, and what was your sharpest disappointment?

The upcoming trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the best news for the print press since Monica Lewinsky.

Building a new political order will take more than one election.

Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel and others discuss what's changed, what's stayed the same and what we still hope to see happen under Obama.

Healthcare reform is looking less like a fantasy and more like a probability--but we need to keep a close watch on affordability, financing and the public option.