Nathan wants you to call your congressperson

Northern district of California seal w/ eagle

HAPPENING NOW: Day 3 of the bench trial in Newsom v. Trump.

The state of California is seeking to enjoin Trump's use of the military for law enforcement purposes.

Judge Charles Breyer just took the bench to hear legal argument from the parties.

I'm covering for @lawfaremedia.org.

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Hey
I just met you
and I'm a whale
But here's my number
So call me, Ishmael

Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing

Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing theonion.com/protest...

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Court is done for the day, and so am I.

I'll see you tomorrow for the final day of the bench trial.

In the meantime, if you appreciate our work @lawfaremedia.org, I hope you'll consider supporting our non-profit newsroom! Tysm to those who already have.

givebutter.com/journalism/a...

Well done, folks. This is the inevitable world that all the assholes just asking questions were leading us to. Hope you're proud of yourselves.

Judge orders ICE to stop forcing detainees to sleep on dirty concrete floors And he ordered officials to offer detainees three meals a day, not just two.

NEW: A federal judge has ordered ICE to improve squalid living conditions at a NYC detention facility, including

-Only 2 meals per day
-Lack of hygiene/feminine products
-No in-person access to lawyers
-No sleeping mats
-Overcrowding.

w/ @eorden.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Incredible! John’s song “Bad Moon Rising” featured on the new season of the Netflix show, Wednesday.

Performed by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Billie Piper.

Talking with @attorneynora.bsky.social and @mmasnick.bsky.social about ways to combat capitulating media owners, who are caving to Trump and his minions rather than standing up for their First-Amendment rights and democracy.

What's next for the Media Capitulation Index...

Republicans can throw another 17mil off health insurance & it ain’t gonna go away!

47 can give Putin Alaska as well as Ukraine & it ain’t gonna go away!

They can impose martial law on as many cities as they want & it ain’t gonna go away!

The Epstein stink is on em all forever!

Opinion | Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust.

I cannot emphasize enough that the playbook being used against mRNA vaccines (and vaccines in general) is IDENTICAL to the playbook used to restrict voting rights after the 2020 election: actively sow public distrust, then cite the distrust you sowed as an independent reason for your desired policy

Holy fucking ass shit WaPo running this guys madness just days after some guy shot hundreds of rounds at the cdc is whoa man

Great new piece from @immcouncil.org's Policy Director @naynagupta.bsky.social, emphasizing how Trump's actions on immigration represent a broader threat to democracy.

John Oliver on ICE’s latest scheme: turning immigration court into a deportation trap.

People show up for their hearings, doing things the “right way” — only to get cuffed in the hallway.

Chris Rufo quote: Trump has the opportunity to do a Bukele-style crackdown on DC crime. Question is whether he has the will, and whether the public the stomach. Big test: Can he reduce crime faster than the Left advances a counternarrative about “authoritarianism”? If yes, he wins. Speed matters.

1. Rufo is calling for DC to be put under martial law here (Bukele famously suspended the Constitution & ended most due process rights)

2. Trump will, most likely, sloppily arrest a lot of people, & disappear a lot of unhoused people, claiming he "solved crime" (but it will all be security theater)

I'm well aware of the obstacles to impeachment but every member of congress should still be screaming for it given that the president's main job is to enforce the laws they pass and he is constantly telling them to eat shit!

“It was not clear how Trump intended to end no-cash bail policies, which are often determined by state law.”

Should have been the lede, but at least it was in there.

Anyway, NYS got rid of cash bail for a whole mess of crimes, and NYC’s crime rates have LITERALLY NEVER BEEN LOWER.

"Blatant authoritarian power grab based on lies" sounds more than a little impeachable to us, Rep. McGarvey @repmcgarvey.bsky.social.

We would be happy to move you to the 'for impeachment' column in our tracker: citizensimpeachment.com/tracker/

i will never not be amused by how the conservative world is governed by the kind of “affirmative action” they say happens in mainstream institutions. totally unqualified dipshits are handed the keys to institutions because they say the right thing and have the right look.

Fascism is here. We are not “getting closer” or “in danger of.”

This matters because it frames our discussion: We aren’t trying to prevent it, we’re trying to defeat it. It’s not taking over our institutions, it’s taken them over.

Otherwise, we’re always behind, fighting a past we’ve already lost.

One easy thing she *should* be doing is calling on Congress to impeach him for his overreach.

I don’t think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before.

But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise.

He would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats.

Every member of Congress can act to stop Netanyahu's genocidal campaign and occupation of Gaza.

It is time to pass my bill, the Block the Bombs Act, NOW to end the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel and save lives.

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Secretary Kristi Noem @Sec_Noem This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus. It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.

Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program Decertification I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked. As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege to enroll foreign students, and it is also a privilege to employ aliens on campus. All universities must comply with Department of Homeland Security requirements, including reporting requirements under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program regulations, to maintain this privilege. As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist "diversity, equity, and inclusion" policies, you have lost this privilege. The revocation of your Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification means that Harvard is prohibited from having any aliens on F- or J- nonimmigrant status for the 2025-2026 academic school year. This decertification also means that existing aliens on F- or J- nonimmigrant status must transfer to another university in order to maintain their nonimmigrant status. This action should not surprise you and is the unfortunate result of Harvard's failure to comply with simple reporting requirements. On April 16, 2025, I requested records pertaining to nonimmigrant students enrolled at Harvard University, including information regarding misconduct and other offenses that would render foreign students inadmissible or removable. On April 30, 2025, Harvard's counsel provided information that he represented as responsive to my request. It was not. As a courtesy that Harvard was not legally entitled to, the Acting DHS General Counsel responded on my behalf and afforded Harvard another opportunity to comply. Harvard again provided an insufficient response. Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to…

If Harvard would like the opportunity of regaining Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification before the upcoming academic school year, you must provide all of the information requested below within 72 hours. Please be advised that providing materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent information may subject you to criminal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Other criminal and civil sanctions may also apply. I expect full and complete responses to the following requests: 1. Any and all records, whether official or informal, in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding illegal activity whether on or off campus, by a nonimmigrant student enrolled in Harvard University in the last five years. 2. Any and all records, whether official or informal, in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding dangerous or violent activity whether on or off campus, by a nonimmigrant student enrolled in Harvard University in the last five years. 3. Any and all records, whether official or informal, in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding threats to other students or university personnel whether on or off campus, by a nonimmigrant student enrolled in Harvard University in the last five years. 4. Any and all records, whether official or informal, in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel whether on or off campus, by a nonimmigrant student enrolled in Harvard University in the last five years. 5. Any and all disciplinary records of all nonimmigrant students enrolled in Harvard University in the last five years. 6. Any and all audio or video footage, in the possession of Harvard University, of any protest activity involving a nonimmigrant student on a Harvard Univer…

Here's the letter Noem sent Harvard, as posted on X. Nothing alleges ANY specific violation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Nothing. She cites no law violated, no regulation broken, no policy ignored.

I don't care what you think of Harvard; this is clear weaponization of government.

There is no doubt that Trump and Noem's actions here are that of an authoritarian; using the federal government to blow a hole in Harvard's budget and punish thousands of students who have done nothing wrong just because they don't like Harvard.

Our country is in crisis.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Office of Public Affairs Harvard University Loses Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certification for Pro-Terrorist Conduct Harvard is being held accountable for collaboration with the CCP, fostering violence, antisemitism, and pro-terrorist conduct from students on its campus WASHINGTON – Today, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered DHS to terminate the Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status. Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment. Many of these agitators are foreign students. Harvard’s leadership further facilitated, and engaged in coordinated activity with the CCP, including hosting and training members of a CCP paramilitary group complicit in the Uyghur genocide. “This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said Secretary Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

Nothing in the regulations permits a discretionary termination of SEVP Certification, meaning DHS tortured the regulations to find a naked pretext for this action.

DHS is extremely clear in this press release; they will do this to EVERY university that pushes back: "Let this serve as a warning."

🚨This is a HUGE escalation and a deliberate effort to use the government against Trump's enemies. Weaponizing the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification against Harvard to punish them for pushing back is a new low — and needlessly punishes thousands of innocent students.

I am a *lawyer who practices federal law.* Several times a week I see a headline that makes me think "there's no way the President can do that, right?" and I look into it and it turns out that maybe he can because Congress ceded some of its power in the What's the Worst That Could Happen Act of 1983

Northern District for California District Court seal, featuring an eagle

COMING UP: Judge Charles Breyer is set to preside over a bench trial in Newsom v. Trump

The suit, brought by Governor Gavin Newsom, challenges Trump’s use of federal military forces to enforce immigration in California.

I plan to live-post for @lawfaremedia.org.

Follow along ⬇️🧵

this dc situation looks pretty horrible. i wish i had more to say except that autocracy is always mundane and petty and vicious and encourages you to look away and be safe. and you can live quite normally under it until you're a direct target

In Unusual Move, U.S. Government to Take Cut of Companies' Chips Sold to China The unorthodox agreement for Nvidia and AMD to pay the U.S. 15 percent would essentially make the federal government a partner in their business in China. 5 MIN READ

"In an unusual move..." That is the #BrokenTimes' anodyne entree to fascism, when government merges with industry through dictatorial extortion. Will The Times recognize it when it's not "unusual"?