Blaine Stum

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Donald Trump is calling for the jailing of his political opponents in Chicago. His DOJ lackeys have already indicted a NJ Congresswoman for conducting ICE facility oversight and James Comey. John Bolton's house was raided.

We must treat these latest threats seriously and all stand up against them.

I’d love if it people who are not actual residents of DC don’t speak for those of us who are.

It’s been wild to watch a group of legislators so quickly, willingly, and knowingly abdicate their authority. I guess they don’t want the job?

Someone needs to remind Congressional Republicans that the legislature— not the Executive— appropriates revenue. Apparently they missed that part of American Government 101.

Appreciate the work you did. I remember debating Abowd a few times about the need for differential privacy and it was... a frustrating conversation every time.

Here's a fun fact for week 2 of the federal shutdown:

Number of appropriations bills passed by the House this year: 3

Number of anti-DC bills passed by the House this year: 7

Even when the House was in session, Republicans were spending time harassing DC instead of doing their jobs #FreeDC

For lots more context beyond Elliott's essay, @lilymasonphd.bsky.social & I have a forthcoming article in POQ on best practices for measuring & interpreting violent political attitudes, w/ tons of new evidence.

Pre-print: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9blbj...

Appendix: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kc1i5...

“The senior administration official, as well as other Trump officials, note that it is a priority of the president’s that these kinds of military deployments — in L.A., and now D.C., in times of relative calm — become normalized in American political culture”

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Re-Evaluating Washington DC's Crime Trends A preliminary look at crime trends in DC.

New this week: I took a preliminary look at DC's crime trends since the federal intervention. I don't see much change in overall violent crime, potentially a drop in shootings that's hard to tease out from the preexisting trend, and a drop in property crime. jasher.substack.com/p/re-evaluat...

Today, we released a letter signed by nearly 300 former DOJ employees who were recently pushed out.

Together, we sound the alarm about the degradation of DOJ and warn that democracy can’t survive without the primary institution that enforces the law: bit.ly/48AnzcT

The media trots out the "deplorable" comment from a decade ago to castigate the left. Once a week now Trump implies that the military should destroy democrats, and it is just how things are.

The protests are on one block. Nothing is burning down. His justification for sending in troops is all based on lies.

Opinion | Democrats shouldn’t bail out Trump as the shutdown drags on The best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.

So much Democrat and pundit handwringing about the shutdown as if they're in charge of the government.

They're not. The only possibilities are Trump makes things worse with Democratic approval or Trump makes things worse despite Democratic resistance. Don't bail him out.

My latest (on @msnbc.com):

I spoke to a Venezuelan woman who was arrested in this raid and later released with her 4yo son. She said agents broke down their door, pointed guns at them and made sexualized remarks about Venezuelan women. When she returned to her apartment it was boarded up and all her possessions were gone.

Yes, the Trump administration is eviscerating the due process rights of immigrants Part two of my response to Pirate Wires editor Harris Sockel's disingenuous defense of Trump's immigration policy

New from me:

(Aside: The hardest thing about writing this piece was reconciling the horrible subject matter with the immense satisfaction that comes with correcting an arrogant dudesplainer.)

open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...

Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…

New Washington Post poll on who voters blame for the government shutdown:

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”

Trump’s D.C. crime emergency is over. Immigration officers are still patrolling with D.C. police. The Washington Post reviewed photos and videos of at least half a dozen incidents since Sept. 10. They show D.C. police officers with masked agents in vests labeled HSI for Homeland Security Investiga...

Immigration authorities are continuing to patrol with D.C. police weeks after the expiration of President Trump’s federal takeover, leaving some local leaders and residents alarmed about D.C. police’s role in immigration enforcement.

How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE

ICE had made only 85 arrests in Washington from Jan. 20 through the end of July. But from early August until mid-September, ICE made around 1,200 arrests, according to officials with knowledge of the data.

We detail how that happened:

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...

“The shutdown and subsequent threats to employees’ livelihoods by the federal government is disappointing, unfortunately unsurprising, and ultimately avoidable,” Mendelson said. “The Republicans hold control of both Houses of the Legislature as well as the Presidency. This is a problem of their own doing. “But make no mistake, the District government will continue to function. The District is well-managed and we have funds in our coffers, so we will continue operations. The federal government could learn by the example set by the District of Columbia government.”

While the shutdown will undoubtedly impact some District residents employed by the federal government, local services will not be affected. We may also see some cutback in federal services and that will also affect District residents.

My statement below

Opinion | Trump Has No Mandate to Destroy America

my latest is expanding on the observation that your view of the politics of opposition to the administration depend largely on your view of the election (gift link)

Trump’s Generals Speech Proved to Be Dumb, Deluded... and Dangerous President Trump and Pentagon Pete seem determined to declare war on America itself.

“Trump’s remarks were not…merely among the most disturbing or dangerous ever delivered by a US president. None, even during civil war or other moments of unrest, has so openly and hostilely targeted their own civilians.” @djrothkopf.bsky.social
www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-gener...

Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov’t shutdown Workers call the partisan email "a vile slap in the face."

SCOOP — The White House instructed all federal agency leadership on Tuesday to send out a mandatory message to workers blaming the impending potential government shutdown on House Democrats, The Handbasket was first to learn. Absolutely no modifications to the email were permitted.

My story:

For as much as some members of Congress say the D.C. government is dysfunctional and should be disbanded, it's worth noting that the D.C. government will open and operate normally tomorrow because elected officials can do stuff like, you know, pass annual budgets.

In a sane country with competent leadership, the 50 highest-ranking Democrats would call a press conference to denounce what just happened as a threat to the republic and demand Trump's immediate impeachment and removal from office.

I don't know he could make his intentions more clear.

The U.S. president just ordered all the military generals to an unprecedented gathering in Washington, then told them that they should plan to participate in a war on American cities.

pete hegseth, who you will recall has been accused of domestic abuse and sexual assault, has announced a new policy by which you cannot file anonymous complaints of mistreatment. sex criminal solidarity.

On this date in 1943, John Wilson was born. He ably served as Ward 2 Councilmember and as Council Chairman. Our city hall/county seat/statehouse is named for him. He is sorely missed.
Here’s a 2018 @tomsherwood take on him: washingtoncitypaper.com/article/185261/