Layla A. Jones's Avatar

Layla A. Jones

@laylaayanna.bsky.social

Current political reporter at TPM | past economic equity reporter @ the Philadelphia Inquirer; Knight-Bagehot Fellow @ Columbia; Billy Penn & WHYY; Philadelphia City Council; The Philadelphia Tribune

1,013 Followers  |  119 Following  |  88 Posts  |  Joined: 15.11.2024
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Posts by Layla A. Jones (@laylaayanna.bsky.social)

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Why Federal Gov’t Unions Saw a More Than 6% Increase in Membership in 2025 As President Donald Trump’s actions targeting federal government unions and employees make...

By August 2025, Trump had moved to eliminate union protections from nearly 400k federal workers.

But by the end of 2025, the number and rate of federal workers in unions jumped compared to 2024, even as the government shed employees

20.02.2026 18:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

NEW: The Supreme Court just overturned Trump's IEEPA tariffs in a complicated 6-3 split decision. More TK on @talkingpointsmemo.com

20.02.2026 15:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise Millions of Citizens The SAVE Act would require all Americans to prove their citizenship with documentation unavailable to millions and upend the way every American citizen registers to vote.

Every state where less than 1/3 of residents have a passport -- West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Oklahoma -- went for Trump in the 2024 election. hello? idk maybe I'm missing something. (info from this CAP report) www.americanprogress.org/article/the-...

19.02.2026 16:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm so confused about why congressional Republicans don't seem to understand? care about? how the SAVE Act will disenfranchise wide swaths of their own base -- primarily lower income, rural, middle America, working class voters.

19.02.2026 16:28 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Citywides at 86 is nuts lolol

19.02.2026 14:48 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Carr Tries To Wash His Hands Of the Colbert Matter This is your TPM evening briefing.

It appears Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is attempting to evade responsibility for the situation that unfolded this week on β€œThe Late Show."

18.02.2026 23:19 β€” πŸ‘ 42    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
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β€œEach person who visits the President’s House and does not learn of the realities of founding-era slavery receives a false account of this country’s history.” β€” U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe

πŸ”— www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

16.02.2026 22:19 β€” πŸ‘ 729    πŸ” 232    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 13

so, the funding was not cut to decreased the deficit...

13.02.2026 15:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Ending our 34-year run The Richmond Free Press will cease publication this week, a bittersweet conclusion to a landmark publication that has served the Richmond community for 34 years.

richmondfreepress.com/news/2026/fe...

12.02.2026 17:07 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

This is the second account - the first being in Chicago - of DHS agents mass detaining people and then *sorting them by race*.

12.02.2026 02:26 β€” πŸ‘ 15836    πŸ” 7774    πŸ’¬ 520    πŸ“Œ 299
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How Trump’s Immigration Crusade Is Endangering Black Americans From what began as a routine traffic stop in Georgia, U.S. Army...

How Black Americans whose families have been here for generations, especially those who have been convicted of crimes or participate in political dissent, risk being swept up in Trump’s immigration dragnet:

12.02.2026 15:57 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you for sharing!

12.02.2026 14:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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How Trump’s Immigration Crusade Is Endangering Black Americans From what began as a routine traffic stop in Georgia, U.S. Army...

How Trump’s Immigration Crusade Is Endangering Black Americans talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-i...

important reporting from @laylaayanna.bsky.social

12.02.2026 14:17 β€” πŸ‘ 53    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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January Jobs Report Shows Trump Is Failing On Campaign Promises to Blue Collar Workers After the first full year of President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which...

Trump's first year in office brought the smallest growth in U.S. jobs since 2013, outside of the 2020 pandemic. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/january...

11.02.2026 18:59 β€” πŸ‘ 225    πŸ” 91    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 4
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January Jobs Report Shows Trump Is Failing On Campaign Promises to Blue Collar Workers After the first full year of President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which...

At the same time, productivity went up. That means a single person was producing more, but more people weren't hired to produce. Economist Lonnie Golden said this could point to automation and AI. What it doesn't point to is Trump's promise to usher America into its manufacturing Golden Age.

11.02.2026 19:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

In a preliminary analysis, it looks like tariff-sensitive industries like trade, warehousing and truck transportation took some of the biggest hits. Also manufacturing, especially for certain tariff-sensitive sectors, saw some big drops in jobs.

11.02.2026 19:35 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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January Jobs Report Shows Trump Is Failing On Campaign Promises to Blue Collar Workers After the first full year of President Donald Trump’s economic policies, which...

The job market under Trump's 1st year saw the smallest increase in job creation in 10 years, outside of the 2020 pandemic unemployment spike.

U.S. industries haven’t added fewer jobs than were added under Trump since 2013-2014.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/january...

11.02.2026 19:34 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Economic Experts Skeptical Trump Fed Chair Pick Will Be Free from Political Influence President Donald Trump last Friday announced his intent to nominate former Federal...

