My friends, we are in a serious constitutional crisis. The government is racially profiling, suppessing free speech, killing our own people in the streets— and lying about every fact along the way. If we don’t use our natural talents and voices to say “no,” then what’s the point of law at all?

Though MLK's Birthday was celebrated Monday, I think of him often. Because of my research, this quote is prescient now: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane." It was the inspiration for an op-ed I published in Salon: www.salon.com/2026/01/19/m....

We are at an inflection point: if we ever get through to the other side of this, we will need to completely rebuild public trust in all kinds of data collection, which is going to hugely slow science — and, as usual, affect vulnerable populations most. 1/

I met an absolutely lovely academic who asked whether my department back home is affected by ICE -- a question dramatizing how little info is getting out. For the record, the small example I chose: My dept has a carpool to pick up grad students of color who can't safely commute to campus alone.

I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.

A five-year-old boy seized on his way home in Minnesota and now locked up in Texas. His family didn't know where he was for 24 hours.

Last year a whistleblower said DOGE had illegally accessed a Social Security database. SSA now acknowledges it's true—& that DOGE employees had secret agreement w/ unidentified political advocacy group to use SocSec data to help overturn election results. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

It has been deeply surreal to be trying to fight this occupation while also doing my usual job, parenting, etc. Just describing the basic facts sounds unreal. Really appreciate this clarity about what's happening in Mpls and how much worse it might get from the NYT today.

There is nothing complicated or subtle or hard to understand about what is going on. Trump may not succeed. But he will only fail if patriots stand up and defend our democracy and the Constitution. We must act, as @mashagessen.bsky.social writes, while we still can. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...

A book never feels real until you hold it in you hands. @profsorelle.bsky.social & I can now confirm that Uncivil Democracy is real! If you care about #peoplepower #housingjustice, #tenantorganizing & transforming our perverse political economy, this is a book for you. Order here: bit.ly/3NLYCCw

We all know the federal government is dysfunctional and chaotic. The critical democratic work is happening closer to home. @kcolempls.bsky.social (Metro State in MN) and I make the case in @thefulcrum-us.bsky.social — explaining why teaching students to build power locally matters more than ever.

Look what just arrived! Excited to share that @povertyscholar.bsky.social and my new book hits shelves this month! If you're interested in #justice, #housing, and building collective #PoliticalPower, this book has something for you! You can order here bit.ly/3NLYCCw or at your favorite bookstore.

I can’t emphasize enough how shocked my out of state friends and family are when I tell them what has happened in Minneapolis since Renee Good’s murder. Without reliable media, most not-chronically-online people are completely in the dark. If you want to help Minnesota, tell people what you know.

Luke Shaefer named Chief Executive of Health, Human Services, and Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit as part of Mayor Mary Sheffield's incoming administration. 🎉 Read more: https://myumi.ch/e32Py

I tried to turn my rage yesterday into something that brings us some light. For @newrepublic.com, I wrote about how 2020 prepared Minneapolis for the current crisis of Trump's DHS. newrepublic.com/article/2050...

And here is the Q&A I did for @minneapolisfed.bsky.social... if anyone would like to hear about taxi cab medallion numbers, owls, and the descriptive statistic 29%: www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2025...

Ended 2025 with a Q&A interview saying I'd like to meet Janet Yellen Started 2026 by meeting Janet Yellen

Thanks for the opportunity to share our work, @donmoyn.bsky.social! With @lizananat.bsky.social: Service work is highly volatile! OBBBA's work requirements will make it hard for hourly service workers and their families to get supports they need, even when they're working consistently.

New with @agpines.bsky.social: on Can We Still Govern, we show how OBBBA's new work requirements will deny benefits to families due to volatile hours and employment in the service industry--which is caused by bosses, not workers

As of today, I am a FULL professor. I do not care much for occupational status markers. Still, it is not lost on me that only 2% of full professors are Black women. This goes beyond personal accomplishment. It is a responsibility to do as much as I can for others. That is exactly what I aim to do.

If you are a young student in the US and you are worried that you, a classmate, or a loved one could be deported by ICE agents, as you have seen on social media, TV, or in your neighborhood, this short text is for you. https://theimmigrationlab.org/blog/f/understanding-deportation-for-children

#1: The most read piece of last year asked a hard question — can we consider America to be a functioning democracy — and offers a hard answer: no. Trump has moved through the authoritarian checklist with remarkable speed, but has least control over elections. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...

As a grim year comes to an end, sharing the best of Can We Still Govern? These are the five nost read stories from the last year, ungated. Take a gander and read one! 🧵https://open.substack.com/pub/donmoynihan/p/best-of-can-we-still-govern-2025?r=slfke&utm_medium=ios

If you are a Barnes & Noble Premium or Rewards member, you can pre-order my forthcoming book (or any other book) b/t now and Thursday and receive 25% off, with the code "PREORDER25". #BNPreorder www.barnesandnoble.com/w/owning-the...

