The Insurrection Act is not "martial law." It doesn't displace civilian law, it doesn't suspend habeas corpus, it doesn't alter or suspend state and local government, and it doesn't make anything newly illegal. It allows using the military to enforce existing law, it doesn't change what the law is.

I have an article forthcoming in the Annual Review of Political Science called, "Participatory Democracy & Its Limits." It focuses on limited citizen attention & how participation can backfire, w/ land use as an example. Abstract below; here's a preprint: kevinjelliott.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

I think we're known for being cold when it's right to be, and for a general good view of the playing field. We don't call every play right, but we've earned the right to say we're more right on the big things than most. So I want a word with the people who are hanging their heads, down at the mouth.

There are places where Trump, as president, has broad freedom of action. And there are places where Trump, as president, has been able to act unilaterally because the main point of opposition, Congress (and SCOTUS), support his program. (1/?)

Business in New Jersey Everyday (BINJE) honored CEOs and executive directors, managing partners and principals. Two Bloustein School public policy lecturers made the list for 2026: Bob Sommer, who is also a member of the Advisory Board, and Michael Soliman. bloustein.rutgers.edu/soliman-somm...

🧵 I’ve been thinking about what the Powell/Trump standoff means for the cases pending at the Court on agency independence. Powell has been skillful and brave in the face of the administration’s attempts to intimidate The Fed into lowering interest rates. His video was astonishing and powerful. 1/?

He's going to invade Florida.

really have no patience for criticism of Walz. A lot of the suggestions for what he supposedly should be doing lay bare the actual problem from the beginning: Bsky users expect Dems to be Sinn Fein or the Hamas political wing, not an actual opposition party

It is, unfortunately, time to re-up my April 2025 post on the Insurrection Act and the broader history of domestic uses of the military for law enforcement purposes: www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...

More Dems need to think about skating to where the puck will be not where it is. All indications are Trump's brain has turned to mush and no one around him will even try to control his worst impulses. He will just get way crazier and more evil and unpopular by November.

who cares what he cares about, the question is "how does this process actually work, and what mechanisms exist for him to affect it." the executive branch plays exactly zero role in the composition, certification and seating of a new congress. bsky.app/profile/push...

💡🗠 Across the country, from Ohio to New Jersey, #electricity prices are spiking, rising $122 more per month for the average household's total #utility costs compared to 2020 and adding serious strain to household budgets. #AI #datacenters

To @govmurphy.bsky.social: As a Jerseyite (Bloomfield) and an American, I was deeply disappointed by your answers on #AskTheGov suggesting you may not sign the Immigrant Protection Package. You said signing these bills would just be a “feel good moment” that wouldn’t change much and hinted 🧵

This is what criminals & soon-to-be-sanctioned dictators do: set up a cozy personal nest egg in a country that won't extradite them & has no agreements that would compel them to enforce other countries' sanctions. That's why sanctioned Russian oligarchs made a beeline for the UAE in 2022.

Let’s talk about abolishing ICE. Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.” /1

Just guessing here, but I suspect the White House is pushing so hard for wars of conquest on multiple fronts because they see their support collapsing ahead of the midterms and worry they won't get another shot. An example of how tyrants become more dangerous as they get weaker, not less.

"It’s also an implicit recognition that the [Trump] Administration’s deregulatory actions won’t hold up under any defensible cost-benefit analysis, because the environmental benefits clearly outweigh compliance costs." Yup. 1/

Everything going on in Minneapolis is horrific and there need to be trials and people going to prison when we can get ahold of it. But I would also note that it is kind of a demonstration of how stretched thin the feds are that -one- moderately sized urban area requires this level of resource.

the actual 'fix' for this for rich countries, at least for the foreseeable future, is immigration.

From former @bloustein.rutgers.edu student Sara Meyers. (full disclosure, I gave her some comments on this).

Tell me you know nothing about Star Trek without telling me you know nothing about Star Trek www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Some people seem convinced anything other than "It's over, there is no way to stop these fascists" is naive and ignorant. But please remember: While the people who control the levers of state power are lawless and cruel, they are not omnipotent. Obscuring that distinction is an act of defeatism.

