Trump is even gutting the monitors who are providing accountability for the spending programs to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus. His latest move came Tuesday, when he sacked Glenn Fine, the acting Pentagon inspector general who had been chosen by his fellow IGs to lead a panel overseeing the $2 trillion pandemic bailout effort.

Civilian control of the military is part of the American bedrock. Acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly used that prerogative unwisely Thursday when he short-circuited a preliminary military investigation and fired an aircraft carrier captain who had pleaded for help against the coronavirus pandemic sweeping his crew.

When America has recovered from the coronavirus crisis and people are back to work, Rep. Adam B. Schiff thinks Congress should consider a 9/11-style independent commission to examine why the nation was so unprepared for the pandemic.

Biden has coasted toward the nomination, propelled initially by the enthusiasm of African American voters, and then most everyone else in the party, because he appeared to have the right stuff — namely a seeming ability to beat President Trump. But a nagging question remained as Biden disappeared into lockdown in Delaware: Is this garrulous white-haired gent perhaps out of sync with a hyper-anxious nation in quarantine? Or is his Irish-grandpa manner just what the country needs?

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell has been innovative in creating new monetary tools that can keep money and confidence flowing. The system was starting to freeze last week, as mistrust and panic spread. Powell responded with new credit facilities to signal that the Fed would do whatever was necessary to keep the system working, and traders say market anxieties have eased.

The Pentagon created the Office of Net Assessment in 1973 to forecast the United States’ strengths and weaknesses relative to its main adversaries after a nuclear war. What would a similar “net assessment” tell us about how America and the world will look after the coronavirus pandemic?

The Trump administration is continuing its shake-up of the intelligence community with a potentially disruptive change of leadership at the National Counterterrorism Center, the agency that coordinates government efforts to guard the homeland.

At a moment when Americans have new appreciation for the government professionals who protect against global threats, the Trump administration is weighing cuts in funding and staff for the National Counterterrorism Center, created after Sept. 11, 2001, to shield the homeland from attack.

The U.S. diplomatic success came last Wednesday, when the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) voted 55 to 28 to back a U.S.-supported candidate, Daren Tang of Singapore, over China’s nominee, Wang Binying. The Chinese complained that the Americans pressured other countries to endorse the U.S. choice, and they were right.

Doctors are caught between the obligation to alert the public and the desire to avoid a panic. The World Health Organization warns of an “infodemic” in which bad information and rumors amplify the danger. Misinformation can spread faster than the disease.