GOP Sen. Tillis said he'll still BLOCK Trump's Fed pick until the DOJ stops investigating Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski initially said she'd block Trump's pick, too, but hasn't commented since Warsh's nom. Her office didn't respond to my inquiry. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kevin-w...

04.02.2026 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

After getting beat up by some teenage girls no less.

04.02.2026 18:51 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump DOJ Files 9/11-Era Charges Against Leftists Across the Country Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine...

The DOJ is charging Black Lives Matter activists and members of a supposed "Antifa cell" with material support for terrorism

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

03.02.2026 15:41 β€” πŸ‘ 52    πŸ” 37    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 7
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Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs The layoffs are slated to shrink the newsroom by hundreds of journalists, cutting into The Post’s local, international and sports coverage.

Breaking News: The Washington Post began sweeping layoffs that were slated to shrink the scope of the publication.

04.02.2026 13:50 β€” πŸ‘ 114    πŸ” 60    πŸ’¬ 55    πŸ“Œ 58
Emmanuel Felton
@emmanuelfelton
X.com
I'm among the hundreds of people laid off by The Post. This comes six months after hearing in a national meeting that race coverage drives subscriptions.
This wasn't a financial decision, it was an ideological one.
8:27 AM β€’ 2/4/26 β€’ 23K Views

Emmanuel Felton @emmanuelfelton X.com I'm among the hundreds of people laid off by The Post. This comes six months after hearing in a national meeting that race coverage drives subscriptions. This wasn't a financial decision, it was an ideological one. 8:27 AM β€’ 2/4/26 β€’ 23K Views

Former race and ethnicity reporter for WaPo:

β€œThis wasn't a financial decision, it was an ideological one.”

He also says β€œhundreds of people” were laid off today, and I’ve seen it reported elsewhere that layoffs affected one third of the staff.

04.02.2026 15:19 β€” πŸ‘ 576    πŸ” 245    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 8
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Economic Experts Skeptical Trump Fed Chair Pick Will Be Free from Political Influence President Donald Trump last Friday announced his intent to nominate former Federal...

Tillis has said he will oppose Warsh’s nomination until the DOJ drops or concludes its bogus investigation into Chairman Powell. Warsh can’t be confirmed without Tillis’ support.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kevin-w...

04.02.2026 15:34 β€” πŸ‘ 136    πŸ” 37    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 3
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Judge orders release of 5-year-old detained by ICE in Minnesota The judge accused the Trump administration of inhumanity in its approach to deportations.

β€œObserving human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious LUST FOR UNBRIDLED POWER and the IMPOSITION OF CRUELTY IN ITS QUEST know no bounds and ARE BEREFT OF HUMAN DECENCY”

~ The Federal Judge

31.01.2026 22:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2455    πŸ” 676    πŸ’¬ 67    πŸ“Œ 38
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Judge Calls DOJ's Statements On Slavery Exhibit Display 'Dangerous' And 'Horrifying' Senior U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe told the Justice Department's attorneys, "β€œYou can’t erase history once you’ve learned it. It doesn’t work that way.”

A federal judge warned Justice Department lawyers that their statements on a slavery exhibit display in Philadelphia were "horrifying."

"You can’t erase history once you’ve learned it. It doesn’t work that way"

31.01.2026 04:12 β€” πŸ‘ 4479    πŸ” 1435    πŸ’¬ 59    πŸ“Œ 56
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As Congress Begins to Grapple With Restrictions on ICE, States Take Matters Into Their Own Hands On Thursday, a Michigan State Senate committee held a hearing on a...

States are stepping in with legislation to combat Trump's ICE overreach.

How the bills fare in places like Michigan -- which will see a number of competitive races in 2026 -- could help predict the impact of Trump's violent immigration enforcement on midterms
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/state-a...

30.01.2026 22:09 β€” πŸ‘ 59    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Graham Brings Senate Deal on Government Funding to a Halt The Senate Thursday evening struck a deal with the White House to...

Lindsey Graham is holding up the Dem-White House deal over DHS funding bc of a provision that repeals a law allowing senators to receive cash payouts if their phone records were seized during Jack Smith’s investigation.

More from @emineirmakyucel.bsky.social

talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/ic...

30.01.2026 16:57 β€” πŸ‘ 195    πŸ” 73    πŸ’¬ 37    πŸ“Œ 15
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Last post. The panel ended on a somewhat hopeful note. Attorney Kyle Freeny left attendees with this quote when an audience member asked what gave the panelists hope:

30.01.2026 02:16 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Another withering norm: You almost never see federal booking photos because there’s a norm against it, said Lawfare’s Bower. There’s a policy in the Justice Manual, the DOJ attorney β€œBible,” against releasing booking photos…

AG Pam Bondi just tweeted a slate of photos β€œfor no apparent reason”

30.01.2026 01:14 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

What are the norms DOJ lawyers used to follow?

- Ethical considerations;
- avoiding conflicts of interest;
- public statements and prosecutors speaking candidly about ongoing investigations and active cases, etc.,

These were lines which DOJ employees formerly did not cross, panelists said

30.01.2026 01:11 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0