The president can’t do much to stop states from enacting and enforcing AI safety laws — and courts and state governments should know this. bit.ly/3Y0drDI

Tech investors signal that they plan to spend big in the 2026 midterms in both congressional and state legislative races. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

This is really well done and worth a read: www.authoritarian-stack.info

Trump's executive order to block states from protecting their citizens from AI will almost certainly fail in court. Why issue it? It may still have a chilling effect if states cave. And that would make some of the largest political spenders very happy. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com. We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans. washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

This is an especially worrying statement when facial recognition can be inaccurate, biased, and generally make mistakes. Basing whether someone should be in the US or not, and ignoring physical media like a birth certificate, is ripe for disaster bsky.app/profile/jose...

JOB: @macfound.org Director, AI Opportunity macfound.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/MAC_FO...

Important thread below 🧵👇

Our new series on money in politics will examine key fundraising trends, delve into underreported stories, and cover round up news in campaign finance and political corruption. Check out the first installment: bit.ly/42wEcSM

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

"The Court’s interventions in campaign finance law ... have had unintended consequences that run directly counter to the justices’ own assurances ... [Congress is] best placed to anticipate and weigh such risks... They, and not the Court, should decide the future of coordinated spending limits."

UCLA’s funds reinstated after yesterday’s court order! Thanks to the brave researchers and their amazing counsel, including Dean Chemerinsky, who brought suit. This is just another turn in the ongoing fight, but a great result for now.

My tribute to my friend @rethinkintel.bsky.social

Personal update: this fall I am on a short sabbatical from @brennancenter.org and have joined the UC Berkeley community as a lecturer @ Berkeley Law (AI, Democracy and Elections) and Democracy Policy Fellow @ Berkeley’s GSPP. If you are in the Bay Area please reach out!

Brennan Center experts Sean Morales-Doyle and Lawrence Norden forecast how the Trump administration will undermine confidence in our elections in the months leading up to the 2026 midterms: bit.ly/4fRIqtA

This is a remarkable article. Federal judges are increasingly speaking out against SCOTUS’s approach to the shadow docket. This isn't typical & underscores the impossible position for lower courts when SCOTUS makes new law on its emergency docket – especially when it doesn’t explain its rulings. /1

Dangerous steps to watch for, and what to do about it... www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Some important “What to expect when we’re electing” messaging from the Brennan Center. Election fraud lies are integrated into the administration’s strategies of election interference going into 2026. What we need to be aware of… and what we can do:

If we know what’s coming and prepare, we can keep our elections secure. cyberscoop.com/trump-admini...

The @brennancenter.org has documented the concerted White House efforts to undermine elections. Today, @seanmorales-doyle.bsky.social and I dig into the president’s March executive order to detail how it lays the groundwork for the next set of steps in this effort. /1

Flooding blue cities with soldiers on the pretext of fighting crime would be an unprecedented abuse of power that would violate states’ rights and threaten our most fundamental liberties. The plan is profoundly un-American. And it is illegal. 12/12

Brennan Center senior adviser @bartongellman.bsky.social: “From the earliest days of his second term, the president and his lieutenants have pursued an unprecedented assault on the machinery of free and fair elections.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Mail voting is a secure way to cast a ballot that dates back to the Civil War. Election officials in every state use tested and multi-layered checks to ensure that mail voting is safe. bit.ly/4fLDlDa

For those keeping track, another cut to federal support for election security, with the apparent elimination of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked foreign influence operations and threats to elections. apnews.com/article/gabb...

At Trump’s request, multiple red state governors are sending hundreds of armed National Guard forces into DC. This military occupation of the district is unprecedented and unjustified. If it’s allowed to stand, this country will be well on its way to becoming a police state. 1/22

Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3

Public corruption harms everyday people and undermines democracy. Congress can do something about it — but the public needs to demand action. bit.ly/4mbQKqv

Echoing Renee here, me and my team were FOIA'ed by the MO AG office, sued by America First Legal, and then hauled in front of Jim Jordan's committee in DC, where, at the table interviewing me (for SIX HOURS) sat a lawyer who shifted from America First to Jordan's staff. This is MACHINE.

This is not the slightest bit surprising and it began prior to Trump coming back to power. As the idiot AG of Missouri was pursuing Missouri v Biden, Stephen Miller’s America First Legal sued me and my colleagues with the same forum-shopped judge and plaintiffs. Wake up: it’s a machine.

No president-affiliated super PAC has ever raised so much and seen so many $1M+ donations in the first 6 months of a term, even without the constitutional term limit. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

New York State’s public campaign finance program is the strongest legislative response yet to Citizens United — and a large majority of New Yorker support the program. bit.ly/3Utuk7S

New York State’s new program for public financing of elections has changed the way candidates raise money and New York voters like it. www.cityandstateny.com/politics/202...

THREAD: This morning, President Trump and members of his cabinet announced a set of sweeping, unprecedented, and unwarranted actions to impose federal control over local policing in Washington, D.C.

Great explainer.

Any FBI agent asked to spend any time at all on the Texas quorum break had better be able to articulate the specific statute enumerating the specific federal crime they’re investigating. And any reporter giving any credibility to alleged FBI efforts had better be asking the same.

Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6

The richest of the rich are driving record-breaking contributions to the main super PAC backing President Trump. Here’s a look at some of the biggest donors — and what they stand to gain: bit.ly/4olWjE6

An important new analysis: we’re now seeing a strategy unfold to undermine the 2026 election. It’s unprecedented and often illegal. And it will be a big and growing story for the next year and a half. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Thread—important to understand how unprecedented this is.

The ultimate solution to the redistricting arms race is to pass federal laws banning partisan gerrymandering and strengthening the Voting Rights Act. 2/

You May Not Be Trump’s Target This Time. But You Could Be Next. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/o...

More from my colleague Derek Tisler on what states can do to fill the election security gaps created by federal cuts. This is a *now* problem to be solved. Waiting until a few months before the midterms will be far too late. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Today, SCOTUS put a hold on the 8th Circuit's terrible decision in the Turtle Mountain case, which held that private plaintiffs can't sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This is good news. It revives the VRA at least temporarily while SCOTUS considers whether to take the case.

Interesting new study from researchers at the UW Center for an Informed Public finds that AI-generated persuasive messaging (AI-Pasta) is more effective in key ways (e.g. creating a false sense of consensus) and harder to detect than traditional CopyPasta.

1/ Yesterday, the Trump administration announced its AI Action Plan - a pillar of which is an executive order that vows to end federal procurement of “woke AI.” The order would not only chill speech but also make the technology more unreliable and untrustworthy. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

American elections face varied and unpredictable risks, highlighting the need for resilient election infrastructure. In our latest report with @rstreet.bsky.social, we outline specific measures state leaders can take to keep our elections safe. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol...

The WH released its AI Action Plan and executive orders yesterday. Lots to digest and many concerns. Some thoughts below specifically on how the policies announced yesterday amplify threats that AI poses to elections and the health of our democracy. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Ensuring election security shouldn't be a partisan issue. @brennancenter.org partnered with @rstreet.bsky.social to detail ways that states can and must adapt to the changed election security landscape. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol...

A majority of election officials we polled said they’re concerned about political leaders engaging in efforts to interfere with how they or fellow election officials around the country do their jobs. bit.ly/3IlRJVZ