The president is now demanding the investigation of a member of Congress for “Political Crimes”

A Federal judge just ruled felon disenfranchisement in Virginia is illegal except for certain common law crimes This stems from law remitting Virginia back into Union after civil war We’ll see if AG Jones appeals this or not Issue also up for referendum this year www.acluva.org/app/uploads/...

7 Dems are: —Jared Golden (ME): retiring —Henry Cuellar (TX): pardoned by Trump, targeted by new GOP map —Vicente Gonzalez (TX): targeted by new GOP map —Don Davis (NC): targeted by new GOP map —Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA): running —Laura Gillen (NY): running in Long Island —Tom Suozzi (NY): same

The elites and institutions have folded but regular people haven’t

This law group led by @rickpildes.bsky.social had me write for their 100 Ideas series on US democracy My idea: the rule of law cannot coexist with this level of wealth concentration. Once Musk, Bezos, Zuck, & a few others bend the knee, the authoritarian consolidates too much power

Wes Moore just met with Hakeem Jeffries. MOORE calls on MD Sen. Bill Ferguson to allow a redistricting vote: "I know that Pres Ferguson does not want to stand there & say no vote... I stand in a full faith & belief the president is not going to suppress democracy. He believes in democracy."

Spanberger dismissing Youngkin's education appointees was an important move. It will require actions that look partisan and political to restore nonpartisanship, competency and merit to government. (MAGA must be purged.) newrepublic.com/article/2054...

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) lays down the bottom line of Jack Smith's prior closed-door interview w/ committee About the Jan 6 attack, Smith said "he caused it... he exploited it.... it was foreseeable to him."

Virginia Democrats have proposed April 21 as the date for the congressional redistricting referendum lis.virginia.gov/bill-details... Dems have said they will unveil their proposed map by Jan. 30. They have been debating whether to go for a 9-2 majority or 10-1 edge (my example of the latter below)

Kentucky Republicans are considering impeaching a Supreme Court justice who flipped a conservative-held seat in 2024 and shifted the balance of power on the court

I think any straightforward reading of the foreign emoluments clause forbids the president from personally taking a lifetime office and title like this without Congress’s consent fwiw.

For a couple of years, I’ve been writing a biography of Justice Anita Earls. And now I’m so excited to launch the kickstarter! You can read chapter 1 and help me get the word out during this crucial election. www.kickstarter.com/projects/206... #ncpol

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

I would argue that the case for dismantling ICE has, at this point, virtually nothing to do with larger questions of immigration enforcement and reform, it's just clearly incompatible with a free and democratic society to maintain a secret police force with sweeping and arbitrary authority.

Here's the plaintiffs' illustrative map for redrawing New York's 10th and 11th congressional districts. The 11th would flip from solidly red to a Harris+3, Biden+17 district by gaining part of lower Manhattan. The 10th would remain dark blue. Interactive map: davesredistricting.org/join/cfba3f6...

Major news from New York: A state judge just overturned part of the congressional map, potentially giving Democrats a chance to redraw it for 2026. If this ruling is upheld, the Staten Island-based 11th District would flip from safely Republican to Democratic-leaning at the very least

The Kentucky House formed an impeachment committee Tuesday to consider citizen petitions to remove three public officials, including Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine, a recent target of GOP criticism over a JCPS ruling. #kyga26

The law the board disregarded was one of several passed in 2018 to handicap Justice Anita Earls’ first campaign. I guess the board decided that it doesn’t apply to Republicans. #ncpol 🧵

Something for Democrats in Maryland and Illinois to consider ... Republicans failing to re-gerrymander Indiana wasn’t the end of the GOP’s efforts to further rig the maps this cycle. Far from it

Alabama Republicans are proceeding to lay the groundwork for gerrymandering their congressional map once the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act

The biggest driver of the crisis of social democratic parties in Europe is declining support from progressive and young voters to parties such as the Greens. The UK used to be the big exception. In less than two years, the Starmer government has eroded this support with big structural consequences.

A South Korean court has ruled that the 2024 imposition of martial law by then-President Yoon Suk Yeol constituted an act of rebellion as it sentenced his prime minister to 23 years in prison for his involvement.

The Republican attempt to repeal Utah’s anti-gerrymandering law appears likely to fail to qualify for the ballot at this rate

The Virginia legislature this week rejected GOP bills to limit early voting, while approving a Democratic bill to re-join ERIC — the large multistate consortium meant to keep voter rolls secure that conservatives have had conspiracy theories about in recent years. virginiamercury.com/2026/01/21/v...

