These 5 words have killed millions in grants and advanced Trump’s agenda Five words in an obscure regulation are being deployed by Trump’s appointees to kill grants unilaterally across the government.

I never thought I'd see a major newspaper do a story about a provision of the Uniform Grants Guidance. It's a good story, too. But the crucial point is that the guidance language doesn't give the admin the power to do anything it doesn't otherwise have legal authority to do. wapo.st/3Y5E2iW

Just posted. A helpful primer! www.understandingcongress.org/2025/03/10/t...

Read this. Trump is claiming inherent power to name an acting head of a Senate confirmed board, where the Vacancies Act doesn’t apply (and there’s no agency succession provision). Forget removal. This is Appointments Clause madness. Means he could name folks to MSPB and NLRB without the Senate.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Makes Aggressive New Claim of Executive Power To Circumvent The Senate The Trump White House has taken its attempt to seize direct control...

Some of my thoughts included.  talkingpointsmemo.com/news/exclusi...

Lawfare Daily: The Legality of OPM's "Deferred Resignations” Discussing the "Fork in the Road" email.

Turns out the person we all need in this moment is...an administrative law prof who also has a PhD in political science. More A+ content from @nicholasbednar.bsky.social (with runner-up points to @qjurecic.bsky.social for the phrase "Rumsfeld-ian deluge") www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

For those interested in the Trump Administration's proposed buyouts. This is the best explainer I have seen.

President Trump and The Civil Service: Day 1 This week’s actions to reshape personnel policy enable the Trump administration to more easily politicize the ranks of the federal workforce and diminish its size.

Over at @lawfare.bsky.social, I have an essay reviewing the executive orders and how they affect the federal workforce.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pres...

To DOGE Or Not To DOGE Where and how can government be more efficient?

Read @sam-workman.bsky.social great post on DOGE new @3streamsblog.bsky.social medium.com/3streams/to-...

I think Trump could take a Republican member already at a commission and make them an acting cabinet secretary—Hester Pierce? Hasn’t been done before: Presidents have drawn from other confirmed officials but haven’t turned to independent agencies. But you have a bunch of confirmed Republicans now.

A Primer on the Civil Service and the Trump Administration The broad discretion afforded to presidents to shape personnel policy poses a threat to the civil service during the Trump administration.

Over at @lawfare.bsky.social, I have a primer on how the Trump Administration may seek to exercise its authority over the civil service.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-pr...

Fact Check: Vacancies Act cannot be used to appoint Matt Gaetz attorney general After President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January 2025, he cannot use a federal vacancies law to install Matt Gaetz as attorney general without Senate approval, as posts on social media are suggesting he will do.

And he cannot be named under the Vacancies Act. (I did answer the query about Patriot Mindset). www.reuters.com/fact-check/v...

"Unelected Bureaucrats" Are More Accountable Than You Think Democratic accountability takes many forms other than elections

New, from Don Kettl & I: "Unelected bureaucrats" has become a political put-downs. The implication is that unelected means unaccountable, and therefore illegitimate.
We explain the different ways civil servants are accountable, maybe more so than politicians donmoynihan.substack.com/p/unelected-...