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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger
@emmbadger.bsky.social
2.6K followers 710 following 130 posts
New York Times journalist covering cities and urban policy for The Upshot. [email protected], ebadger.21 on Signal
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 2d
We thought about trying to quantify DOGE's effect at the end of the fiscal year — Musk’s own deadline for finding $1T — and realized it was impossible.

That’s the larger story: No one, even Congressional appropriators, can follow what’s happened to federal spending.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Not Even Congress Knows How Much Money DOGE Cut
www.nytimes.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 6d
For perspective in Portland: Former mayor Charlie Hales points out that the city is composed of about 25,000 blocks.

Fewer than 5 of them are touched by the ICE protests Trump has used to portray the city as "on fire" and in need of federal troops.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 8d
Thanks for citing it. Wish we'd thought of breaking out the bikeshare members!
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 8d
Really helpful initial @jeffasher.bsky.social look at crime trends in D.C. during the federal law enforcement surge:
jasher.substack.com/p/re-evaluat...
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 13d
This is a breaking-news twist on our regular monthly book club: www.solidstatebooksdc.com/ssb-read-the...
Reading the City Book Club — Solid State Books
A listing of selections for the book club
www.solidstatebooksdc.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 13d
DC folks! Come have a conversation with us about Home Rule at Solid State on H Street tomorrow night. Historian George Derek Musgrove will join us at 7 p.m. to talk about the epic DC history "Chocolate City."
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 13d
Thanks for flagging. It looks like the issue is the promo image, not the numbers in the story itself. I'll pass along.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 13d
Shutdown contingency plans give us perhaps our clearest look yet at the workforce reductions across federal agencies: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Much Have Trump’s Cuts Shrunk the Federal Work Force? Shutdown Plans Offer a Clue.
The number of federal employees has been trimmed by thousands since President Trump took office, according to contingency plans drawn up by federal agencies.
www.nytimes.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 25d
WSJ on ICE activity in and around Boston finds, among other things, 95 instances of ICE activity within a mile of a school.

www.wsj.com/us-news/ice-...
ICE’s Tough Tactics Were Forged on the Streets of Boston
ICE’s Tough Tactics Were Forged on the Streets of Boston
www.wsj.com
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Reposted by Emily Badger
upshot.nytimes.com
The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Sep 12
Bloomberg: To understand why residents of New York City, the epicenter of American capitalism, are supporting a democratic socialist candidate for mayor, look no further than its warped rental market.

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Even New York City’s Wealthy Renters Can’t Avoid The Housing Crisis
In a city where roughly two out of three residents lease their homes, record-high rents have long bogged down the working class. But these days, more higher earners are feeling the squeeze: At least 6...
www.bloomberg.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
always kind, thank you
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Yes! Echoes of the pandemic in this (although that was a bit of a mixed bag: homicides surged for reasons particular to the pandemic, but other crimes fell. Can't steal from people when there are no people around...)
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
We would love to hear other signs people have observed of this effect, since there are surely some good ones we didn’t think to measure.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
How Trump’s Crime Crackdown Muted Other Parts of D.C. Life
www.nytimes.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
And many residents may feel the costs of attacking crime *in this way* — hurting restaurants and businesses, causing families to keep their children home from school — are not worth the benefits.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
All of this other stuff complicates how we should think about any improvements in crime. If you depress everyone’s activity levels, crime is likely to go down. If you depress trust in police, that can be a problem for crime in the future.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Restaurants have been struggling. Year-over-year reservations have generally been up this year. In August they were flat. And D.C. did worse than other comparable U.S. cities.

So far in September, reservations are down from last year.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Bikeshare trips dropped with the federal surge too (this effect didn’t start with new pricing on Aug 1, but with the start of the surge on Aug 11).
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Cell phone data from Mapbox shown here confirms several usually hopping neighborhoods had less activity during this time (and less than normal for August):
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Measuring this is hard. August is always slow, then school complicates it. A few weeks is a short time to assess data. Some data we looked at showed no clear pattern. But other data backed what many people told us — that D.C. has felt quieter than normal.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 12
Crime has fallen in D.C. during the federal law enforcement surge, faster than it was already dropping this year.

But the show of force appears to have deterred other activity too: foot traffic, dining out, visits by immigrants to food pantries and health clinics.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
How Trump’s Crime Crackdown Muted Other Parts of D.C. Life
www.nytimes.com
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 11
If the federal show of force in Washington has had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred entirely normal aspects of city life, too.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
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Reposted by Emily Badger
maustermuhle.bsky.social
Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle.bsky.social · Sep 3
A news tidbit: The D.C. Council has hired a lobbying firm to help fight off the growing interference coming from Republicans in Congress. @chmnmendelson.bsky.social has a dedicated staffer for congressional relations, but the council will now have a much more dedicated presence on the Hill.
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 3
Normally (with the exception of next month) it's a regular book club, not an author talk series. So come as a reader! But also, I am making it up as we go...
emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 3
maybe one day in the future!
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emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 2
Tomorrow night, we're talking about school desegregation and Michelle Adams' "The Containment."
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