Dan Kaufman

‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers

Inside the emergency of the Federalist Union Network (or FUN), which is filling in gaps in public sector union organizing and strategizing that have accumulated over decades.

Plus, how influx of ICE workers is changing federal unions.

From @dankaufman70.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

Print will always rule,

My latest piece, about the Trump Administration's war on federal workers and the growing resistance to those attacks, in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine.

‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers

Best part of this, by the great @dankaufman70.bsky.social, transcends its specific, and also crucial, subject matter: how timorous institutionalist in the anti-Trump coalition get challenged by young people (here, a caucus called "FUN"!) itching for a fight.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

¿Y por qué, hijo, quieres ser un fascista? | lamarea.com El último dossier de ‘La Marea’ está dedicado a los obreros de ultraderecha. ¿Quiénes son? ¿Cómo entender y frenar su ascenso?

Regreso, en excelente compañía, a las páginas de @lamarea.com en el dossier de #lamarea110 sobre obreros de ultraderecha. Hablo con @dankaufman70.bsky.social, experto en la historia del mundo sindical de EEUU.

www.lamarea.com/2026/01/28/l...

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers

"In his second term, President Trump has cut more than 300,000 federal employees and stripped more than a million workers of their collective-bargaining rights." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers

I have a new piece in The New York Times Magazine about the Trump Administration's war on federal unions and a new group of labor activists who are organizing to fight back. Deepest thanks to all the people who shared their time and insights with me. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

Highly recommend this piece by @dankaufman70.bsky.social. It speaks to both Spain's past and the US' present. Required reading for my (mostly American) students of comparative Spanish politics.

Never a better time than NOW for Wisconsinites (and everybody else) to read The Fall of Wisconsin—to understand how we’ve landed where we are *and* for solid, inspiring reminders in the early chapters of how it once was and could be again. 🙏🏻 to @dankaufman70.bsky.social for this brilliant book.

What's your source that it's a fascist rallying cry? I've written a lot about the Spanish Civil War and I'm not familiar with it.

‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

Con los intentos de la extrema derecha en EEUU, España y Latinoamérica de lavarle la cara y la reputación al dictador fascista Francisco Franco, esta reseña en @nybooks.com vuelve a subrayar la brutalidad, intolerancia y el antisemitismo de su dictadura. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

Read about the new scholarship on Spain, then contemplate the fact that Franco was venerated in the National Review from the start, and you hav a skeleton key, opening up the fact that "modern American conservatism" never maintained a meaningful distance from fascism. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

“In Spain, the effort to revive Franco’s reputation has been accompanied by ostentatious philosemitism…. This blend of philosemitism and antisemitism has also become a feature of the Trump administration.” —@dankaufman70.bsky.social

This is great. Graham was a student of Preston's. global.oup.com/ukhe/product...

‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

“Franco’s regime…was far more hospitable to fascist refugees than it ever was to Jewish ones. Despite this history, or perhaps because of it, Franco’s reputation continues to grow on the American far right.” —@dankaufman70.bsky.social

Rest in peace, John. One of the greatest ever. A huge influence on me, and so many others.

‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

Excellent essay on Franco’s fascist Spain, which many on the right today are looking to for inspiration www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Thank you very much!

Ah, the beauty of print...My latest piece, a wide-ranging essay about a remarkable book by the historian Paul Preston, in the new issue of @nybooks.com.
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‘We’ve Got to Kill and Kill and Kill’ | Dan Kaufman As Francisco Franco’s reputation grows on the far right, a new history of his regime reminds us of its unrelenting violence toward Jews.

I have an essay in @nybooks.com about a compelling new book by Paul Preston, a masterful British historian of 20th- century Spain. Deepest thanks to the remarkable editorial staff at the Review for all their help.

www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Opinion | The City Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Would Have Loved to Live In (Published 2019)

With the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, and the widespread anxiety over #ZohranMamdani's candidacy, it's worth noting Milwaukee was governed remarkably well for forty years by pragmatic and visionary Socialist mayors. #sewersocialism.

www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/o...

This drum circle is a sacred honor in memory of slain MN State Legislator Melissa Hortman, at the candlelight vigil

Reconciliation at My Lai

Reposting this @newyorker.com piece I wrote in light of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

www.newyorker.com/news/news-de...

Why Is Elon Musk Trying to Buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat? Tuesday’s election, as the only statewide race in the country before November, is a crucial test for the growing backlash against the Trump Administration’s agenda.

Today is election day in Wisconsin. Here's my @newyorker.com piece on the the race for an open #WisconsinSupremeCourt seat, which is by far the most expensive judicial election in American history and a proxy battle over Trump and Musk's agenda.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Why Is Elon Musk Trying to Buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat? Tuesday’s election, as the only statewide race in the country before November, is a crucial test for the growing backlash against the Trump Administration’s agenda.

“‘80% of our canvassing interactions are about Musk,’ Matt Mareno, the chair of the Waukesha County Democratic Party, told me. The county is heavily Republican, but Mareno said that many ppl have expressed frustration that Musk is … not accountable to anyone.’” www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Why Is Elon Musk Trying to Buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat? Tuesday’s election, as the only statewide race in the country before November, is a crucial test for the growing backlash against the Trump Administration’s agenda.

The race for an open seat in the Wisconsin Supreme Court “is now a proxy battle for whether the American government at every level can be bought by oligarchs,” Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, said.

The Fall of Wisconsin National bestseller<br /><br /> 'Masterful.' &#8212;Jane Mayer, best-selling author of <em>Dark Money</em>, The Fall of Wisconsin, The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of ...

Dan Kaufman's THE FALL OF WISCONSIN is a deeply reported account of how the state was turned into a laboratory for national conservatives bent on remaking the country. Read Kaufman's latest on tomorrow's Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
wwnorton.com/books/the-fa...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Why Is Elon Musk Trying to Buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat? Tuesday’s election, as the only statewide race in the country before November, is a crucial test for the growing backlash against the Trump Administration’s agenda.

I wrote a piece about tomorrow's crucial #Wisconsin Supreme Court election for @newyorker.com. Deepest thanks to all the people who shared their insights with me and to the phenomenal editorial staff at the magazine.

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Gifts for those following or seeking to understand the stakes of the vital Wisconsin Supreme Court race...

cc @dankaufman70.bsky.social