Josh Chafetz

I’ve been asked if I would support Sen. Mullin as Noem’s replacement.

The answer is a resounding NO. The rot in DHS is deep, much deeper than any individual.

It’s a question of policy not personnel. The Senate should not consider any DHS Secretary nominee until DHS and ICE are reined in.

COG, Metro leaders applaud Virginia and Maryland officials on transit funding action. Statement from COG Executive Director Clark Mercer and Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke are also mentioned.

Encouraging progress for transit in the region! Maryland and Virginia lawmakers are advancing funding proposals that support the DMVMoves vision for securing Metro’s future.

Read more about the key decisions made by leaders in MD and VA: dmvmoves.org/cog-metro-le...

Senate malapportionment still *very* hard to fix, given that both carving up big states and/or combining small ones require the consent of their state legislatures -- see Art. IV, cl. 3.

I would hope so, but 🤷‍♂️

www.courthousenews.com/tillis-doubl...

I'm sure Mullin will get confirmed at the end of the day, but I'm also sure Chairman Paul will want to see him squirm at least a little.

South Dakota's "Meth. We're on it" campaign

I'll always remember Kristi Noem for the "Meth. We're on it." campaign.

My condolences.

Special Envoy for the Shield of Achilles

is this a thing?

Moral of the story? Congressional oversight matters. Congress should do it more.

yep

"I respect Bernie Sanders because he's an open socialist, and you know that he's a communist so you know what you're getting. Rand Paul's a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face."

This is what Markwayne Mullin said about Rand Paul a couple weeks ago.

Anyway, guess who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee

5 U.S. Code § 3345 - Acting officer

Although, of course, Trump could try to do something illegal, I do not believe Trump could appoint Mullin as "acting" DHS Secretary under either the Federal Vacancies Reform Act or the DHS order of succession.

FVRA: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

DHS: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

After adjusting for inflation, military funding this year will be 26% larger than under Obama's last year. That's more than $200 billion more for the military this year than when Obama left office.

*glances down at phone* huh, 157 missed calls?

By a vote of 51-45, the #Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R.7147, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, upon reconsideration.

pls post a clip of the moment

Yesterday I'd noted it would take some significant horse-trading to get Paxton to drop out even if Trump endorses Cornyn. This seems like an interesting development (X post from 2 hours ago, alt text added) that could put Thune and leadership in a more uncomfortable position re the filibuster.

NOEM TAKING QUESTIONS - DOES NOT APPEAR TO KNOW SHE WAS FIRED

If you're at the airport and Kristi Noem is doing the ominous little message from the TSA screens, you no longer have to do anything she says. Leave your laptop in the case, whatever.

(thinking specifically of the Auden version)

Special Envoy for the Shield of Achilles

is this a thing?

I truly do think all of the "Noem out, Mullin in" posts and stories are failing American democracy right now!

Trump is announcing his nominee.

That's it.

If the Senate majority wants to confirm him, they're a part of this—even after knowing what they know now.

And that matters come November.

NOEMORE

Generative AI: Not Even Once

BREAKING: Kristi Noem out at DHS at the end of the month. www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...

New AJPS Correspondence and Corrections Policies From: Dan Reiter and Adam Berinsky, editors-in-chief This post describes new policies at AJPS regarding Correspondence and Corrections. Maintaining an accurate scholarly record is one of the most i…

The AJPS announces new policies on correspondence and corrections. Read the Editor's Blog here: ajps.org/2026/03/05/n...

And frankly, even when you've done all the reading, summarizing what other people have already said is a key part of getting your own thoughts in order. Outsourcing it to the autocomplete machine will still negatively affect the rest of your piece.

Because you can't contribute to a literature if you don't know the literature.

Here's the thing about using AI for lit reviews ... If you've actually read the scholarship, writing the lit review yourself isn't that taxing. But what's gonna happen is folks will use AI to save themselves having to *read* the scholarship, which will then make the rest of their article trash.