Lee Drutman

CORDER LIST: 606 U.S.) FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2025 24-109 24-110 ORDER IN PENDING CASES LOUISIANA V. CALLAIS, PHILLIP, ET AL. ROBINSON, PRESS, ET AL. V. CALLAIS, PHILLIP, ET AL. The parties are directed to file supplemental briefs addressing the following question raised on pages 36-38 of the Brief for Appellees: Whether the State's intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution. Supplemental briefs for appellants are due on or before Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Supplemental brief for appellees is due on or before Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Reply briefs are due on or before 2 p.m., Friday, October 3, 2025. The time to file amicus curiae briefs is as provided for by this Court's Rule 37.3. Word limits and cover colors for the briefs should correspond to the provisions of this Court's Rule 33.1(g) pertaining to briefs on the merits rather than to the provision pertaining to supplemental

😬The Supreme Court will consider whether the intentional creation of a majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments.

If the answer is yes, SCOTUS will effectively declare that what remains of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This is very, very ominous.

The parties are directed to file supplemental briefs addressing the following question raised on pages 36—38 of the Brief for Appellees: Whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution. Supplemental briefs for appellants are due on or before Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Supplemental brief for appellees is due on or before Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Reply briefs are due on or before 2 p.m., Friday, October 3, 2025. The time to file amicus curiae briefs is as provided for by this Court’s Rule 37.3. Word limits and cover colors for the briefs should correspond to the provisions of this Court’s Rule 33.1(g) pertaining to briefs on the merits rather than to the provision pertaining to supplemental briefs. VIDED.

NEW: In Louisiana's congressional redistricting case, the US Supreme Court asks lawyers to finish filing briefs by early October on whether the state's intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments
www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...

Democracy in pieces: Did the Texas gerrymander just break the districting game? Or was it already broken all along? A Socratic gastropub journey through America's most unsolvable political puzzle

I wrote a one-act play about gerrymandering. Come for the trenchant analysis. Stay for the jokes.

GLAUCON: What's the Phenomenology Pilsner like?

WAITER: Hard to describe in words. You'll have to experience the thing-in-itself.

GLAUCON: Perfect. Two of those.

open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...

Are we living in a David Foster Wallace novel? (maybe)

Communist regimes insisted on a "propaganda of success," with the media daily and breathlessly reporting ever-higher quotas being met by the heroic workers and massive economic growth. Stalin sent the (few) authors of unfavorable economic reports to the gulag.

This of course is very different.

Meanwhile, Democrats still don't understand what a message is.
www.npr.org/2025/07/31/n...

Honest question: what is the Democrats' message right now?

My best guess is Republicans can net 9 seats from a mid-decade redistricting. Here's my scorecard, and discussion.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/democracy-...

Democracy in pieces: Did the Texas gerrymander just break the districting game? Or was it already broken all along? A Socratic gastropub journey through America's most unsolvable political puzzle

I wrote a one-act play about gerrymandering. Come for the trenchant analysis. Stay for the jokes.

GLAUCON: What's the Phenomenology Pilsner like?

WAITER: Hard to describe in words. You'll have to experience the thing-in-itself.

GLAUCON: Perfect. Two of those.

open.substack.com/pub/leedrutm...

From our new podcast: Without strong political parties, you don’t get consensus—you get chaos. No democracy has ever existed without parties. Hollow, broken parties = hollow, broken democracy. @leedrutman.bsky.social @newamerica.org @msifry.bsky.social #ThisOldDemocracy

I fixed it for you, America.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The last time there was this kind of dip in internal party approval, Republicans faced a base revolt.
Definitely seeing signs of that with Democrats.

Outraged about the Texas gerrymandering?
Me too.
...
Well, we can keep doing this redistricting retribution arms race.
Or we could do something different.
I vote for different. leedrutman.substack.com/p/how-did-am...

The presidential campaigns don’t need your $5 And the more they devote themselves to fundraising and advertising, the more broke our democracy gets.

I wrote about this problem of Democrats treating supporters like marks last year. leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-presid...

The arson is coming from inside the Democratic Party.
Really hope @kenmartin.bsky.social understands how damaging this all is.

What it would take to escape the two-party system Americans say they want a third party — but making it happen is tricky.

"What we're doing in our electoral system is just not working." @leedrutman.bsky.social on @vox.com Today Explained
www.vox.com/today-explai...

I suppose the obvious way to reconcile this is that lots of people will *probably* vote Democrat anyway despite disliking the current Democratic Party -- these sharp downward spirals are driven by Democrats turning against their own party. But if mid-terms depend on turnout... ?

The most damaging thing in this poll is that even though voters overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump's handling of most issues, they still mostly trust Rs more on those issues.

This is just brutal for Democrats.

If they were a sports team, the management would fire all the coaches.

If they were a company, the board would fire all the managers.

But in our 2-party system, Ds have a monopoly on opposition to the Rs, so... democracy? (shrug)

www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

A pretty good argument for Democrats leading with real economic populism
(not silly price of beef or price of eggs stuff)
echeloninsights.com/tribes/

YouTube video by Center for Ballot Freedom This Old Democracy: Micah Sifry with Lee Drutman

New pod with @msifry.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSx9...

The 2024 House Elections Present a Very Odd Vision of Democracy Does your vote matter? Thanks to our antiquated system of single-winner districts, the answer is probably: NO. Here’s why. PLUS: how to fix it to make your vote matter in the future.

Explainer: leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-2024-h...

This political evil brought to you by the antiquated technology of single-member districts, which make gerrymandering possible and profitable.

Occam, FTW.

I fixed it for you, Democrats. You're welcome.

The Epstein story has staying power because it combines the longstanding "rot at the top" trope with the can't look away nature of an unsolved true crime.

Opinion | ‘This Is a Realignment That Has Significant Staying Power’

A puzzle: If this were a true anti-woke realignment as Edsall suggests, why aren't Republicans doing better in generic polling?
Alt theory: thermostatic public opinion + doom loop dynamics pull everyone down in a mutual legitimacy death spiral.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/o...

Trump accuses Obama of treason in escalating 2016 Russia probe attacks President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of "treason" on Tuesday, blaming him, without providing evidence, for leading an effort to falsely tie him to Russia and undermine his 2016 presidential campaign.

Still on the dumbest possible timeline, I see.
Good work, America.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Believe me, the democracy undermining we're witnessing here is the likes of which have never been seen.
Believe me.
People are saying it is at an All-Time High.
www.trumpactiontracker.info?

Thrilled to be joining @newrepublic.com. Very excited to work with @monicapotts.bsky.social, @alexshephard.bsky.social, @mjtoma.bsky.social and so many writers and editors I have long admired.