Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew himself from consideration to lead the Pentagon. Secretary of the Army Mark Esper will replace him.

While average tenure declined to 8.6 years in the U.S. House and 10.1 in the Senate, institutional structure still favors rent-seeking by special interest.

To avoid tariffs, Mexico agreed to an outline of an unsettled deal to increase immigration enforcement and allow the U.S. to deport bogus asylum-seekers.