Someone ask him to find Nigeria on an unmarked map

Or you are a descendant of generations of ancestors who America has ceaselessly endeavored to break — hearts and all — and you still love America.

The major questions doctrine is still something the court just made up, no matter who it’s used against. Yup I said it

I have many more thoughts on the argument - I'm putting them in my newsletter, The Gavel. Sign up now to get it in your inbox later today: bostonglobe.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

Didn't have Gorsuch talking about pirates on my tariff argument bingo card but here we are

Prepping (and primping) for the SCOTUS tariff arguments, and I think the look is giving Freida. Judge for yourself on MSNBC next hour.

Being able to address, comfort and bring together a community at a time of crisis or tragedy is a skill not all politicians have. Andy Beshear has it.

This is ghoulish. A clear attack on trans people that also swings the door wide open for ethnic profiling and eugenics. This is not ok.

Honestly, anyone who has spent time with actual real life Black people would have clocked those AI SNAP videos as fake from the jump. It’s very revealing about everyone who was fooled.

Due to the shutdown, the Supreme Court building is now closed to the public. Oral arguments can still be heard via live stream on the court's website. Arguments on the challenge to Trump's tariffs take place Wednesday starting at 10am. www.supremecourt.gov

Heartbreaking news to wake up to. I saw Setti just months ago in DC, and he was the same person I knew him to be for over two decades: kind, brilliant, engaging and willing to help out others and offer an open door. He taught me that there are good people in politics. My heart breaks for his family.

We only had half the Sisters but Joyce and I - er, I mean Barb and I 🤭 - got it done.

“‘She also said we would never treat Tim Scott like this,’ says one officer tasked with escorting Mace says in the report.” She’s right. If Scott behaved like she did he’d likely be in jail.

The right declared BLM to be a terrorist organization. Now they’re giving this devout white supremacist the “let’s hear him out” treatment. If the purpose of P25, the DEI purging, sending troops to Black-led cities, dehumanizing ICE kidnappings, and Goebbelsesque messaging wasn’t clear to you before

Happy 👻

The Supreme Court’s majority sidestepped an opportunity to address an apparently unusually cruel form of capital punishment - but the justices can’t put their heads in the sand forever. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/29/n...

“Dozens of scientists are considering leaving the (FDA’s) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where Prasad serves as director, to escape a work environment that eight agency officials described to STAT as rife with mistrust and paranoia.”

Good heavens, my heart is in my throat for Jamaica

This is awful, and I hope these scammers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law for targeting her. Also, as grateful as I am for her lifetime of fearless public service, the people of DC deserve a new voice in the House. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/d...

A friendly reminder that oligarchies are bad www.cnbc.com/2025/10/23/t...

I finally overcame years of fear and trepidation and I did it: I trimmed and repotted my orchids. Praying that Whitney and Aretha recover from the trauma and thrive.

Prying pieces of chocolate out of Snickers’s mouth on our walk reminds me to remind young Halloween enthusiasts and their minders to be careful not to drop or leave their treats on the ground.

The Supreme Court will take up the constitutionality of a federal law barring anyone who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a gun, @kimberlyeatkins.bsky.social writes in #TheGavel.

Not Chauncey Billups! Dang

This is real life: as thousands of federal workers are going unpaid, a ballroom is being built in the White House and the president wants the Justice Department to pay him $230 million. Even Marie Antoinette would find that to be a bit much.

Y’all better get my Sis’s book!

The president of the United States posted a video of him defecating on the American people. Many in my profession normalized it. This is a big reason why we are where we are.

Morning jam. Rest easy, Ace spotify.link/drWamTXxxXb

Trump’s response when asked about the Bolton indictment: “He’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy, too bad, but that’s the way it goes, right?” Trump really is Anthony and America is now the town you won’t find on any map youtu.be/jocI_R8lMpM?...

Stare decisis is a crucial democratic guardrail. But SCOTUS justices have been chipping it down to nothing - turning themselves into unelected lawmakers in a way the Framers never intended. If that’s the job they wanted, they should have run for office, not taken lifetime appointments on the bench.

My office assistant is a whole mood. Same, Snix. Same.

Me writing today’s The Gavel newsletter after watching the Louisiana redistricting argument

Good afternoon to everyone but especially Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who argued her heart out today in an effort to stop the Supreme Court from destroying the Voting Rights Act.

Kavanaugh really, really wants a time limit on remedies for racial discrimination. I really, really want a time limit on racial discrimination in America. But guess what

Enjoy the Viting Rights Act while you have it. By the end of the Supreme Court's term, it may be come. Arguments in the Louisiana redacting case begin today at 10am EST: www.c-span.org/event/public...

Oh ffs -- the Boston Fed President is a Black woman named Susan Collins - the first woman of color to lead any regional federal bank! Get. It. Together! 🤦🏾‍♀️

My goodness the reaper won’t rest this year! I saw D’Angelo perform a few years back and it was sublime. I’m so heartbroken especially for his son, who just lost his mom Angie Stone earlier this year. people.com/soul-legend-...

As predicted by my #SistersInLaw @barbmcquade.bsky.social and @joycewhitevance.bsky.social in this week's episode

TIL as the shutdown saps Americans' paychecks, healthcare and food access, wealthy Sen. Jim Justice commutes daily on his private jet, saying he hasn’t had time to find DC digs. “It’s a pain in the butt getting on and off the plane every day. Talk about wear and tear” punchbowl.news/archive/1014...

They also cancelled government data collection about hunger to minimize evidence about their policies

I miss when moral character mattered in politics. Running for president required evidence of that, be it a career centered on public service or military service or strong values rooted in family, faith and altruism. Now we have a president laughing and admitting his utter lack of any moral center.

I’m still having a difficult time processing the thought of a world without the force that was Diane Keaton. I ask your patience at this time.

Today is a great day to watch this beautiful PBS piece on the Taíno people youtu.be/kpX6dpC5MQg?...

NEW #SistersInLaw “Unitary Executive Meets Textualism” Joyce Vance hosts to analyze the indictment against NY Attorney General Letitia James. Then a look at the legality of National Guard deployments & ongoing gerrymandering case Louisiana v. Callais. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

The SCOTUS majority must know this. The only conclusion is that they don’t care. “Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration policies.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

This is ghoulish www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

Me getting ready to say my piece on *allofthis* on this week’s #SistersInLaw episode

Painting the White House whiter: Trump targets Black officials for firings, while in the administration’s first 200 days, only two of 98 Senate-confirmed appointees to the most senior jobs in government were Black. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

He’s literally cuffing the hands that bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice

Yes I listened to the SCOTUS argument in the conversion therapy case. Yes I have thoughts. Sign up for my newsletter The Gavel to hear ‘em tomorrow (link in my pinned post)