Philip Athey

Washington, D.C., United States

Technology Policy Correspondent at National Journal

Tech policy reporter for National Journal. Avid Pelicans fan.

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Articles

'Rudderless': NASA braces for massive cuts without its chief pilot at the helm

3 weeks ago | nationaljournal.com | Casey Wooten |Ledyard King |Philip Athey

America’s space program is in a bit of a freefall. NASA is facing the sweeping budget cuts that have recently been imposed on similar science-heavy federal agencies. Its ambitious missions to land astronauts on the moon or Mars keep getting delayed or linger in limbo. And the agency's chief promoter—Elon Musk—just left the administration.
What’s at stake in the U.S.-EU trade negotiations?

3 weeks ago | nationaljournal.com | Cristina Maza |Philip Athey

European officials have a little over a month to hammer out the terms of a trade agreement with the mercurial Trump administration, or risk steep tariffs from the bloc’s largest trading partner. The July 9 deadline for a U.S.-EU trade deal comes at a chaotic time for U.S. trade policy, as courts challenge the legality of Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, a 1977 law that allows the president to bypass Congress during an economic emergency, to impose steep tariffs.
Congress wants to allocate billions of dollars to an ambitious missile defense project that would scrap decades of nuclear deterrence policy

1 month ago | nationaljournal.com | Casey Wooten |Cristina Maza |Philip Athey

Republicans want to allocate billions of dollars to a controversial missile defense project that could upend decades of U.S. nuclear deterrence. As Congress begins work on a massive budget reconciliation package designed to cut trillions in federal spending, House Republicans released a proposal to allocate nearly $25 billion as a down payment for a program known as the Golden Dome.
Trump wants more AI in schools. This senator helped create the blueprint.

1 month ago | nationaljournal.com | Savannah Behrmann |Charlie Cook |Philip Athey |Erin Durkin

Sen. Jon Husted wants Washington to take a lesson from his home state and share it with the rest of the country: Make AI available to every school child in America. But the Ohio Republican isn’t encouraging more AI in schools just to help with the lesson plans. He argues it’s crucial to ensure the future of America’s global competitiveness. Less than four months on the job, Ohio’s former lieutenant governor has emerged as one of Capitol Hill’s biggest champions of AI.
Correspondents' dinner another episode in cold war between White House, reporters

2 months ago | nationaljournal.com | Tom DeFrank |Ledyard King |Philip Athey

On March 28, she went on the Daily Beast Podcast with comedian Samantha Bee and co-host Joanna Coles. Again, she mocked the correspondents for asking her not to target only one party. “They were like, ‘You need to be equal and make sure that you give it to both sides,’ and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to be freaking doing that,'” she said.
Immigration lawyers scramble as Trump pursues legally questionable deportations

2 months ago | nationaljournal.com | Casey Wooten |Erin Durkin |Savannah Behrmann |Philip Athey

The Trump administration wrongfully deported a Maryland resident to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador and has now asked the Supreme Court to block attempts to return him to the U.S. The dramatic case is raising alarm among lawyers representing migrants in the U.S. as they grapple with an administration that is removing their clients with little due process and refusing to address deportation errors.
'We are not partisan': Federal worker unions fight DOGE cuts

Feb 19, 2025 | nationaljournal.com | Philip Athey |Taameen Mohammad

President Trump’s unprecedented flurry of executive orders targeting the federal bureaucracy has roiled the livelihoods of millions of workers, prompting advocates and labor unions to ratchet up legal actions. “Every day, there's a new story being pushed from this administration that causes anxiety and concern for my membership on just how they're going to function. How are they going to live?” said American Federation of Government Employees National Secretary-Treasurer Eric Bunn.
‘You frighten people’: Dems dispense anger, scorn at RFK Jr. hearing

Jan 29, 2025 | nationaljournal.com | Erin Durkin |Savannah Behrmann |Philip Athey |Abby Turner

Amid cheers and jeers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made his case to lead the Health and Human Services Department Wednesday morning in a Senate hearing, where no Democrat appeared poised to help advance his nomination. President Trump’s pick to be HHS secretary in the last few months faced severe criticism over his former statements and actions around vaccines, including his promotion of a debunked theory that vaccines cause autism.
'We've lost hope': Afghans who helped U.S. forces stranded under Trump's refugee ban

Jan 28, 2025 | nationaljournal.com | Cristina Maza |Erin Durkin |Philip Athey

For several years, Khalil was a legal adviser for the Afghan Air Force, working alongside U.S. pilots to approve airstrikes targeting the Taliban and the Islamic State. But when Kabul fell under Taliban control in the summer of 2021, his life was thrown into disarray. Since then, the 32-year-old Afghan frequently has had to relocate his wife and young son to avoid the Taliban’s reprisals, he told National Journal. His 12-year-old son hasn’t attended school for the past three years.
'Disengaged': Washington frozen as Syrian civil war thaws

Dec 10, 2024 | nationaljournal.com | Lauren Green |Philip Athey |Cristina Maza

After 13 years of civil war, one of the Middle East’s most brutal dictators, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been forced out of power in a swift and unexpected rebel uprising. Now, just one month before a new administration enters the White House, threatening to dramatically upend U.S. foreign policy, officials in Washington are grappling with whether they should celebrate the downfall of a cruel and deeply entrenched regime or worry about what will replace it.