It’s the economy, stupid

It was likely not lost on the justices that hours before oral arguments, Democrats won sweeping victories in off-year elections. Letting Trump go wild with tariffs might, ultimately, help unravel the GOP appointees’ conservative project.

It was likely not lost on the justices that hours before oral arguments, Democrats won sweeping victories in off-year elections. Letting Trump go wild with tariffs might, ultimately, help unravel the GOP appointees’ conservative project.

The Roberts Court appears poised to knock down Trump’s tariffs. As in so many other cases, they would be doing him a favor. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

A different kind of Supreme Court oral argument preview: The tariffs case isn't a hard question on the law. It is a hard question if you're a GOP-appointed justice caught between your billionaire patrons and Trump's authoritarian ambitions: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

put a stake in it www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Who wants the free version when you could pay for it

President Trump has been on a winning streak when it comes to the Supreme Court. But tomorrow, the Trump administration will be up against the high court’s other preferred client: the court's plutocratic patrons. @pemalevy.bsky.social breaks down the high-stakes battle in SCOTUS's tariff case.

How dare you assume this prosecution isn't by the book, write brand new us attorney appointed to file this case and attorney shipped in from Missouri to assist in the prosecution that the Virginia prosecutors wouldn't sign on to

The tariff case finds the GOP-appointed justices caught between their billionaire patrons on one side and Trump on the other. Whatever legal reasoning they use to decide the case will be window-dressing. They are mediating an intra-party disagreement: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

John Roberts' decisions gave the president total control over the executive branch. Trump is now using that power to pay himself $230m. Roberts claims he was promoting democratic accountability. Is this how someone who feels accountable to the public would act? www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

I feel like something is off when we are learning about the literal destruction of the White House through press scoops

A fun byproduct of unitary executive theory—if the president controls everyone under him, he can demand they transfer hundreds of millions in tax dollars into his bank account

North Carolina already one of most gerrymandered states. Now GOP passing new gerrymander giving Rs nearly 80% of seats in state where Trump got 51%. Specifically targets Black Dem Don Davis. This is preview of what post-Voting Rights Act America will look like www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

"Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear." About two dozen "said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones."

Feds use a dangerous tactic of ramming a car with their vehicle in order to stop it, then throw tear gas in a crowd, then detain a US citizen, who is a child, for hours without letting him make any calls

The Supreme Court is about to hear oral arguments in a case over the load-bearing pillar of American multi-racial democracy: the Voting Rights Act. The GOP appointees have been chipping away at the VRA for over a decade. Now, they may finish the job. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

NEW from @h-lev.bsky.social: As chairman of the board of Fannie Mae, Bill Pulte was required to file a disclosure form with the SEC. He didn’t.

Holy crap the @pemalevy.bsky.social interview is not to be missed. An eye-opening look at the Nazi-esque dual-state that SCOTUS is enabling

Neo-Confederacy making moves. bsky.app/profile/kris...

FULL STORY HERE: Emails began flooding CDC inboxes late Friday night announcing dozens of layoffs. HR people brought back from furlough to oversee the RIFs. Disease detectives, entire Washington office, global health, injury prevention, MMWR staff among those hit. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

You break it, you own it. Kudos to @akalhan.bsky.social.

Thanks to @onthemedia.bsky.social for a great conversation about how the Supreme Court is facilitating a “dual state” form of authoritarianism!

📻On this week’s show: @gregsargent.bsky.social on Stephen Miller’s plan to “sleepwalk” America into authoritarianism; @pemalevy.bsky.social on the highest court citing the "dual state;" & @jakelahut.writes.news on the rise of the Ellisons' tech-media dynasty. https://lnk.to/onthemedia/bluesky

Lawyers have been publicizing a new term to describe ICE's racially targeted detainments: a “Kavanaugh stop.” Mother Jones reporter Pema Levy explains in this new video:

