From the right: Rosenstein & Wray Work for Trump

Trey Gowdy and other top House Republicans are frustrated at top Department of Justice officials for not responding to subpoenas about the Trump-Russia and Clinton e-mail investigations. But Andrew McCarthy at National Review says all the huffing and puffing is silly — President Trump is the only one who can truly compel their action: Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray answer to the president, who appointed them. “If they are defying Congress, it is because the president is permitting them to do so. Twitter tantrums and dark deep-state conspiracy theories don’t count; the president is empowered [to] give his subordinates a direct order to comply with Congress’s demands, and to fire them immediately if they fail to do so.” The president can also disclose documents unilaterally: “Trump could have done this any time in the last 18 months.”

From the left: A Major Media Mistake on Migrants

The viral picture of a Honduran girl crying at the border was used to imply, and in some cases state directly, that she was a victim of President Trump’s child-separation policy. But it turned out she’d never been separated from her mother, as the family confirmed last week. Time magazine even put the girl on its cover, opposite an angry-looking Trump, making the connection. And when the truth of the photo was pointed out, Time stuck by its cover treatment anyway. Aaron Blake at The Washington Post says this is a big mistake: “Forcing action on this policy requires care and credibility. It requires convincing skeptics that you’re not overselling the problem by using misleading information and images.” And using this picture hurt that effort, “no matter how pristine the motives were.”

Conservative take: Krauthammer, the Indispensable Man

Once introducing Charles Krauthammer for a speech, Steven Hayward called him “our indispensable man.” Not only has that been confirmed in the time since, Hayward writes at City Journal, but the outpouring of public affection for Krauthammer since he announced he had mere weeks to live and then died Thursday shows the sentiment was shared far and wide: “It’s hard to put your finger on what caused millions of readers to develop a deep personal attachment to Charles Krauthammer, who died yesterday at 68, but the clearest sign of this extraordinary sentiment came from the Washington Nationals baseball team: they held a moment of silence for Charles at their home game last night.” Plenty of writers command our respect and attention, but Krauthammer clearly was in “a class by himself.”

Political scribes: Trump Staffers’ Lonely Love Life

“ ‘Trump supporters swipe left,’ ” reports Politico’s Daniel Lippman and Ben Schreckinger, “might be the single most common disclaimer on dating app profiles in Washington.” So what’s a young, single Trump staffer to do? “The Trump crew has learned to use the types of dodges more commonly deployed by employees of the CIA,” such as, “I work for the federal government.” One staffer said he just straight-up lies “when being vague doesn’t cut it.” Others just stopped using the dating apps. All told, “Young staffers have had to develop a keen sense of just when to have ‘The Talk’ with romantic partners.” It’s enough, say Lippman and Schreckinger, to make those staffers in committed relationships thankful to be spoken for.

Culture file: When Women Should Stop Waiting

For women in their late 30s who are single but want to have a baby, there are few options, writes Emma Brockes in The New York Times. “You can get lucky. You can get promiscuous.” Or you can do what Brockes did at age 38, and take the plunge: “Make no mistake: Choosing to conceive a baby alone via fertility treatment is a luxury afforded the few. Single parenthood is, for the most part, not a matter of choice.” And you must lean on others: “My friends are family in deeper ways than they might otherwise have been.” Yet there are advantages: “You make decisions more quickly . . . No one’s career thrives at the expense of her or his other half’s, and there is no chance of a custody suit.”

— Compiled by Seth Mandel