Mark Histed
@markhisted.org
9.4K followers 1.3K following 690 posts
How brain neural nets do computations; we aim to understand differences in brain wiring, using lasers and neuro-AI. Lab head, NIH. Prev: policy for democracypolicy.network. Pers views only. neuro posts: #neuroscience /🧪
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markhisted.org
Proud to talk about defending the Constitution in front of the Capitol this week.

We are seeing the greatest assault on our freedoms of our lifetimes. The shredding of the Constitution must stop. The lawlessness must stop.
And Congress can and must stop it.
safa-science.bsky.social
Federal workers are speaking out on how the Trump regime is harming Americans:

"We stand here today at a moment of the greatest assault of our lifetimes on our freedoms. The US Constitution is being shredded... We are here to call on Congress to stand up and stop it."

youtu.be/uw1KwIBgrCw?...
Mark Histed, NIH Scientist *speaking in personal capacity
YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition
youtu.be
markhisted.org
This one! The author disabled quote posts
Science Vibes without the Science Facts
Reposted by Mark Histed
bbkogan.bsky.social
Trump and Vought are now breaking both sides of spending law. They’re illegally not spending where the law requires them to spend, and they’re illegally spending where they don’t have the money to spend.

What we have is an appropriations king.

Spending “deals” are meaningless under that setup.
markhisted.org
It’s kind of amazing in that way.
markhisted.org
What’s phenomenal about this: it’s got all the trappings of science, without the actual content and facts that are the point of science.

It’s Science Vibes without the Science. 🧪
markhisted.org
“Early American constitutionalists crafted a “system in which each institution of government enforced its own prerogatives through political negotiation.”
markhisted.org
“Difficult as it is to imagine, for most of U.S. history constitutional controversies—over federalism, foreign policy, war and so on—were resolved outside of the courts. This was especially true when it came to the separation of powers.”
markhisted.org
Right. Congress has powers to use to stop lawlessness in the other branches, as described here 👇👇

It’s also worth reading @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social ’s recent article, describing why we’re here—and the bad future if Congress does not re-assert its power. 1/
joshchafetz.bsky.social
Thanks, Beau! For anyone looking, it's in chapter 3 of www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/
markhisted.org
It’s not too much to say this administration is shredding the Constitution.
markhisted.org
Yeah.
Got some stuff about the administration ignoring the law on mass firings, and SCOTUS effectively allowing them to do so, coming soon.
markhisted.org
This is a fine read about scientists, entrepreneurs, public and private money, and how all these pieces interact in the complex societal system for innovation.
markhisted.org
Looks like a great conference---
jessegeerts.bsky.social
Remember to submit an abstract to UCL NeuroAI 2025 by Wednesday! 🧠🤖 This will be a great opportunity to present your work to the local community, and we have a fantastic line-up of keynote speakers:

@ucl-neuroai.bsky.social @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social
ucl-neuroai.bsky.social
Submission deadline extended!

Submit your poster or lightning talk abstract by Wednesday 15th October 2025, 12:00pm
markhisted.org
Though I’d probably go for “Time for a Fourth Republic…. amend or die”
if I was choosing the message for a shirt rn
markhisted.org
I said the first thing to some abundance people recently and… they did not agree. Also they seemed to believe that the Supreme Court was doing law. And if you print the Linz shirt I’ll take one.
markhisted.org
Thread on Bari Weiss
nstenhouse.bsky.social
That was one of the main pieces of new information for me in the (excellent) story: she is even more pompous and unreflectively full of herself than I imagined… I’m convinced it’s not a conscious grift, she truly believes she is a brave crusader for the truth
markhisted.org
Yes!

behavior+causal/interventional manipulations at the correct spatial and temporal scale, right?
markhisted.org
in this case the scare quotes seem justified
markhisted.org
Even if parts of the libertarian legal world believe that unitary executive / president-is-a-king theory applies, and the president should get to impose new ”priorities” willy-nilly, doesn’t mean we have to take that argument seriously while we oppose it.
markhisted.org
Lots of good stuff in this letter, but I want to highlight:
“legally unsupportable premise … that undefined presidential ‘priorities’ can substitute for statutory direction.“

Of course they cannot. We are seeing widespread abuse of presidential “priorities” this year.
repwalkinshaw.bsky.social
RIFs during a shutdown are 100% illegal.

@oversightdemocrats.house.gov Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia and I called on @USGAO to investigate Russ Vought’s illegal directive ordering agencies to fire federal workers in violation of the Antideficiency Act.

This scheme needs to be investigated.
Reposted by Mark Histed
jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
I was honored to speak up with my colleagues from across the government to demand Congress fight for the American people.
safa-science.bsky.social
"As a federal worker, I am here to tell you that every awful thing that would happen in a shutdown—shuttering programs that Americans rely on, damaging our economy, firing federal workers—all of this is already happening."

youtu.be/jw93RKKreqY?...
Jenna Norton, PhD - (NIH, Bethesda Declaration organizer, mom) *speaking in her personal capacity
YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition
youtu.be
Reposted by Mark Histed
vanhollen.senate.gov
These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III. 

Looking forward to No Kings Day.
Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering
Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.
www.politico.com
markhisted.org
*does the public have

Will have to rewrite this thread without typos and with more clear language
Reposted by Mark Histed
markhisted.org
This is straight king-making.

A major point of civil service law—for what, a century?—is to make civil servants NOT removable by political actors like the president.

It's hard not to see 'unitary executive theory' as "King-making theory," or simply, authoritarianism.
markhisted.org
Relevance to science?

Well, we can't have a non-partisan science funding system, as we have had for decades, if we let Unitary King Theory fire all the scientists and replace them with partisans. But if someone wanted to destroy US science, this would be a move to make.

/end