Thrilled that my copy of Rural Versus Urban arrived in the mail today. Big congrats to @smettler.bsky.social and Trevor Brown! I can hardly wait to read it.

Look what just arrived! Our book, Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy, is due out Sept. 23. www.amazon.com/Rural-Versus...

I'll be returning to campus this fall as the inaugural Tony and Teddie Brown Associate Professor of Public Policy. I am excited to have earned tenure at Duke and humbled to receive this specific endowed chair (more on that later). I've been sitting on this news for a while now...

In this @usnews.com op-ed, ‪@nadiabell.bsky.social, @elianabuckner.bsky.social ‬& Benjamin Sommers argue the proposed work requirements for #Medicaid and #SNAP in the "Big, Beautiful Bill" could cost millions their #healthcare and food aid. Learn more. ⤵️

In fact, those changes to the rules & procedures for Medicaid ARE actually benefit cuts...BIG cuts. The most vulnerable Americans' basic needs are being sacrificed to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Thanks @pamherd.bsky.social & @donmoyn.bsky.social for revealing it. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/o...

Reminder that the CBO says that if the Reconciliation Bill goes through: -7.6 million people would lose coverage because of Medicaid changes -1 million would lose it because of changes to the ACA from E&C -2.1 million would lose it because of changes by Ways and Means www.cbo.gov/publication/...

CBO just released its own preliminary estimates for how rich vs poor are affected by the House budget bill. Roughly same conclusion: poorest get poorer, richest get richer. www.cbo.gov/system/files...

The GOP’s rhetoric isn’t as aggressive this time around, but their policy goals are similarly destructive. The low-end estimate is $792B cut from Medicaid—with $370B of those cuts targeting the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. They’re coming hard for both Medicaid and the ACA—and 10m will lose insurance.

One of grants frozen at Cornell: $6.7M (4 yrs) to develop heart pumps for babies born w/ heart defects. It took decades of work to get to point of prepping device for in-human clinical trials. No private company could do this. The cruelty of the Trump administration is heartbreaking. So to speak.

Thank you, @milophd.bsky.social for revealing the submerged state...so many valued services, but government's role in providing them is unseen. What will happen once they are gone?

People will say this is the result of a presidential election, and that’s partly true. But the Constitution does not delegate tariff power to the president, and he is only able to impose these ruinous, peace-destroying taxes because Congress has let him do so. Congress can end this at any time.

Corey Booker: “IF AMERICA HASN'T BROKEN YOUR HEART, THEN YOU DON'T LOVE HER ENOUGH." 💙🥹

The Trump Administration is trying to forge a personalist authoritarian regime and honestly the conditions for success are there. However, they're *way* out over their skis at the moment. Their pure recklessness is making their path to success way harder 1/x

What I learned at the Global Summit on Constitutionalism www.cnysolidarity.org/2025/03/22/g...

The guy in charge of SSA is a mid-level manager, who's overseeing 20 percent of the federal budget, and yesterday tried to shutter the agency because he didn't understand the plain text of a court order. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

1/🧵 Judges across ideological lines are ruling against Trump at strikingly similar rates (84% liberal, 86% centrist, 82% conservative). This isn't partisan opposition to Trump—it's the judiciary functioning as intended by cutting across partisan lines to uphold the Constitution.

Professors, planning to teach a course about democracy? The American Democracy Collaborative is sharing our syllabi for courses in US & comparative politics! americandemocracycollaborative.org w/ @tompepinsky.com @povertyscholar.bsky.social

🔉The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to cut 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs. For reporters covering these developments and what they mean for veterans and VA services, the following experts are available for comment. ⤵️ 🔗Connect: scholars.org/features/2-e...

You can eliminate programs w/o altering legislation by adding burden. Make no mistake, this is exactly what they're doing to Social Security. They're cutting core administrative capacity required for people to actually apply for, and receive, benefits. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Judge Howell has held that Trump's firing of Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB was unlawful, that Humphrey's Executor is still governing law, and declares her discharge a violation of the separation of powers. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

📢 The Trump administration has announced cuts to the Social Security Administration's workforce. For reporters covering these cuts, and other changes, and their potential impact to Social Security, the following experts are available for comment. ⤵️ 🔗 scholars.org/features/exp...

The agency has already been cut to the bone. Customer service staff has been cut by 19% even as beneficiaries have increased by 25%. Disability claims processing has increased from 100 days in 2012 to 240 days in 2024. Thousands of people die waiting to get disability benefits they’ve earned

Lots of GOP House members have large numbers of federal employees in their districts. Yes, DC metro is hardest hit by DOGE, but the pain from cuts will be felt across the country. crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...

In this @washingtonmonthly.com piece, Daniel Carpenter, Paul Pierson, and Eric Schickler examine how the Trump administration’s actions—and Congress’ failure to push back—are undermining the republican system the Founders envisioned. Learn more: washingtonmonthly.com/2025/02/21/m...

📢 With the recent closure of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offices, the agency’s future is uncertain. For reporters covering these developments & their potential impact, the following experts are available for comment. ⤵️ #CFPB #ConsumerProtection 🔗Connect: scholars.org/features/exp...

Excited & honored to lead the Scholars Strategy Network! A wonderful organization, uniquely prepared for this moment, w/37 chapters nationwide!

One valuable task for the Democratic Party in 2025 would be to foreground the many important things that government does to improve life, especially for the vulnerable. Time to put a spotlight on what @smettler.bsky.social has called the “submerged state” and how it benefits ordinary people./1

Book 1: @smettler.bsky.social & Lieberman explore five crises in the US: the 1790s, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, & Watergate. In each period, democracy was threatened by various challenges: Polarization, nativism, inequality, & executive aggrandizement.