This is bad. Bad for researchers. Bad for science. Bad for universities. Bad for professional associations. For example: 1. Every award would be vetted by political appointees, who could overrule peer reviewers and deny the award if it doesn't advance the president's priorities. 1/🧵

BREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf

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Should be a great conversation. Hard to find two people more knowledgeable about voting rights than Sherrilyn Ifill, former Director Counsel of LDF, and Stanford Prof. Pam Karlan. And both are also powerful speakers. Join us!

Important, urgent op-ed - archive 🔗: archive.ph/WckTf

Details on Martin Soto's court filing ⤵️

Warmest congratulations to the Class of 2026 PLUS students graduating today! Your intellectual curiosity, rigorous scholarship, & commitment to public service have been so inspiring to see. Best wishes for the next chapter of your journeys—we are cheering you on always! 🐯⚖️ @ldodd.bsky.social

Absolutely unacceptable. We need accountability. Thank you to Senator Kim and to all NJ leaders who continue to show up, speak out, and defend their communities.

The poll surveyed federal judges, lawyers, law professors and political scientists. “There was considerable agreement that the rule of law in the U.S. is under tremendous stress.” UCLA’s Rick Hasen says it suggests “a real risk to democracy” @markzbarabak.bsky.social www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

This is terrific resource for lawyers contemplating whether and how to sue the feds - a comprehensive and clear guide to Federal Tort Claims Act claims 👇🏻👇🏻

We're suing on behalf of Memphis residents who were retaliated against for recording law enforcement activity — including being tackled to the ground, taunted by name, and surveilled at home. Government agents don't get to punish people exercising our First Amendment rights.

If you work in civic engagement, this number should concern you: ⚠️ Only 20% of 23–25 year olds say they'll definitely vote in 2026. Our new poll shows the problem is that Gen Z doesn't believe they're getting a system that works for them. Dive into our poll findings to learn more:

Peter Dosa has written the best account I know of the similarities and differences of living under Orban and Trump, with beautifully crafted phrase that will stick in your mind long after you've read it . . . Bravo! substack.com/home/post/p-...

An extraordinary rebuke of Todd Blanche and his Justice Department. Federal judge dismisses the indictment of Abrego Garcia (an exceedingly rare outcome in a criminal case). Finding of vindictive prosecution and "an abuse of prosecuting power." The opinion name checks Blanche nearly 30 times.

Read @protectdemocracy.org: slush fund for insurrectionists, gutting of VRA & purging of GOP dissidents all related: "None are popular. None are smart politics. All are designed to hold power without winning public support — by overriding free & fair elections" www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-strate...

So, so dire

Of the 8 state voter file cases DOJ has lost, 4 were before judges appointed by Donald Trump.

I think @stevevladeck.bsky.social is absolutely right that the way to defeat the Terrorist Slush Fund is via politics. But I think you START impeachment w/Blanche. 25 GOP Senators spoke up (in private) yesterday. 25+47-Fetterman = 71. Better yet, INCLUDE the dismissal of the Sedition verdicts NOW.

"Has there ever been an episode of presidential corruption so blatant and threatening to constitutional order? Certainly not in modern times." @nytimes.com Ed Board weighs in on Trump's slush fund for J6ers, cronies, criminals, and political allies. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/o...

I say without hyperbole that this is the most brazenly corrupt action in US Presidential history. That it does not immediately lead to impeachment is a dangerous sign of how far the rule of law has declined.

In Callais Alito claimed racism was over. Now Southern states rushing to revive Jim Crow, eliminating or set to eliminate at least 5 majority Black districts in TN, AL, LA, SC, MS. This is bigger than partisan politics. Multiracial democracy under all out assault www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Great interview ⤵️ YouTube version: youtu.be/YQerLr6fH2k?... (starts at 44 min. mark)

“Roughly three-quarters of those children… are likely U.S. citizens”

The stories & photos from today’s voting rights marches in Alabama deserve to be seen by people who weren’t able to stand there in person. If this piece moves you, please share it widely & help make sure these voices aren’t lost in the noise of a crowded news cycle. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Thousands are marching in Selma calling for a full restoration of the voting rights act.

