Bruce Larson

This should have been a 9-0 decision.

Repeat after me:
An executive order is not a royal edict; it is not law. It is a direction to the executive branch as to how to carry out the law.

Also:
Key parts of Trump's last EO on elections have been stopped by federal courts, ruling that the President has no role to play in federal elections

All great in different ways. Elton John was my first concert; that was really special. Led Zeppelin and Queen were tremendous too

Your post got me thinking about my concert days. I actually saw Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Elton John—and Queen three times. Showing my age here! Totally regret never seeing Fleetwood Mac.

I feel like Queen was bigger than a second-tier act during the earlier period. Maybe that’s just how I remember them. Either way they definitely seem bigger now.

Contact your member of Congress and senators. It can matter.

Extreme Wealth Inequality Destroys Constitutions A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

Great piece by @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social

democracyproject.org/posts/extrem...

The Senate vote on the Venezuela resolution was not a final passage vote . . . this seems like something the Post should get right?

It would be so cool if the United States Congress still existed.

Trone announces run for former Western Maryland congressional seat - Maryland Matters David Trone, the former three-term congressman who gave up his Western Maryland seat last year for an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate, announced Thursday he is running for his old job.

@repaprildelaney.bsky.social: make him spend it all.

11.1% of SNAP recipients are kids under age 5, 27.7% kids 5-17, 41.6% adults 18-59, 19.5% adults aged 60 & older https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1124/snapparticipantage.xlsx

Did you know?

About 4.5 million SNAP recipients are babies and toddlers under age 5.

About 11.1 million SNAP recipients are kids aged 5 to 17 years, who need food for healthy growth, learning, & development.

The federal government has the capacity to continue funding SNAP during a shutdown.

Is Congress willing to curb Trump's approach to executive power? President Trump's expansive interpretation of executive power is continuing to reshape federal spending in a government shutdown.

Pleasure talking with @cgrisales.bsky.social for this All Things Considered story: www.npr.org/2025/10/22/n...

I just finished reading this book. It is terrific.

I chaired the US Federal Election Commission. Now there’s no cop on the beat | Ellen L Weintraub Democracy is under attack – and the watchdog agency has no quorum. It must be restored

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Violent Crime in D.C. Hits 30 Year Low Total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years, according to data collected by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) a...

Trump's own DOJ website still has a press release up from January pointing out that violent crime in D.C. is at its lowest in more than 30 years.

I learned a ton about campaign finance from reading Robert Mutch’s painstaking research. It is sad that his passing went with seemingly little or no notice. Maybe some CF scholars could write something up about him for PS:Political Science

Old money: Campaign finance and gerontocracy in the United States Politicians in the United States rank among the oldest globally. This study examines how money in politics contributes to age inequality in political …

@adambonica.bsky.social and I are economists now (economist salary coming soon, I imagine)

Ungated until the end of September: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Gettysburg College is hiring a VAP in judicial politics beginning August 2025! The successful candidate will teach an introductory course in American Politics and upper-level courses in judicial politics. Ad will be on APSA on Monday.

My New Draft: “Faux Campaign Finance Regulation and the Pathway to American Oligarchy” papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Just early published in ARPS (open access) @garlicksauce.bsky.social @wmjunk.bsky.social & I survey remarkable recent lobbying research that shows how lobbying matters & whats ahead for studies of influence www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Just a reminder how classic what we're seeing is:
1. redefine a group as a threat to civilization
2. reduce legal protections that they enjoy
3. abuse, threaten, harm, and/or relocate them
4. dismiss/ignore concerns about abuses and harms from the process
5. repeat steps 2-4, escalating each time

Inside the Mind of an ICE Agent Is this what she signed up for?

Where does the “Abolish ICE” movement go to get its apology?

open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

RFK Jr. is seeking to destroy the consensus around vaccines, one of the greatest public health achievements in human history. People will die because of it.

Having been an expert witness in four documentary proof of citizen cases let me set the record straight:

1. Non-citizen voting is already illegal
2. It is exceedingly rare, when it happens it is almost always due to confusion
3. SAVE will burden millions of people who don't have the required id

Wesleyan's Michael Roth: "money doesn’t come with a loyalty oath. And that has served the country so well because Americans and various governments we’ve had recognized that it’s better for the country if people can practice freedom." www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

The Ultrarich Have Reshaped Presidential Elections. Here’s Where They’re Looking Next. Billionaire money could have even more impact in these races than it did in the presidential election.

This excellent piece by @rickhasen.bsky.social does such a great job of explaining the current state of campaign finance in the U.S. and how we got here. I just assigned it to my money and politics class. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Today the biggest split among Democrats is between those who want to stand and fight and those who want to play dead.

House Democrats united to stand and fight. Too many Senate Democrats played dead.

We need more leaders from the stand and fight wing of the Democratic Party.