🔌The Senate Budget Committee advanced legislation to charge data centers for rising electricity costs; 🏛️Gov.-elect @mikiesherrill.bsky.social has begun naming appointments to various state department agencies, including NJ TRANSIT, @njhighered.bsky.social, and more. Read more today:

Now Trump EPA head, Lee Zeldin, enters the scene with rank dishonesty & theatrical indignation to dispute the NY Times' correct, accurate reporting. But I've read the EPA smoking gun document, I'm a 30+-year clean air lawyer, I understand its meaning better than Zeldin, & I have the receipts. 1/

It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face. If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.

See also: www.theregreview.org/2025/12/10/s...

I can't improve on what Ricky Revesz said here: "The idea that E.P.A. would not consider the public health benefits of its regulations is anathema to the very mission of E.P.A." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

A new report by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, developed in partnership with the Rhode Island Longitudinal Data System and based on the NJ Statewide Data System, provides a comprehensive, data-driven view of the educator pipeline. Explore the dashboard here: https://bit.ly/4qi0iSN

"James Goodwin, the interim co-executive director and policy director at @progressivereform.bsky.social an advocacy group, said the move appeared to ignore the 2015 Supreme Court case Michigan v. E.P.A." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

The Trumpist lust for authoritarian control is limitless. But the gulf between those desires on the one hand and the realities of a pluralistic modern society and complex political system on the other remains vast. And in that space, politics continues, resistance can thrive.

In collaboration with the NJSPL, researchers with the #Rutgers @heldrichcenter.bsky.social will be conducting a study to understand how the state's public #AI initiatives can better meet the needs of local small businesses in #NJ:

I represent this remark.

New from @nicholasbednar.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern? Its a good day to talk about the limits of presidential power. The last year has shown how much power Presidents have over the civil service, and the need for other branches to limit it. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-much-p...

i think powell's response here is a demonstration of the folly of the idea that democratic accountability requires presidential control. what if the president is not acting in the public interest? you want independent agencies to be able to push back and pursue their *congressional mandate*

Wait, what now? Are they going to have podiums reading “Arbeit macht frei” next?

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG... www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

Trump keeps losing and also keeps doing stuff. Yes, that's hard to wrap our heads around. My item today gets into it (without, alas, fully explaining it.) Plus the links! goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/losing-los...

I see this take around from time to time and totally disagree. ICE just murdered a woman standing up to them. No Kings is among the largest protests in history. The complacency is coming from elites in media, business, universities, and the Democratic leadership

Most members of the public don’t realize that Congress can change nearly everything about the structure and composition of the judiciary. Exceptions include the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction and the position of Chief Justice of the United States.

I'm not a doctor or a nurse. I have no medical expertise. Far be it from me to diagnose anyone. I don't know what's going on with Trump. But I do know something is going on with him. We all can see it. Where is the scrutiny over his cognitive health that legacy media had for Pres. Biden?

Matt Shaw really beginning to doubt his "Jews will not replace us" poster.

I cannot imagine why the last year made preexisting problems with hiring and retention worse... Who could have predicted that exercising greater control over the federal workforce would harm government performance? Not me. www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/articl...

Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.

& we ( @liberalcurrents.com ) crowdsourced this to go with it bsky.app/starter-pack...

I can't describe how bad Minneapolis feels right now. My neighbors are pulling kids out of school. The public schools are offering remote learning until 2/12. We are having conversations in our alleys about how to protect ourselves. It feels like a military occupation with a blockade.

This story is full of gems. Read the whole thing. Here's just one:

What is the point of appropriations if the White House can just cut off spending against its enemies?

Demise of the rule of law alert (...I know the bell on the alarm broke)

Bloustein School alum Jeremy Zorek (PPP '25) was recently featured in the New York Times as part of a transit challenge to ride every system that still accepts the MetroCard before the iconic fare card fades into history. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/n...

not even kidding, Vance should be excommunicated over this