Larry Norden

UCLA’s funds reinstated after yesterday’s court order! Thanks to the brave researchers and their amazing counsel, including Dean Chemerinsky, who brought suit. This is just another turn in the ongoing fight, but a great result for now.

A Retired FBI Agent's Advice on Fighting Authoritarianism Every governor, mayor, and county executive in this country should read Mike’s piece and use it as a blueprint for dealing with the Trump regime’s de facto attempts to commandeer state and local polic...

My tribute to my friend @rethinkintel.bsky.social

Personal update: this fall I am on a short sabbatical from @brennancenter.org and have joined the UC Berkeley community as a lecturer @ Berkeley Law (AI, Democracy and Elections) and Democracy Policy Fellow @ Berkeley’s GSPP. If you are in the Bay Area please reach out!

What to Expect Next in the Trump Administration’s Strategy to Meddle with the Vote Efforts to protect the coming elections must begin now.

Brennan Center experts Sean Morales-Doyle and Lawrence Norden forecast how the Trump administration will undermine confidence in our elections in the months leading up to the 2026 midterms: bit.ly/4fRIqtA

This is a remarkable article. Federal judges are increasingly speaking out against SCOTUS’s approach to the shadow docket. This isn't typical & underscores the impossible position for lower courts when SCOTUS makes new law on its emergency docket – especially when it doesn’t explain its rulings. /1

What to Expect Next in the Trump Administration’s Strategy to Meddle with the Vote Efforts to protect the coming elections must begin now.

Dangerous steps to watch for, and what to do about it... www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Some important “What to expect when we’re electing” messaging from the Brennan Center. Election fraud lies are integrated into the administration’s strategies of election interference going into 2026. What we need to be aware of… and what we can do:

Trump administration setting the stage for elections power grab, voting rights group warns A new report from the Brennan Center for Justice says the Trump administration has foreshadowed plans to meddle with mail-in voting, voter rolls and much more.

If we know what’s coming and prepare, we can keep our elections secure. cyberscoop.com/trump-admini...

..it's power to courts to give them the perspective and skepticism to quickly dismiss unfounded government claims. And most importantly, it’s power to the voters, who should know how critical their participation is. Democracy depends on the people and their belief in, and defense of, our elections.

It’s all laid out in the March order. But knowing what’s coming is power. It’s power for states who are constitutionally mandated to run our elections to prepare, including by defending their election officials and voters... /4

... for DOJ to intimidate election officials and others through politicized investigations; and for federal agents and agencies to interfere with how states run elections and count votes. /3

Specifically, the March order sets the predicate and opportunity for DOGE and DHS in the coming months to make false claims about widespread non-citizen voting; for DHS to issue misleading reports about the security of election equipment ... /2

What to Expect Next in the Trump Administration’s Strategy to Meddle with the Vote Efforts to protect the coming elections must begin now.

The @brennancenter.org has documented the concerted White House efforts to undermine elections. Today, @seanmorales-doyle.bsky.social and I dig into the president’s March executive order to detail how it lays the groundwork for the next set of steps in this effort. /1

She Pushed to Overturn Trump’s Loss in the 2020 Election. Now She’ll Help Oversee U.S. Election Security. Heather Honey has been appointed to a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security. State election officials and voting experts are concerned.

www.propublica.org/article/heat...

Flooding blue cities with soldiers on the pretext of fighting crime would be an unprecedented abuse of power that would violate states’ rights and threaten our most fundamental liberties. The plan is profoundly un-American. And it is illegal. 12/12

Opinion | Trump’s Stunning Attack on Mail-In Ballots

Brennan Center senior adviser @bartongellman.bsky.social: “From the earliest days of his second term, the president and his lieutenants have pursued an unprecedented assault on the machinery of free and fair elections.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Mail Voting Accuracy Election officials use many checks to ensure mail voting is secure against widespread fraud and tampering.

Mail voting is a secure way to cast a ballot that dates back to the Civil War. Election officials in every state use tested and multi-layered checks to ensure that mail voting is safe. bit.ly/4fLDlDa

Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce and cutting budget by over $700 million The Office of the Director of National Intelligence says it will dramatically reduce its workforce and cut its budget by more than $700 million annually.

For those keeping track, another cut to federal support for election security, with the apparent elimination of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked foreign influence operations and threats to elections. apnews.com/article/gabb...

At Trump’s request, multiple red state governors are sending hundreds of armed National Guard forces into DC. This military occupation of the district is unprecedented and unjustified. If it’s allowed to stand, this country will be well on its way to becoming a police state. 1/22

Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3

What Is Political Corruption and What Can We Do About It? It hurts ordinary Americans in concrete ways, and the risk has never been greater given today’s unprecedented mixing of private wealth with political power.

Public corruption harms everyday people and undermines democracy. Congress can do something about it — but the public needs to demand action. bit.ly/4mbQKqv

Echoing Renee here, me and my team were FOIA'ed by the MO AG office, sued by America First Legal, and then hauled in front of Jim Jordan's committee in DC, where, at the table interviewing me (for SIX HOURS) sat a lawyer who shifted from America First to Jordan's staff. This is MACHINE.

This is not the slightest bit surprising and it began prior to Trump coming back to power. As the idiot AG of Missouri was pursuing Missouri v Biden, Stephen Miller’s America First Legal sued me and my colleagues with the same forum-shopped judge and plaintiffs. Wake up: it’s a machine.

No president-affiliated super PAC has ever raised so much and seen so many $1M+ donations in the first 6 months of a term, even without the constitutional term limit. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Poll Shows New Yorkers Continue to Support Public Campaign Finance After its successful start in 2024, a large majority of voters across parties want state leaders to keep funding New York’s small donor public financing program.

New York State’s public campaign finance program is the strongest legislative response yet to Citizens United — and a large majority of New Yorker support the program. bit.ly/3Utuk7S

New Yorkers like public matching funds program A new poll found that 64% of likely voters support the small donor matching program and 89% believe wealthy donors have more influence in politics than ordinary voters

New York State’s new program for public financing of elections has changed the way candidates raise money and New York voters like it. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

THREAD: This morning, President Trump and members of his cabinet announced a set of sweeping, unprecedented, and unwarranted actions to impose federal control over local policing in Washington, D.C.

Great explainer.

Any FBI agent asked to spend any time at all on the Texas quorum break had better be able to articulate the specific statute enumerating the specific federal crime they’re investigating.

And any reporter giving any credibility to alleged FBI efforts had better be asking the same.

Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6