BREAKING: Big moment as CDC staff stage a mass walkout. They have lined the street outside its HQ to greet and salute the four top officials who have resigned in protest at RFK Jr’s attack on the agency’s science base. (🎥 AP)

ANCHORAGE…

Science for democracy. Much needed. Powerful @science.org editorial by @gretchentg.bsky.social & @chenoweth.bsky.social “The ability to tell the truth, especially when it does not suit any particularly partisan aims, is an essential prerequisite for a free society” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Privileged to write this editorial with @gretchentg.bsky.social of @ucs.org in @science.org: "Scientists’ role in defending democracy." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Here is the chart showing the growth of reported protest over time, 2025 vs. 2017, referenced in the piece below.

Washington, D.C. residents’ rapid response to Trump's National Guard deployment is a masterclass in how to prepare for crises and fight authoritarianism.

Here is the chart showing the growth of reported protest over time, 2025 vs. 2017, referenced in the piece below.

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has finalized our participation estimates for No Kings Day on 6/14. Here are five key takeaways🧵:

The audio version of Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know is on sale through Sept 5 (written & read by yours truly): www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

Powerful statement from @civilrightsorg.bsky.social. "This overreach is another beta test for nationwide authoritarian control. All Americans should recognize that this must be challenged, or they risk their own rights and local control."

“Do not obey in advance.” “Prioritize joy.” “Take up space.” “Be in solidarity.” “Organize.” Fantastic piece on what FreeDC is teaching us with its immediate and potent resistance to the Trump attempt to take over that city.

6 days after Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, a Prague paper published these “10 Commandments”: ‘When a Soviet soldier comes to you, YOU: 1. Don’t know 2. Don’t care 3. Don’t tell 4. Don’t have 5. Don’t know how to 6. Don’t give 7. Can’t do 8. Don’t sell 9. Don’t show 10. Do nothing’

RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775. I'd also call your senators/reps as well.

"There may be no single mass act of non-cooperation that everyone can participate in, that is more than momentary, and that paralyzes The Situation. It may be that diversity of non-cooperation is itself an essential part of the mood," writes @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org in The Situation.

These fine lawyers coming out of retirement to suit up for this fight is inspiring. www.cnn.com/2025/08/04/p...

"UC Berkeley’s Labor Center launches a new data tool, an inventory of union contracts, to empower labor in negotiating AI and emerging technologies. It provides crucial insights for unions to secure worker protections and shape the future of work." lngfrm.net/uc-berkeley-...

NEW: The Senate just reintroduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore and expand federal protections for our right to vote. As states continue to pass legislation that makes voting harder, it's time for our leaders to protect this essential right.

Important and timely analysis

Powerful letter from @civilrightsorg.bsky.social condemning govt attacks on NEA: "When the govt uses its power to punish orgs for their advocacy, it attacks freedom of speech & freedom of assoc'n, threatening any person or group who wishes to educate the public & make demands of elected leaders."

Watch this interview with Youman Wilder, a baseball coach who stood up to ICE when they showed up at practice and questioned the kids under his mentorship. www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...

CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons. Watch and share his message.

Colbert. Legend.

Looking forward to joining @indivisible.org's @leahgreenberg.bsky.social & @ezralevin.bsky.social in conversation today.

Ever-so-slightly corrected version:

Massive solidarity of 600+ American nonprofit organizations defending the constitutional rights of all of us to work, speak, advocate and serve in the public interest in the face of attacks from the GOP Congress and Administration. cfce73f5-6016-42c8-9343-fa96f8863f56.usrfiles.com/ugd/cfce73_a...

HELLO. If you cannot get into the #onemillionrising training, it is because 130k people registered and we've maxed out, but YOU CAN STILL WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoeY...

DOJ directing government that application forms and processes must only be in English, on the grounds that it reduces administrative burdens. I wrote the book Administrative Burdens w @pamherd.bsky.social and this policy does the opposite www.justice.gov/ag/media/140...

Some reporting out from my time at an ICE detention center this weekend, and lots of action items as this secret police force balloons in size. open.substack.com/pub/ezralevi...

You need to know what's going on at "Alligator Alcatraz." It's grossly immoral - no human being should be treated like that. It's political theater - many of the detainees have no criminal record. It's a taxpayer funded boondoggle - enriching DeSantis's political cronies.

A State Department employee shared with PBS News an image from inside the department. The image includes a piece of paper taped to a mirror with the words, "Colleagues, if you remain: RESIST FASCISM. Remember the oath you vowed to uphold."

The "unitary executive theory" is a fancy name for a strategy used by authoritarians worldwide, rebranded for the US. It’s a legal blueprint for a power grab, and my new article explains how it turns the law itself into a tool for undermining democracy:

Highly recommend @pbs.org's new documentary, Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny. www.pbs.org/wnet/america...

Professor @dem8z.bsky.social speaking on the steps of the Rotunda yesterday in protest of the authoritarian takeover of higher education.

Since May: Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time. Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time. A judiciary at war with itself.

I’m currently building a dataset on police forces around the globe. No other country has a force quite like ICE (w/ broad enforcement powers, tactical gear, immigration focus); the most apt comparisons are to secret police in authoritarian regimes rather than border/immigration forces elsewhere.

@adamprz.bsky.social on ICE's authorities & operating procedures: "The comparativist in me wants to think about other police forces in history which had such broad and ill-defined powers. But such comparisons are too frightening."

Michael Pham fled Vietnam at the age of 13. He was named bishop of San Diego a month ago. Today, he stood watch at a courthouse: ICE agents were “standing there covered with masks as we walked toward the courtroom. Eventually the agents scattered and went away” timesofsandiego.com/life/2025/06...

Lots of folks asking about the #s at the nationwide June 14 No Kings actions. My team won't have our own estimate for a few weeks; we validate every record to the fullest extent possible. Our current data are updated through the end of May; see the piece below for our report on trends prior to 6/14.

Yesterday, @robbwiller.bsky.social and I published an opinion essay making the case for the power of nonviolent protest. I’m proud of our work but also think we could have done more to “steel man” case *against* nonviolence. Here’s essay. Some counterarguments in 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o...

Lots of folks asking about the #s at the nationwide June 14 No Kings actions. My team won't have our own estimate for a few weeks; we validate every record to the fullest extent possible. Our current data are updated through the end of May; see the piece below for our report on trends prior to 6/14.

Highly recommend this interview with @chenoweth.bsky.social. “There’s no…magic number. But there is a theory of change, which is the main function of civil resistance movements is to mobilize with sufficient mass, with sufficient momentum to effectively begin to disrupt the opponent's coalition.”

This is even more hopeful than you might think - on today’s very timely @podsaveamerica.crooked.com, I talk to @chenoweth.bsky.social about their 3.5% rule - the finding that nonviolent protest movements haven’t failed when 3.5% of the country is engaged. One of the best convos I’ve had this year

My team and I at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@[email protected], Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) have a new piece out: wagingnonviolence.org/2025/06/amer.... In it, we show that through May 2025, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests have dwarfed those in 2017. 🧵

“We served a nation—not a king, a bully, or a dictator.” — U.S. Navy Veteran Rusty Hicks Trump has federalized the Guard, threatened governors, and now wants active-duty Troops in our streets. This isn’t about safety. It’s about control.