The administration has pulled the plug on IRS Direct File, a tool that helped eligible taxpayers file for free. This decision comes despite Direct File’s immense popularity with its users.

What are the effects of the shutdown on SNAP users? Propel provides an app to SNAP users to allow them to track their spending and so can offer real-time estimates of needs. About 70% of SNAP households have a $10 or less balance on their SNAP card accounts. www.propel.app/shutdown-fun...

"normies do not care about this thing and so it is no use raising a stink" is imho just an excuse for not doing politics, which is the job of making normies care about something

Cuomo's "plan" for the city to take over the MTA is basically plagiarized from the currently-funded capital plan and involves Andrew Cuomo taking credit for a bunch of projects he had nothing to do with in the first place. Here's @samanthaliebman.bsky.social with the story: ny1.com/nyc/all-boro...

Before times ... images from the East Wing, honoring the First Ladies and women who shaped history. 2023 tour.

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT "A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

When you are geolocating at the protest based on inflatable animals

Even without jobs data, Google Search Results for "Unemployment Benefits" being at a post-Covid high is probably —and I hate to use such labor econ/technical jargon here, but it's probably— "not good." #EconSky

🦊 IN WHICH ONE AUTHOR tried to file a claim in the Anthropic copyright case, failed, got frustrated, then blogged about it while still pretty hot under the collar. (it’s me; i’m author) ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-righ...

🗣️ We're hosting an archival version of "plainlanguage.gov" to help make sure this trusted resource remains available to folks who need it.

More Than Half of ACA Marketplace Enrollees Live in Republican Congressional Districts | KFF Quick Takes www.kff.org/quick-take/m...

This is the main issue I have with so much of the coverage around e-bikes. It's not that there aren't legitimate issues. But there is a panic around e-bikes and crickets regarding the daily toll of cars. And that's because the harm of cars is just accepted. It's baked into our society.

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

Do you ever think about the fact that Wikipedia is the last good major website on the internet? You aren't bombarded with ads. It doesn't try to push video on you, and it doesn't redirect you to a scam site.

BREAKING: The number of jobs created in August has been revised from 54,000 down to -3,000.

@Erie.bsky.social accepting the EFF Award: “Speaking up is hard and it's scary. But it will only get harder and scarier from here. The best time to do it was yesterday. The second-best time is today. These are not choices we will always have.”

BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago. Here is the text of his email shared with me:

🦊 I wrote about the administration’s “national design studio,” and how its shoddy construction isn’t a mistake. It’s a clear signal of priorities, and ones we need to actively, urgently rebuke. ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-noti...

Great summary by Rachael Dietkus. America by Design, Harm by Default. www.linkedin.com/pulse/americ...

Our democracy is not a brand. Our country is not a retail store. At 18F, our inspiration was (and is) the American people.

The entire Social Security database, dumped on a random cloud server: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

This WaPo piece about the Airbnb/DOGE guy who is now the head of design in government ignores that: *DOGE fired the actual talented design people in government, including Social Security! *IRS had a beautifully designed tax filing system that DOGE killed *USDS already did online passport renewals

been at the eric adams scavenger hunt all day. mostly we were in a crawlspace under a house in howard beach learning “how to out-hustle the rats.” not sure what this does for the campaign

Trump fired all of the designers in 18F, the US Digital Service, and elsewhere in government. Now he is calling for improved government design. www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

Zohran’s citibike numbers make me feel like we need to start demanding bike share stats from our politicians in the same way we demand tax returns

Displaced federal worker to lawyer pipeline

Portland Japanese Garden. Highly recommend for others who are laid off and really stressed out.

Your Amazon Prime reminder that half of Amazon warehouse workers struggle with food & housing costs. A third have had to rely on government assistance like SNAP, which is about to get cut. If Bezos can spend $50M on a wedding, Amazon can afford to treat its workers with dignity. #amazon

lol sure lots of rich New Yorkers are suddenly gonna jump ship to an uninsurable hellscape state whose highest point is *half* the height of NYC's 89th tallest building

This week, I’m honoring the State Dept foreign and civil servants whose service was cut short. No one can take away their impact.. in every flag they stood beside, the rooms where diplomacy took shape, and the global ties they built. We will feel this loss for years. Images from my last visit.

Moving scene - tears, hugs, and cheers - inside the State Dept HQ last night, as diplomats gathered in the lobby to clap out their laid off colleagues, some of which have served for decades 👇🏻

Please no one ever redesign the 1970 logo for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

it’s really weird to be in that category of people whose careers are specifically being targeted for destruction by the government right now, I’ll tell you what watching the rest of the job market and economy continuing to largely shamble on while your entire network is screaming/running/in flames

This is insane: do they really believe that being on Medicaid means being unemployed? Only 3% of those receiving Medicaid are in the category of able-bodied and long-term unemployed.

You know what works better than thoughts and prayers? A functioning government.

One month of growth in our makeshift Brooklyn sidewalk planter. 🪴

-A living wage -Guaranteed healthcare -The right to join a union -The right to vote -The right to choose when, how, and with whom you start a family -The right for you and your family to live free from gun violence These are the foundations of real freedom.

If you’re an official who insists on using social media as a primary source for vital disaster info, then I believe it’s malpractice to not at least duplicate those messages on multiple platforms in 2025 - including those that people under 40 actually use, like TikTok.

Congestion pricing by the # ‘s 6 months in: * 67k fewer drivers entering zone daily * Delays in Holland Tunnel down 65% * Traffic deaths down 32% so far in 2025 * $500m projected this year for MTA capital improvements * B’way attendance +12% * Subway ridership +7% So yes this program is a SUCCESS.

it’s worth making this more explicit: The NYT is suggesting Zohran lied by checking off both “Asian” & “African”, because (in their view) someone of Indian descent born & raised in Africa isn’t “truly” African. Which was also how Idi Amin justified expelling Zohran’s father & thousands of others.

New York City had free college tuition at all CUNY schools for 130 years

There's a lesson here.

Come work with me, supporting in-house technology and security to help a vital non-profit investigative newsroom work more safely and effectively using technology. This is one of those roles where you can truly make a difference. job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

The GOP bill would take healthcare from 17 million people. Big numbers can be hard to understand - 17 million is the same as the *entire* population of: Wyoming Vermont Alaska North Dakota South Dakota Delaware Rhode Island Montana Maine New Hampshire Hawaii West Virginia Idaho Nebraska COMBINED

Upper Manhattan about to call private security on the rest of the city lol

i thought i couldn't love @hellgatenyc.com more, and then i tuned in to the election night livestream

Harriet Tubman #quilt by my Mom, Vera P. Hall, who makes quilts celebrating Black people who fought for their own freedom. This seems to be the crowd favorite of the “We Didn’t Wait for Freedom” series. Happy #Juneteenth #quilting

I don't think I've ever felt more like burning it all down than I have while witnessing the elite project to turn Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander into scary, incompetent monsters while turning an actual incompetent monster, Andrew Cuomo, into a merely complicated fellow who just made an oopsie.

When it comes to handling sensitive systems and data, we believe government officials should follow best practice and the law—and we said so. (Text in🧵)