Nick Bednar

The Pentagon Goes to War With Anthropic Podcast Episode · Scaling Laws · February 27 · 46m

In which a bleary-eyed @kevintfrazier.bsky.social and I stay up late recording an emergency @scalinglaws.bsky.social episode trying to figure out what's going on between the Pentagon and Anthropic. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

HLS Rappaport Forum: The Docket That Shall Not Be Named - The Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders - Harvard Law School Guest Speakers Jonathan H. Adler Tazewell Taylor Professor of Law and William H. Cabell Research Professor William & Mary School of Law Kate Shaw Professor of Law Penn Carey Law, University of Pennsyl...

Looking forward to discussing The Docket that Shall Not Be Named today with @kateshaw.bsky.social and @richardre.bsky.social
hls.harvard.edu/events/hls-r...

The major debate over major questions in the tariffs decision is only the beginning Clear Statements is a recurring series by Abbe R. Gluck on civil litigation and the modern regulatory and statutory state. The Supreme Court’s decision striking down the president’s tariffs last week…

Gluck: The major debate over major questions in the tariffs decision is only the beginning www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/the-...

I once wrote that unfettered deference to presidential management of agency resources would eventually affect the functioning of the courts. Everyday I find more and more evidence for that claim.

This is absolutely wrong. (And the wrong way to think.)

Kilmar Abrego Garcia literally walked into a courtroom today to challenge his prosecution in Tennessee — because Judge Xinis threatened the government from a federal court in Maryland when Abrego was in CECOT.

As noted, Rosen asserted in his email that "[t]he lawyers in my civil division didn't deserve" the supposedly inaccurate January 28 order. Putting aside the fact that the January 28 order was not inaccurate, Rosen failed to mention that this Court said the following in the show-cause order that preceded the January 28 order: The Court expresses its appreciation to attorney Ana Voss and her colleagues [in the civil division], who have struggled mightily to ensure that respondents comply with court orders despite the fact that respondents have failed to provide them with adequate resources. ECF No. 7 at 2 n.1. The judges of this District have been extraordinarily patient with the government attorneys, recognizing that they have been put in an impossible position by Rosen and his superiors in the Department of Justice (leading many of those attorneys- including, unfortunately, Ana Voss- to resign). What those attorneys "didn't deserve" was the Administration sending 3000 ICE agents to Minnesota to detain people without making any provision for handling the hundreds of lawsuits that were sure to follow.

If anything is "beyond the pale," it is ICE's continued violation of the orders of this Court. Increasingly, this Court has had to resort to using the threat of civil contempt to force ICE to comply with orders. The Court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt -again and again and again - to force the United States government to comply with court orders. -5- CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM Doc. 12 Filed 02/26/26 Page 6 of 6 This Court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt. One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court's orders. Dated: February 26, 2026 (s/ Patrick J. Schiltz Patrick J. Schiltz, Chief Judge United States District Court

BREAKING: Judge Patrick Schiltz in Minnesota threatens criminal contempt, if necessary, to address ICE noncompliance in an order calling out U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen's response to Schiltz's earlier questions about noncompliance with court orders.

"ICE will comply with this Court's orders."

Workshop on administrative burdens in the Americas, October 28-30, 2026 in Mexico City. With @fnietomorales.bsky.social @donmoyn.bsky.social @thepeoplelab.bsky.social @elizabethlinos.bsky.social, Bloomberg Center, Colegio de México & CIDE. Support for travel costs available. CfP tinyurl.com/k2xz28fr

Work in progress.

Maybe I'll write a version of "Consider the Lobster" about the relationship between junior faculty and tenured faculty.

For Your Consideration: Some Remarks on the Nearly Religious Experience of the Expedite Process

We seek a pioneering Law Review who wants to do a symposium.

Pale King made me think about teaching some sort of bizarre Administrative Law and Literature seminar.

If I get a say, it won't be the end of it at least...

MSPB Says It Will Not Hear Appeals of Conversions to Schedule Policy/Career The MSPB revoked its own authority to hear appeals from employees to be converted from the competitive service to the excepted service under Schedule

@nicholasbednar.bsky.social www.fedweek.com/fedweek/mspb...

Over at Yale J. on Reg, Peyton Baker (a phenomenal @umnlawschool.bsky.social student) discusses recent litigation surrounding whether Senior Executive Service (SES) employees are inferior officers are not.

www.yalejreg.com/nc/are-senio...

I think whether that's the actual expectation depends on what you are looking at. I don't think the administration cares whether HHS employs competent employees. My understanding is that it's internally a bit more caught off guard by the hemorrhaging in DOJ.

The funny thing is that a lot of those private sector business practices developed from fashioning old Progressive-era government practices for the private sector.

I blame the New Public Management literature.

The failure of this administration (and some other administrations) to understand the general motivations of public employment boggles my mind. You cannot simultaneously destroy everything that incentivizes public employment and then expect to gain BOTH loyalty and competence.

As you politicize the federal workforce, the willingness of employees to remain in federal government declines. That has really significant effects on the ability of the president to carry out their agenda and faithfully execute the law.

review.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...

"Morale is one of the issues that has caused us difficulty, frankly, in getting additional help. And it has caused us to lose some of the help that we have had." The capacity to govern is breaking down, and that's a huge problem for everyone.

Lessons from the Minnesota’s Civil Contempt Case “The government’s understaffing and high case load is a problem of its own making,” a federal judge observed.

Lessons from the MN civil contempt case, by me:
Petitioner’s atty: “I understand that the caseload has affected all parties astronomically, and we are all human. But my client is, too. . . . All the people behind these petitions are humans.”
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/less...

The Decaying Legal Culture in the Defense Department Trump and Hegseth will leave the uniformed military damaged by illegality, and Congress will be complicit

This is an extremely important piece by @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social about the evisceration of legal norms and processes (and workforce) within DOD. Similar things happening at DOJ, the IC, etc., but the effects at DOD are as calamitous as anywhere.

www.execfunctions.org/p/the-decayi...

There is always a trade-off between training and hiring efficiency. Admittedly, it takes too long to hire civil servants. At the same time, the cost of not adequately training employees should be directly borne by the government and not the public.

Local civil-service scholar continues to scream into the void.

It is a personal fine.

NEW: DOJ told a judge in New Jersey that it had violated court orders about 54 times between Dec. 5 and this week — the latest accounting of a phenomenon that used to be rare and is now rampant. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Justice Dept. Lawyer Is Found in Contempt by Federal Judge

A few days ago I said a contempt order was inevitable. Now, it has happened. USAO again blamed a lack of proper staffing. $500 fine per day until order is complied with.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

Last call, health law profs!

Abstracts for the Health Law Professors Conference are due this Friday, Feb. 20. Georgia State Law is excited to host and welcome you to ATL for the best conference of the year! June 3-5, 2026

More info and submission portal available here: healthlawprofconf.org