Steven S Smith

Authoritarians are attacking universities. Here's how it's going at one public school. I'm publicly documenting an event timeline to help bring order to the chaotic nature of events and help other schools plan the responses they are likely going to need.

Read @jenvictor.bsky.social on the events at at GMU. misofact.substack.com/p/authoritar...

Bove's confirmation reinforces the case for term limits for federal judges. Neither judges, presidents, nor the Senate can be trusted to make wise choices for life-time appointments. And judges should not be left with the choice of when to retire.

Even before Trump's nominee to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Emil Bove was confirmed by the Senate, people were asking, "Can a judge be impeached (and removed) for conduct before he became a judge?" There are two ways to approach that question and, in short, either way the answer is "Yes."

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TX (and CA, IL, and NY?) may speed us to PR for congressional elections, as it should.

Federal Court Rulings on the Trump Administration

For journalists, researchers, & others tracking the judiciary: This was a slog to get running, but I've built a data pipeline to track these rulings from court dockets. I'm making the dataset public today. It will be updated regularly. Hope you find it useful.

Explore the data here: bit.ly/45dh8ZG

The history of Congress's August recess, courtesy of Senate historians. (House Repubs are adding a paragraph.) www.senate.gov/artandhistor...

Not yet

A senator in search of a credit claiming opportunity. This kind of senatorial behavior rewards the massive--and often illegal-- use of first-mover advantage by the Trump adm. (The floor outcome is clear; for the Repubs, the committee vote was a matter of convenience and was bought inexpensively.)

F

AI guzzled millions of books without permission. Authors are fighting back. Authors are appealing for help from Congress and the courts after Meta and Anthropic used millions of books to create AI technology, without seeking consent.

Tech firms torrented millions of pirated books to train their AI models. Now authors are fighting back.

My story on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Dear God.

“The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, after denying for months that it intended to do so.”

The bad faith of EPA leadership is off the charts

A U.S. surgeon trying to have a “peer to peer” consultation with a doctor at a health insurance company who is hiding his identity as her patient gets denied coverage. And it gets worse from there. You have to see it to believe it.

(1/2)

The State Department guts its office combating human trafficking The cuts come as Trump reels from MAGA anger over sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump making sure future Epsteins don’t get caught.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Florida's Supreme Court has upheld the GOP's congressional gerrymander, which may have cost Dems 3 seats & a House majority in 2024.

Voters passed a 2010 amendment that explicitly banned partisan & racial gerrymandering. The court enforced it in 2015, but DeSantis appointees now dominate the court

House appropriators have approved over 5000 earmarks. If enacted, how many and whose earmarks will be honored by the Trump administration?

Sure, in small states with one district. But in TX, with 38 seats and 5- or 6-member districts, as is so often proposed, there's plenty of room for gerrymandering. The game will change but the game will remain possible and profitable.

Crap.

Can we expect a boycott of Coke and Trump in Iowa?

Steve's Notes on Congressional Politics | Steven Smith | Substack Insightful briefs on the politics of the the U.S. Congress. Click to read Steve's Notes on Congressional Politics, by Steven Smith, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

$1?! How about for free. Steve's Notes on Congressional Politics. stevesnotes.substack.com

This morning Politico was telling us that the Democrats were “banking” on the Medicaid issue. So much for that reporting.

BS I know of no leading Democrat who is planning to do nothing, argue nothing, organize nothing, or fund no one because he or she is "banking" on Medicaid backlash to win elections.

A vintage style Florida postcard that reads “Visit FLORIDA The Concentration Camp State” …with a sunset view of a beach and palm trees in the background. In 1930s-50s style, the capital letters of FLORIDA are filled with an illustration, but it’s a photograph of bunk beds surrounded by chain link cages at the horribly named Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp. The legend at the bottom says Questions or concerns? Email PR@visitflorida.org or call + 1(850) 488-5607. (Press 1 to speak with a representative)

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Florida’s official state tourism agency found out exactly what people thought about their brand new concentration camp? (I made a thing - feel free to copy and share)

[ @hcrichardson.bsky.social , you just asked in your video to be tagged in any new memes, right? ]

Vandalizing the First Branch Will the Senate take a more measured approach to Legislative Branch Funding?

The House's Legislative Branch Appropriations bill would vandalize GAO and the Library of Congress. Will the Senate take a more measured approach when it meets this Thursday?

Ukrainian FM Andriy Sybiha called last night’s Russian strike on Kyiv one of the worst and said Putin deliberately launched it after Trump’s call.

One reason Republicans don't fear the beneficiaries of Medicaid. They don't vote nearly as much as rich people.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/one-big-be...

On DSR's Word's Matter, @djrothkopf.bsky.social and @normornstein.bsky.social discuss the significance of Independence Day, reflecting on the founding fathers and the current political landscape. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

youtu.be/cxtwnO1srSk

More background: www.cbo.gov/system/files...

The hidden mandate to cut Medicare. Yes, Medicare.

And “moderate” pro-Ukraine Republicans in Congress are doing NOTHING about this betrayal of Ukraine. Cowards!