Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Beau Baumann 🍏 @beaubaumann.bsky.social · 17h

I really think we need to reconceptualize this shutdown as the last stand for the rule of law and Art I. Bring it to default if that’s what it takes. If Congress can’t assert the power of the purse, we are in “move to Portugal” territory of screwed.

Beau Baumann 🍏 @beaubaumann.bsky.social · 18h

This cannot just be about healthcare. The existing constitutional system hangs in the balance. The rule of law is now baked into this shutdown in a huge way.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 15h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 20h

SCOTUS decision killing what’s left of Voting Rights Act could cost Dems 19 House seats, eliminate every majority-minority district in South, eviscerate 14th/15th Amendments & fulfill John Roberts 40-year crusade against country’s most important civil rights law www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Republican justices appear poised to destroy what’s left of the Voting Rights Act

The results will be "catastrophic."

www.motherjones.com

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 18h

Genuinely this could only end in disaster. Or catastrophe. Or both.

MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 19h

BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Trump may launch missiles from warships into California this Friday and Saturday as part of what is being described as a “vanity parade” and shut down portions of the I-5 during the No Kings protests meidasnews.com/news/exclusi...

Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 18h

Just straight up not how anything works, NYT

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 19h

the extent to which media elites treat liberal americans as if they do not count in the body politic is a real problem

Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 21h

I read the piece. You shouldn't. He dismisses the "No Kings" protests as liberals in blue cities. He invokes Rosa Parks, as if rural white people in the 60s loved everything that the movement then was doing. "We need a movement but not this one" is a core centrist tact these days.

Ezra Levin ❌👑 @ezralevin.bsky.social · 22h

Is this a joke. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 22h

Quite a day.

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 22h

mike davis — an incredibly prominent dc conservative tied to the federalist society — calling the highest ranking black member of congress a “house slave” is so beyond the pale and rubicon crossing. i cannot unsee this. my gosh. wow. where are we right now

Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 23h

Hakeem Jeffries posted pictures of two Rep. Members posing with “Young Republicans” who were part of a racist text thread (as reported by Politico).

In response, Mike Davis (well-connected in Trump World & on the Hill) called Jeffries a “house slave” for George Soros - proving Jeffries’ point.

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 23h

Trump's mechanism to pay the troops during the shutdown is by far the most illegal budgetary action he's taken as POTUS, potentially setting the stage to break everything.

It's also needless because Congress would easily pass a troop pay bill if Johnson were willing to gavel in.

Long thread.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/10/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-8/

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Dark Grimiano @doctor1hundred.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is why I've always liked the way the Illinois Nazis are portrayed in The Blues Brothers. It shows them for what they are: spiteful little weirdos who are ineffective and deserve no respect.

Mr. Chau @srirachachau.bsky.social · 1d

It’s funny how the old media depiction of Nazis was always that they’re evil but dignified gentleman and now they’re openly just like “Hello. I’m the Anime Pedophile”

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

They're trying to prevent the student newspaper from printing news, period. Not just a particular story.

"The Media School directed us to print no news in the paper... nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage."

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

IndyStar 2 . Follow
1h:
"All Media School and IU students, faculty and staff
should be scared by this blatant attack on someone
standing up for what's right," student Editors-ln-Chief
Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller said in a statement.
Read more: bit.ly/43ebKW1
IndyStar.
IDS
The original investigative student
newsroom of Indiana University
Barge suspends Bloomingtonr
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IDS
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Indiana University fires IDS
adviser amid push to control
student newspaper's content

The director of student media at Indiana University was fired amidst a dispute between university leadership and editors at the Indiana Daily Student over what content gets printed in the student newspaper.

As director of student media, Jim Rodenbush did not directly oversee or have any say over the content published in the IDS, per a charter between the IDS and the university. But he told IndyStar his firing follows a series of meetings with IU Media School leadership in which it grew increasingly apparent they were expecting him to officially prohibit students from publishing news.

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

Wish I could find it but someone on here definitely predicted this last week

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 2d

BREAKING: Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating ceasefire with slow release of dead hostages, AP sources say.

Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages, a test for the Gaza ceasefire

The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is being tested as complex issues remain a day after widespread jubilation over the return to Israel of the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

bit.ly

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Speaker Mike Johnson just said he's completely fine with ICE agents shooting priests in the head with pepper balls and roughing up journalists.

I'm sure he'll tell us soon about how it's the Democrats who are waging a war on religion and free speech though.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Q: We've seen images out of Chicago of federal agents shooting faith leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists. Where's the limit for you on what's acceptable conduct by federal agents?

MIKE JOHNSON: I've not seen them cross the line yet.

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

On that swing of all swings

Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

Close enough

Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

I’ve seen the future and Contreras actually walks it off here

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

I saw something about him maybe getting disinvited from a first pitch after the Pacers eliminated the Bucks and now he’s being petty (but also, I wouldn’t want to do that if I were him? Seems like a good way to get booed).

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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 2d

3-0 since Humpy won

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 2d

Seems like Seattle’s bats are keeping up with Toronto’s just fine

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 3d

When Mike Johnson or another national leader repeatedly claims they haven’t seen relevant things in the news, an appropriate reporter reaction would be “Holy cow, how do you not know?!? How can you do your job without knowing what’s happening? What are you doing to fix your ‘not knowing’ problem?”

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 3d

I don't understand why U.S. reporters so regularly seem to let politicians get away with 'I haven't seen that' about stuff a) they obviously know and b) is directly relevant to their job. Did they sign some kind of agreement never to ask a follow-up question?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

REPORTER: We know the president moved forward with mass layoffs. We're also learning there were significant cuts to staff at special education services. Are you comfortable with those cuts?

MIKE JOHNSON: I haven't seen the specifics of that and I don't know

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 3d

Look you can’t say the Bucks FO isn’t doing everything it can.

Shams Charania Tweets @shamsbot.bsky.social · 3d

The Milwaukee Bucks are signing Alex Antetokounmpo to a two-way NBA deal, joining older brothers Giannis and Thanasis, Octagon's Alex Saratsis tells ESPN. This marks the first time in NBA history that three brothers are on active roster contracts with the same team.

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 3d

Hip hip Jorge

a group of baseball players wearing mariners jerseys are on the field

Alt: a group of baseball players wearing mariners jerseys are on the field

media.tenor.com

Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 3d

a man in a seattle jersey stands in front of a crowd

Alt: Cal Raleigh lifts the home run trident

media.tenor.com

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

Listen to the response to this and look how easy it is to say it.

Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine.bsky.social · 4d

We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.

When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.

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Nick Clawson @nickclawson.bsky.social · 4d

Says a member of a majority overturning decades of resolved precedent left and right

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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