New piece on how veterans can find themselves in debt to the VA, including the involvement of predatory third parties. Something I wrote about in my essay for the South Atlantic Quarterly a few months ago. www.military.com/feature/2025...

We're thrilled to highlight Scholar Affiliate Dr. Ernesto Castañeda in the latest entry of our interview series: "¡Hablemos! With Dr. Ernesto Castañeda." Learn more in the full interview here: iwbcollab.org/hablemos-wit...

As 2025 comes to a close, we want to say a big thank you to all of our scholar affiliates, community partners, and readers for continuing to produce, share, and translate important empirical research on im/migrant well-being! theiwbcollaborative.substack.com/p/the-immigr...

In 2019 the National Academies laid out a roadmap for cutting child poverty in half relying on CTC expansions. Those ideas became part of the pandemic response. And it worked! So I asked members of the 2025 committee, some of the best poverty researchers in the US, to explain what we learned.

New, at Can We Still Govern? Poverty is not some insurmountable problem, we can fix it. A group of National Academies of Science researchers review the temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit during the pandemic, showing it cut child poverty in half. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-have-...

Inside the federal government as Trump and DOGE pushed it past its breaking point in 2025, as told by some of the more than 1,200 federal workers @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and @merylkornfield.bsky.social have spoken to this year

Last week, I had the privilege to provide some thoughts about economic workfoce development issues and Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s incoming administration on Errol Louis’ Inside City Hall show on NY1 ny1.com/nyc/all-boro...

Update! My book, Holding onto Home: Immigrant Women and the Promise of Sanctuary, was approved (with no further revisions, hallelujah!) by @ucpress.bsky.social. It'll be out in late 2026. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who got me to this moment.

Integrated is long listed with some great books for the 2026 Pen Galbraith Award!

Sharing this great post @3streamsblog.bsky.social from @kevintmorris.bsky.social and Miller from their new @thejop.bsky.social article medium.com/3streams/how...

This morning at @thejop.bsky.social blog, Mike and I discuss our new paper on the effects of getting the Voting Rights Act on the turnout gap — and what it might mean for the case before the Court right now. A preview in some ways of our book, out next fall! ubwp.buffalo.edu/jopblog/2025...

those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media my latest for @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2042...

I really enjoyed this lively conversation with @perrybaconjr.bsky.social yesterday about our new @rooseveltinstitute.org report. We covered the major media crises facing our democracy and even touched on some possible solutions. Here's a link to the full transcript: newrepublic.com/article/2044...

I spent two summers here doing research on inequalities in government responses to disasters, focused on what had taken place in Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria. NCAR has led on so many scientific advances. This admin’s harm to the scientific workforce in the US is beyond measure.

After tragedies like those this weekend, particularly when the horror of gun violence hits so close to home: First, we grieve. Then, turn to facts. Then, with understanding rather than anger or fear, we must act - with community and heart at the center. 💜 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Our latest data release! 📊 National Equity Atlas' #environmentaljustice indicators reveal where #climate risks are highest View local data, context, key trends, & strategies forward re: Lead Exposure, Toxic Flood Risk, Urban Tree Canopy, & Urban Heating www.nationalequityatlas.org/introducing-...

Have you seen the cool dataviz tool that goes with it? www.taxbasefragmentation.net

At JHPPL, we began doing interviews with the authors of newly published articles, diving into the authors' analyses and contextualizing them in ongoing health-related debates. Our first was with Neil Lewis and our newest is with @pamherd.bsky.social, on health agencies under Trump. Give it a listen!

Great coverage of my new report highlighting ICE's disproportionate targeting on Latinos in New York and around the country.

NEW! Our incredible legal team at @immcouncil.org just secured a victory in federal court, reinforcing a ruling blocking blocking ICE from taking unaccompanied children into ICE detention on their 18th birthday, and re-detaining previously-released teenagers. Proud to work with such awesome lawyers!

Our new research shows a larger Child Tax Credit won’t reduce inequality on its own—design decisions determine who benefits. And when future opportunities to design a bigger credit do arise, understanding how those choices shape equity will be essential. povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/...

Hey hey hey y'all! Interested in the politics of #policing? The new issue of @poppublicsphere.bsky.social has MANY great articles! Lead by rockstar @averrilli.bsky.social ⭐ & w/ @mfroman.bsky.social (& me): "Policing Socio-Geographic Boundaries and Inequality" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

With federal safety net programs more unstable & inadequate than ever, is it time to establish an income floor for everyone? In this piece, Kaitlyn Sims, Stefan Chavez-Norgaard, & I some potential costs & benefits of creating a cash dividend program in Colorado. theconversation.com/a-colorado-g...