Barton Gellman

The Bad Voting Bill that Refuses to Die The SAVE Act would stop millions of eligible Americans from voting.

Congress failed to pass the SAVE Act last year for good reason: it’s an anti-voter bill. But now lawmakers have revived it despite overwhelming public opposition. bit.ly/4qS8wBr

Hi, Emily!

Two years ago I decided to fight the “fraudulent election” conspiracies by signing up as a poll worker. We need as many people as possible to sign up to do this critical role in our elections. This will give you first hand experience to rebut the naysayers. SIGN UP!

The Purged Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.

At the end of Donald Trump’s first year back in office, roughly 300,000 fewer Americans worked for the government. Franklin Foer spoke with 50 federal employees who were either fired or forced out:

New Entry Bans, Same Faulty Reasoning The expanded entry ban targets Muslims and Africans abroad and punishes businesses and U.S. citizens at home.

Trump’s expanded entry ban targets Muslims and Africans abroad and punishes businesses and U.S. citizens at home.
bit.ly/4b48pO3

A New Playbook for Countering Originalism in Court Our guide shows lawyers how to defeat shoddy historical arguments.

The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority applies originalism to interpret the Constitution. Our new guide shows lawyers how to defeat shoddy historical arguments in court.
bit.ly/44yksPF

The president has no authority to change election rules. Wendy Weiser and other Brennan Center experts discuss how we challenged President Trump's power grabs on the latest episode of The Briefing with Michael Waldman: bit.ly/48SQYPc

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy

Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable…

Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable group. “Big tech has made their choice.”

www.404media.co/google-has-c...

ICE Wants to Go After Dissenters as well as Immigrants The Trump administration is being open about its plans to violate Americans’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.

ICE has long used the latest spy tech to pursue immigrants — but now it’s also targeting anti-ICE protesters and anyone who allegedly funds them. bit.ly/3Kq348R

It is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression.

Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.'

None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack.

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Full show:

Substack: lnk.thebulwark.com/4rZK5CY

YouTube: lnk.thebulwark.com/4rUKbfn

Apple: lnk.thebulwark.com/3LLwajw

Spotify: lnk.thebulwark.com/4a8qqu7

Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%

The world's richest 0.001% now control 3x as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity combined.

56,000 wealthy individuals have more than roughly 4 billion people.

Read that back.

Money in Politics Roundup — October 2025 Our new recurring feature covers key stories from the world of campaign finance and influence buying, from the AI industry to super PAC support for a lame-duck president.

Trump's executive order to block states from protecting their citizens from AI will almost certainly fail in court. Why issue it? It may still have a chilling effect if states cave. And that would make some of the largest political spenders very happy. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Tracker of Justice Department Requests for Voter Information The Trump administration is pressing state officials to provide sensitive information about voters.

The Department of Justice filed lawsuits against four more states — CO, HI, MA, and NV— for not providing their statewide voter registration lists in response to the department’s request. The total number of states being sued over their voter files now stands at 18, which we are tracking here:

Fiasco for Trump as Judge Issues Harsh Rebuke in Abrego Garcia Case Judge Paula Xinis’s ruling temporarily freed Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody. It also savagely indicted Trump’s lawless handling of this whole affair from start to finish.

Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details flagrant and malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...

Money in Politics Roundup — October 2025 Our new recurring feature covers key stories from the world of campaign finance and influence buying, from the AI industry to super PAC support for a lame-duck president.

Yesterday, President Trump issued an executive order blocking state enforcement of AI regulation. This comes after a flood of donations from the AI industry to the Trump administration, as we map out in our money in politics roundup: bit.ly/42wEcSM

Donald Trump is losing. Seven conclusions as 2025 winds down.

Seven conclusions about what we've learned about Trumpism and the resilience of American democracy across 2025 — the big one: Donald Trump is losing. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/donald-tru...

The President of the United States has the exact same power to pardon a state-court conviction that you or I have—which is to say, none.

State courts shape daily life more than you think, but keeping up with the decisions that matter can be a challenge. From legal scholars to students to rights advocates, hear from some of our superusers about how they use State Court Report.

Subscribe today: go.statecourtreport.org/subscribe.

He's the man for it

It May Be the Literal Key to Human Destiny. Under Trump, It’s the Greatest Disaster It’s Ever Been. What happened to NASA?

If you're looking for a great read on the state of our space programs -- Moon, Mars, asteroids, robot probes, and don't forget the Oort Cloud -- check out this gem from @joelachenbach.bsky.social: slate.com/technology/2...

Yes. Please.

How a U.S. admiral decided to kill two boat strike survivors The controversial order given by Adm. Frank Bradley is under scrutiny from Congress. Inside the most consequential deliberation of his career.

The Washington Post has a new deeply reported look into the September 2 boat strike. Balanced writing but disturbing details. wapo.st/4a6lypq

The Guarantee of Birthright Citizenship YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice

As we face up to SCOTUS arguments over birthright citizenship, understanding this constitutional guarantee has never been more important. @brennancenter.org & @oah.org have you covered with this video feat. @katemasur.bsky.social @marthasjones.bsky.social & Erika Lee: www.youtube.com/live/6QCIt0l...

Presidents can’t rescind birthright citizenship.

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana... @brennancenter.org

political science

Elon Musk’s Foundation Grows to $14 Billion, but Gives Little to Outsiders The philanthropy has become one of America’s biggest, but most of its giving went to charities closely tied to the world’s richest man.

Elon Musk’s charitable foundation grew larger than ever in 2024. But, for the fourth year in a row, the huge charity failed to give away the minimum amount required by law — and the donations it did make went largely to charities closely tied to Musk himself, who is the world's richest man.

Much like our immigration system, there's so much shit that will make normal people go "but it shouldn't work like that!" in our prisons. Share Bolts widely.

Noem: You made it through the hurricane season without a hurricane—you kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that.