We may at some point need a stronger word than "unproven."

It says something about shifting culture wars that this incident probably won't inspire a freakout about video games the way others have.

Sometimes it feels like WMATA is specifically trolling me, like with the spelling here.

I have learned from examining public records is that it's common for homeowners to claim homestead exemptions on multiple properties to pay less property taxes. A homeowner should only be able to get one exemption. Local tax authorities tend to do nothing about this tax fraud.

I did the DC Bike Ride for the first time today, and both kids joined me to finish the almost-20-mile route. Definitely the longest bike ride we've taken together! And a nice opportunity to bike in some places around DC that I'd never go if they weren't blocked to cars.

Academics should be careful not to present their research for politicians who are going to claim the work supports them. In this case, Marc Elrich clearly didn't explain the context of housing reform in Montgomery County, but he used them to argue that we should do nothing.

For months, people have been asking me whether I still trusted gov’t data. My answer was always the same: The stats agencies faced longstanding challenges, some of which Trump was making worse. But there was no sign of political meddling. I can’t say that anymore. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/b...

Entrenched NIMBY politicians have been a huge drag on the Democratic party. Here in Montgomery County, Marc Elrich has made it clear that he sides with older homeowners even if it means a housing crisis for everyone else. This NIMBYism has to go for Dems to have a path forward.

Today's article in the Post focuses on the homeowners loudly complaining about the possibility of allowing a few hundred housing units in Montgomery County, which has a population over a million. Oddly, the reporter only mentions the age of a younger person with actual relevant expertise.

Looking through this DOJ lawsuit challenging California's cage-free egg law, I'm definitely wondering how many other times the DOJ has cited undergraduate student papers as the sole support for basic claims in court filings.

Your semi-regular reminder that Robert Reich fought hard against slightly denser housing for others near his house.

I guess July 4th is as good a day as any to talk about an area where Montreal is absolutely kicking the ass of every American city: incredible growth in bike infrastructure. My first night there I hopped on a bixi bike and rode almost entirely on separated lanes to get groceries.

This is the first flight I've been on with United's new fast wifi, so I'm taking full advantage by downloading @ipums.bsky.social extracts.

Today's reminder that things are so dumb right now and getting dumber: for anyone who forgot, the tax and spending bill really is called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

This was a beautiful afternoon at Glenstone.

Like many other federal workers, I have been leaning on my support networks the past several months. I've been able to keep doing quality work while being an involved parent, but I know I've dropped the ball on communications about other things. We're just doing our best here.

I have a running conversation with a friend along the lines of "things can't get any dumber, can they?" but we just keep adding to it. Today, I learned that this is in the latest budget proposal.

Frustrating that I returned from work to my car in the Wheaton Metro garage to find that a window was smashed, and someone had rifled through my glove compartment. WMATA Police refused to even take a report of the damage since I left the garage, as the MoCo non-emergency operator told me to do.

It seems bad that immediately after gaining access to NLRB systems, someone in DOGE passed login information to someone in Russia who then quickly attempted to log in.

TFW you need a legion to repopulate the Earth after the societal breakdown you're working to cause

Current state

Shame on anyone still pretending that proposals to move agency offices out of the DC area are in good faith. We know that these proposals are intended to further gut the agencies and punish employees, most of whom can't simply move across the country with a few months' notice.

I'm on my way to the @ipums.bsky.social reception in DC, which will be the first evening econ/data/stats social event I've attended since karaoke at ASSAs in January 2020. Not much has happened since then though...

My red line train on Monday morning overran the platform at Metro Center so the driver simply didn't stop there, and those of us transferring had to catch a train back from Farragut North. I guess platform overrubs have been more common even under ATC than I realized.

Current state:

I had planned (and still do) to read Abundance and Why Nothing Works. But like those unfortunate Zero Day ads all over the DC Metro, they arrive at a time when the systematic dismantling of a functioning federal government reduces the concerns they emphasize to at most secondary issues.

I have heard that some FHFA leaders may have been upset to see these tweets (as also shared on X) mentioned in a NYT article. I stand by my personal comments on how employees have been traumatized by the heartlessness and lack of transparency around apparent plans to cut hundreds of FHFA employees.

Today I took a box full of what remained in my office home with me on the Metro. I still have my job (for now), but in the past two days dozens of employees at my agency, FHFA, have been informed that they have five minutes to pack up before being escorted out of the building.

As we witness the destruction of the federal government, the imposition of nonsensical tariffs, and trashing alliances for no productive purpose, it's an open question: Will the result of the Trump policy regime be a self-inflicted economic hit on the order of Brexit, or will it be much worse?

Trump take egg

This is heartbreaking, but unfortunately a completely predictable consequence of these heartless mass firings.

Nobody separates the signal from the noise like Nate Silver.

So here we are: the fundamentally unserious tech bro who insisted that Tesla models be named S, 3, X, and Y has unleashed his employees and fans to destroy the government while claiming they understand it.

I'm the Administrator in charge of DOGE

This is exactly how you break Americans' trust that the government will keep confidential information confidential. Opening up widespread access to confidential data for political operatives like this will have a lasting impact on all federal government data collection.

Instead of shaming parents, we should encourage them to recognize this nuance: not all screen time is equivalent. I hold that nonviolent video games tend to be positive, some other video games and shows on major streaming shows tend to be neutral, and watching YouTube is almost always negative.

Looking at young adults as I prepare to teach my class about working with @ipums.bsky.social data: (1) The percentage of young adults living with parents is still near historic highs, and (2) The percentage of young adults who are heads of households or married to HoHs is still near historic lows.

The constitutional crisis is over. This administration dared to ask, "If we destroy the government, will anyone stop us?" and got their answer: Congress won't do anything. The courts will act far too slowly to stop them. The president is free to destroy the federal government.

It's minor given everything else happening right now, but I'm losing this small joy. My agency is reshuffling offices for no apparent reason, and I can't take this piece of furniture with me to my new office.

Pretty much every single person among the 100,000s the Trump administration is summarily firing is someone who works hard at a job where they earn much less than they could in the private sector, precisely because they believe in public service.

This heartless cruelty is in service of the overarching goal: to destroy the federal government (by destroying the civil service) and salt the earth so nobody can rebuild it. If we can't ensure that people will have jobs a few months after hiring, we can't hire competent people, let alone experts.

This is weaponized ignorance. Writing regulations isn't unconstitutional. Laws may require more or less regulatory rules to ensure that they are appropriately implemented, but the regulations are a necessary step to implement those laws that were passed by Congress and signed by the President.

This is the combination of several shifts. Homeownership rates have dropped for adults under 65 since 1991. But moving rates have dropped much more, especially at younger adult ages. This is most dramatic for those who are already homeowners. Homeownership rates have dropped more since the 1970s.

One thing to keep in mind: jobs are held by real people, who feel real impacts when they lose their jobs. We've only begun to see the scope of some of these impacts. And the impacts won't be confined to the DC area, since the vast majority of federal employees live elsewhere.

What a strange way to word a headline that should say "Elon Musk is Destroying Key Functions of the Federal Government"

Now more than ever, I appreciate that my son wrote this on the white board in my office when he came to my agency's Take Your Child to Work event last year.

The destruction of the federal workforce has only just started. The original "Fork in the Road" email last week further threatened to move offices (pillar #1), rewrite performance standards and reclassify workers to push them out (#2 & #3), and demand loyalty pledges (#4).