Note that the EEO-1 reporting is about as old as title VII. Gift link: wapo.st/4dpzf2K

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I have been known to complain about @nytimes.com headlines that undersell what's in the actual story. Not today!

We've become numb to this stuff, but a president accusing a journalist of treason -- a capital crime -- for reporting on an ongoing war is not normal, and we should never accept it as normal.

Thanks to my brilliant colleagues, a way to visualize and better understand the American situation. "The Trump Administration’s Use of State Power Against Media: Keeping Track of the Big Picture" By Professor @bechamilton.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/112792/trump...

BREAKING: The Supreme Court HALTS the 5th Circuit's decision blocking telemedicine mifepristone nationwide. Alito and Thomas dissent. Thomas suggests that mailing abortion pills violates the Comstock Act. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The New Right has struggled to “retrofit a consistent ideology onto the electoral power of Donald Trump,” @helenlewis.bsky.social writes. “Masculinism” has been a gift—something that various factions can agree on.

Feeling overwhelmed with all of this. LISTEN. Another Louisiana resident (Marshawn is the only name we have) testifies against the state’s racial gerrymander, speaking truth to power up and down the hearing room and predicts how this story will end. Speak your truth, fight and believe.

TN eliminated only majority-Black district AL, LA eliminating majority-Black districts SC planning to oust only Black Democrat since Reconstruction MS planning to oust only Black rep GA planning special session to eliminate majority-Black districts This is what return to Jim Crow looks like

We must be able to hold federal agents accountable when they violate our rights, but current law makes that nearly impossible. We'll be on Capitol Hill next week urging Congress to ensure people have a right to sue when their constitutional rights are violated by federal agents.

John Roberts's purported institutionalism was always overblown. The most charitable reading of his reneging on Allen v. Milligan (sneakily in Callais, more callously in the Alabama shadow-docket applications) is that he wants to rip the VRA band-aid right off. Rick is more pointed:

Sam Alito in Callais: the 14th/15th amendment only care about intentional discrimination! SCOTUS today: jk! not even that! (unless the “intentional” discrimination is attempting to comply with the voting rights act, in which case it’s unconstitutional intentional racial discrimination)

On Hegseth's legal claims re. Sen. Mark Kelly: "The community of military retirees includes over a million Americans who have dedicated themselves to national service. We should not deprive them of their constitutional rights as a consequence of serving." (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

Grim.

Here’s the ruling, which usurps the will of the Virginia electorate on a procedural technicality about how lawmakers approved the ballot initiative: www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...

Absolutely outrageous Virginia Supreme Court invalidated redistricting referendum approved by the voters when voters haven’t been able to weigh in on a single gerrymander passed in red states

Interesting analysis of the move to bell-to-bell phone bans - and a study out this week suggesting they're *not* a magic fix to improve test scores - from Emily Oster (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/o...

Breaking: Tennessee Republicans pass new 9-0 gerrymander after SCOTUS destruction of Voting Rights Act eliminating state’s only majority-Black district & last Democratic seat. Splits Memphis, which is 63% Black, into 3 districts to disenfranchise Black voters. Quite literally a return to Jim Crow

"What both sides have in mind, the people said, is a recurring set of conversations that could address the risks posed by AI models behaving unexpectedly, autonomous military systems, or attacks by nonstate actors using powerful open-source tools." (gift link) www.wsj.com/world/china/...

“Here, we see the problem w/ conservative “colorblindness.” A constitution that doesn’t see color— a constitution that treats all classifications as one & the same in a country defined by its sordid history of racial subordination — is a constitution that cannot see group inequality...”

horrible. this country’s turn away from science based medicine in the name of “wellness” is killing children and will kill a lot more. www.propublica.org/article/more...

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AI ‘hallucinations’ risk undermining legal system, McGill researcher warns montrealgazette.com/news/provinc...