This is pretty clever lol. (Although some of these aren't actually gerrymandered, like California's old 43d District as the "T")

NEW: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's advisory redistricting commission has recommended a proposed congressional map that would likely turn MD's 7-1 Democratic majority into an 8-0 edge & flip GOP-held District 1 www.wbal.com/maryland-red... Interactive map with data davesredistricting.org/join/06423fc...

Paul's back and he nails it here

This also has the Dem held Supreme Court seat at: 42% GOP 41% Dem This is not a race we can afford to lose so if you’re thinking about races to help instead of helping Roy Cooper help Anita Earls secure.actblue.com/donate/dw_ncsc

NEWS: No one filed to challenge two conservative/Republican justices on the Nevada supreme court who are up for reelection this year. The deadline was a few days ago. They will run for new terms unopposed.

I wrote about how concentration camp regimes evolve and why it's not too late to stop this, even though we are deep in it now.

These are the last three justices we would want to write the Voting Rights Act decision 😬

Governor Spanberger made her first address to the General Assembly today She gave her most clear statement of support for Dems redistricting efforts The fact that voters have to approve it gives her some political cover But the exact map still have to be released

I'm sympathetic to the notion we should have compassionate release policies regarding senior citizens in prison. But Tina Peters is an exceptionally bad way to make that point. She's not special. Or rather, she's special in a way that cuts heavily the other direction:

WHOA This is so important because one of the key challenges to restoring a democracy after considerable autocratization is that of "burrowed loyalists" who've captured institutional checks & abuse them to sabotage a return to democracy. Yet targeting them looks like further democratic erosion!

The labor share of GDP is lower today than it has been at any time since records began being kept in 1947. The share of the nation’s income going to workers has fallen 16 points in that 78-year stretch. The share going to capital has risen by the same amount. prospect.org/2026/01/19/a...

I’ve been studying civil rights protests for 20 years. With new mobilization against Trump’s agenda, I’m sharing a thread summarizing my research on how nonviolent & violent actions by 1960s activists and police influenced media, elites, public opinion & voters. 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals

Americans' economic and political pains mainly stem from unprecedented concentration of our wealth, a few dozen mega-billionaires control 12%. They buy a lot of politicians, media outlets, & influencers to distract from their power by blaming our pain on immigrants, DEI, women's careers...

"Minnesota is under siege. It might not yet be a civil war, but what the White House has dubbed “Operation Metro Surge” is definitely not just — or even primarily — an immigration enforcement operation. It is an occupation designed to punish and terrorize anyone who dares defy this incursion..."

"Expanding candidate standing while continuing to restrict legislative standing appears to be yet another data point for the current Court’s inclination to limit legislative power especially when it’s being invoked in an attempt to rein in the executive branch." New "One First" on #SCOTUS in Bost:

Portugal held its presidential election today. The center-left grabbed the first spot, and moved on to runoff and will be favored. Far-right candidate surged to grab other runoff spot, for the first time. (Outgoing is a mainstream conservative.) www.politico.eu/article/far-...

Logan Lucky was joking about these sequels being delayed 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰

The song is the same everywhere

Gallego ("moderate" Dem) is going with "ICE needs to be totally torn down" (not "reform and retrain"). This is a pivot point for the country on immigration. You have been seeing this in the data for a while, and now officials are snapping to the public opinion www.gelliottmorris.com/p/ice-is-a-7...

This was epitomized by Trump supporters getting angry at NPR when it tweeted the full text of the Declaration of Independence one July 4th

The president -Is occupying a major city with armed paramilitiaries -Is blackmailing treaty allies to hand over their sovereign territory -Is trying to set himself up as chairman for life of a UN rival with $1B fees for permanent membership -Is talking about canceling elections

The constitution’s biggest failing (aside from protecting slavery) was the presidential system and its failure to anticipate that multiple parties are the basis for a stable democracy. Trump almost certainly never would have taken over the executive in a proportionally elected parliamentary system

I’m looking forward to the day when Democrats retake North Carolina’s Supreme Court, strike down the GOP’s gerrymanders, and Dems win back the legislature. Then they can similarly oust all the rich guy Republicans who are undermining public education and academic freedom via the UNC system boards

Utah Republicans have proposed several bills designed to tighten their grip on the judiciary after it ruled against their gerrymanders—including packing the state Supreme Court