Remember, the Supreme Court okay’d this without explanation on the shadow docket

A year and a half ago, @hencarnell.bsky.social and I investigated the movement to resurrect conversion therapy Now, oral arguments are about to begin in a Supreme Court case, Chiles v. Salazar, that could overturn bans in 23 states. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy is ineffective and dangerous, leading to suicidality and depression. Today, the Supreme Court will consider bringing this torturous practice back from the dustbin of history where it belonged. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“The reality is that the court is adjusting the law to make place for arbitrary power.” To understand the Supreme Court's role in Trump's authoritarian project, I turned to the idea of a dual state: an authoritarian regime that keeps up a facade of normalcy www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

We are experiencing a "dual state" phenomenon, writes @pemalevy.bsky.social, when "a dictator can exercise unfettered power " ensuring a "'zone of lawlessness' can swallow some, while the rest go about their lives under the protection of the law." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

essential read: @pemalevy.bsky.social does an excellent job of bringing it full circle & making it relatable & plain - that if read - no excuse for anyone to pretend, or think it’s temporary or it will revert back, or ‘it doesn’t affect me’. Your ‘normalcy’ is an illusion on the verge of collapse.

A WILD ONE: A man broke his leg during an arrest by ICE at a car wash south of L.A. ICE has held him under 24/7 guard at a hospital, registering him under a pseudonym, for *37 days* without telling him why. A judge has ordered his immediate release. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

“This is now a MAGA court, and Roberts is at the helm.” I spoke with @thelisagraves.bsky.social about John Roberts' road to Supreme Court, his legacy after 20 years as chief justice, and how he's empowered Trump. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Is this a Kavanaugh stop? "Rodrick Johnson, 67...detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties. Johnson said he was left tied up outside the building for nearly three hours"

We are journalists, scientists, foreign aid workers, space experts, and more. Together, our voices are stronger. Check out this report by @pemalevy.bsky.social on @motherjones.com

Amidst fear and capitulation from big law, big media, and universities, here is the story of ordinary moms and federal employees who are defending their agencies, good government, and American democracy. Meet the people behind Instagram's alt agency accounts: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Remember, Trump can order prosecutions of political opponents—even unlawful ones—thanks to the Supreme Court. “He could use the DOJ to obstruct justice. He could use the DOJ as leverage for extortion.” He could order the fabrication of evidence.

Truly appreciative of the time and care that @motherjones.com and @pemalevy.bsky.social put into this. It’s important.

Exhibit A abcnews.go.com/US/trump-off...

In Alabama, a trans civil rights lawyer is facing criminal charges; three civil rights lawyers are fighting sanctions. I spoke to @chrisgeidner.bsky.social about how federal judges came after a team of civil rights lawyers who challenged a transgender care ban www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

My latest installment in a series I should start calling "Thanks John Roberts" www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

After Trump v. US, any attempted oversight or course correction of Trump's politically motivated investigations now runs up against his new exclusive powers. That's because, as @pemalevy.bsky.social writes, the Supreme Court has made clear that no other branch of government may intervene.

How will the court square letting ICE snatch people because of how they look or talk while banning the consideration of race in college admissions and—almost certainly in the coming months—when divvying up political representation? www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

SCOTUS allowing ICE to racially profile will embolden Trump to use ICE & military against his political opponents, potentially demanding citizenship checks at polls & intimidating Dem voters in 2026. Already seeing such tactics with occupation of LA, DC & Chicago www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Republicans aren't just using gerrymandering to go after Democratic seats—they're going after Democratic seats held by Black lawmakers. And thanks to the Supreme Court, it's about to get a lot worse. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza. Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF. #NotATarget Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

Don't miss @ariberman.bsky.social on the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act—and the right's plan to repeal it www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The justices are now preparing to take us back to a time when elected officials at all levels of government were white, and the rights of minorities were trampled. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

NEW: A whistleblower reveals what's really happening at US-funded Gaza aid sites. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyNu...

An American-funded food distribution network provided Israel with cover as starvation spread, @pemalevy.bsky.social reports. “This is Trump’s famine."