By an odd coincidence, I have been rereading this work of art by @joshchafetz.bsky.social tonight. Highly recommend if you have never read it.

RIF Update: The proposed appropriations legislation would invalidate RIFs conducted between 10/1/25 and 1/30/26. (Section 120). It does not include any provisions invalidating RIFs pre-10/1/25 or preventing future RIFs conducted after 1/30/26. www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Back in the 1950s, law schools apparently received inquiries (from potential applicants, I assume?) that sometimes included a lot of questions. Here, Dean Prosser of UC Berkeley imagines a reply. jle.aals.org/home/vol10/i...

In @nytimes.com Letters to the Editot:

For #adlaw folks: Due to logistical issues from the federal gov't shutdown, ABA Admin Law has replaced its usual fall conference with a shorter but free online event on 11/21. Registration is required, but it's 6.5 hrs of free, quality CLE on admin law topics. events.americanbar.org/event/a13a77...

Tulsi Gabbard is trying to take control over counterintelligence from the FBI. It's not going great. A scoop with @shaneharris.bsky.social

This is an important case. IMO it's clear that this question violates the civil service law (and raises a constitutional issue under Rutan). “Identify one or two relevant executive orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.” 1/2

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

Here's my piece for @lawfaremedia.org on my experience covering the Sandwich Guy trial. Warning: longer than 280 characters! www.lawfaremedia.org/article/sand...

After the NYTimes published the op-ed "Did Women Ruin the Workplace?", I remembered that a NYTimes Guild report in 2021 found "Overall, median pay for women was $10,000 less per year than for men, meaning women earned roughly 92 percent of what men earned." nytimesguild.org/papers/2021-...

As we lament cancelled and delayed flights, a reminder of what air traffic controllers have been going through. It's insane that we pay them so little to begin with that they live paycheck to paycheck, and now there's the shutdown. It's not right, and it makes me very worried for air safety too.

@khickmanjd.bsky.social, associate dean for research & intellectual life, was quoted by E&E News by @politico.com regarding the oral arguments today at the U.S. Supreme Court over whether a legal doctrine should be used against Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policies. z.umn.edu/aumv

FWIW, I can't recall a case in which I was as uncertain of the outcome heading into oral argument as I am of the tariffs/IEEPA case (in which the possible outcomes include the Court upholding the fentanyl tariffs but not the others b/c of Section 122). Let's see if that changes during argument ...

Cool new study from @pamherd.bsky.social, @giannella.bsky.social, @jbarofsky.bsky.social, @lukef.bsky.social, & @donmoyn.bsky.social finds technical assistance & capacity improvements from USDS significantly improved Medicaid renewal outcomes during unwinding www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/...

In which I respond to William Barr's arguments for preempting climate suits. reason.com/volokh/2025/...

See, e.g., Delli Carpini and Keeter (1997); Lupia (2015).

ANES Data Release! electionstudies.org/data-center/... The 3-wave ANES panel is now available. It merges data from 3 election studies (2016-2020-2024), the first time the ANES has collected interviews of the same respondents across 3 presidential elections.

BREAKING: Furloughed employees at CDC just received an email about the shutdown, but has REMOVED language about backpay that appeared in a similar email sent out a month ago. On the left is the Oct 1st email with the backpay language, on the right is the email they received today.

Judge Talwani has declined to issue a temporary restraining order preventing RIFs at the Community Relations Service---an agency in the DOJ that helps communities struggling with racial discrimination. 1/7 fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc...

Just saw that this piece by Lawrence, Pasachoff, and Price is out. Really good reflection on the President and appropriations. www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-l...

My tomatoes are pretty steamed at my PhD program, which allowed me to get a degree in political theory without reading Sartori's essay, "Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics." It's the original source of the notion of conceptual stretching, which has unbelievable utility for doing theory

I am excited to host @marinklevy.bsky.social today at the @umnlawschool.bsky.social Public Law Workshop. She will be speaking about her paper with @zclopton.bsky.social, “Local Rulemaking.” I am looking forward to the conversation!

This is part of a persistent pattern of the Administration changing standards to make it easier to remove federal employees. The fact that this change accompanies VSIPs and deferred resignation tells you all you need to know about the real objectives. federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/20...

Unlike most of the shutdown's economic impacts, the lost productivity from feds not working cannot be reversed. buff.ly/sjJFOS4

I took my dad to NYC for the first time. (He has never been.) The only things he knows about NYC comes from police procedurals. Learning about a lot of fictional murders in relation to tourist sites.

One of the q's on the new citizenship test is incorrect. 1920 is not when "all women" got the right to vote. The 19th A prohibited sex-based disenfranchisement, but didn't guarantee voting. Many women, esp. women of color, remained disenfranchised. #WeTheMen www.washingtonpost.com/nation/inter...

Personally, I think it's great that billionaires are showing a desire to pay more in taxes to ensure the government has the capacity it needs to function.

New, from me: until recently there was strong bipartisan consensus that a nonpartisan civil service was good and that politicization was bad. Now views are more divided, with Republicans aligning with the pro-politicization actions of Trump. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trump-has-...

Just learned that Nicholas Parrillo’s *fantastic* article on variations in when regulated parties sue their regulators is now out in the GWU Law review. I simply cannot say enough good things about this piece. It is, like so much of Nick’s work, quietly revelatory. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

This was such a pleasure to do — and the write up with links that @bernybelvedere.bsky.social and @andycraig.bsky.social have provided is such a treat!

I am listening to CA3 argument now on the Vacancies Act. I am screaming & we are only on minute 4. This is separate from the merits. YOU ARE OFTEN THE FIRST ASSISTANT AND THE ACTING. Now you might not be a proper first assistant but the Vacancies Act assumes when it applies the default has 2 titles.

Amazing sign being held by a small child

More Trump politicization of civil service hiring: "while there’s a hiring freeze for regular competitive service positions, political appointees at each agency can hire people who are ideologically in line with Donald Trump’s political agenda.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

BREAKING: Judge Illston says she is expanding her TRO blocking shutdown RIFs as to any AFSCME and AFL-CIO members or bargaining units to include NFFE, SEIU, and NAGE union members or bargaining units AND any members/units removed under EO 14251 whose removal is subject to legal dispute.

In the Supreme Court’s upcoming term, it will hear Slaughter v. United States, a case many scholars expect to narrow or overturn Humphrey’s Executor. @nicholasbednar.bsky.social explores what the consequences of eliminating removal protections for multimember commissions would be.

BREAKING: President Donald Trump’s administration for now must stop firing workers during the government shutdown, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered.

The number of U.S. federal worker layoffs as a result of the government shutdown was revised downward on Tuesday, suggesting the administration's initial statement about sweeping job cuts was too ambitious. www.reuters.com/world/trump-...

We've long seen this kind of contingent partisan evaluation of other institutions, but as far as I know this is some of the first real evidence of it when it comes to administrative agencies. It makes sense: people could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that agencies just are the President.

Economists! We’re hiring an assistant professor who focuses on domestic labor or public economics. The Humphrey School is wonderful and Minneapolis is the best city ever in my humble opinion. More details here: hr.myu.umn.edu/psc/hrprd/EM...

If any junior scholars want to chat about the supportive environment that @umnlawschool.bsky.social has built, I'm more than happy to do so. Incredible institution. Great mentorship from a faculty that reads your work. Great city with a phenomenal food scene, fantastic parks, and a ton to do.

Minnesota Law is looking to hire a visiting assistant professor — more details here: hr.myu.umn.edu/psc/hrprd/EM...

“Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials” excellent @adamliptak.bsky.social piece on new developments in the executive power debates www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

Molly Roberts has a nice piece at @lawfaremedia.org on the Hatch Act during the shutdown. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

On Friday, I accidentally took a stress ball home from the office instead of my wallet... I am certain that says something about my state of mind.

"One source told me that some of the reversals came after the Trump administration realized that they had accidentally terminated critically important staffers working on current measles and Ebola outbreaks."

Homecoming with unlimited food. The easiest way to get me to a game.