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Josh Chafetz

@joshchafetz.bsky.social

150K followers 890 following 4.6K posts

Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Law and Politics, Georgetown Law: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/josh-chafetz/ Author, most recently, of _Congress's Constitution_: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/

www.law.georgetown.edu

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · Nov 18

Hi new followers!

If you happen to be interested in the separation of powers, Congress, government shutdowns, contempt of Congress, the filibuster, and more, have I got the book for you! www.amazon.com/dp/0300248334/

Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers: Chafetz, Josh: 9780300248333: Amazon.com: Books

Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers [Chafetz, Josh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Congress's Constitution: Legislative Authority and the Separation of Powers

www.amazon.com

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Editorial manager profile created.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Archives banned making copies.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 2h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

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Lakshya Jain @lakshya.splitticket.org · 1h

Graham Platner is a very high-ceiling candidate in Maine with a lot of potential. He's also extremely untested and while he looks promising for Democrats, it's pretty important to have a primary here to see if there are any red flags that bubble up.

Just let it go and log off.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 1h

Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans

Image: A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” engraving, originally published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Each segment of the snake has the name of a university sent Trump’s “compact”: Texas, AZ, Vanderbilt, USC, Dartmouth, UVA, Brown, Penn, MIT.

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 3h

Sens. Schumer, Merkley, Murray, and Peters are calling for the resignation of OMB Director Russell Vought.

"By impounding billions of dollars … and aggressively pursuing the illegal use of pocket rescissions, Vought has done everything in his power to gut the federal government piece by piece."

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 2h

Not sure why it has taken until late 2025 to see this, but this is how you do it. Every time. For every one of these guests.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50k as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024. You did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.

VANCE: No, George, I sai--

STEPHANOPOULOS: We'll be right back

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3h

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.

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Elizabeth (Bit) Meehan, PhD @elizabethbitmeehan.com · 1d

help your #polisky colleagues out in this rough market year y'all

Michelangelo Landgrave @landgravephd.bsky.social · 12d

Just want to thank folks contributing to the #psjminfo job status update section of the site. It's a small thing, but I know people appreciate knowing the status of jobs.

www.politicalsciencejobs.org/status-updates

PS Jobs - Status Updates

This is a listing of job market updates. You can submit updates here.

www.politicalsciencejobs.org

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 1d

With the government shutdown well into its second week, Democrats are far from folding, @russellberman.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social report. While still at an impasse, they have succeeded at elevating one key issue for the party:

Why Democrats Think They’re Winning the Shutdown Fight

They’ve clearly succeeded in elevating the issue of health care.

bit.ly

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NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 1d

The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

I’m still not 100% sure my letter got there …

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Melissa Stewart @lissajostewart.bsky.social · 1d

Still waiting for my prize

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

A few years ago @lissajostewart.bsky.social made a similar request ...

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

And as @gregorykoger.bsky.social's great book shows, filibustering was more common in the House than in the Senate until the 20th century.

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

A few years ago @lissajostewart.bsky.social made a similar request ...

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David Noll @david.noll.org · 1d

i just got back from Antifa headquarters.

they're making an INSANE new set of demands.

first, the radical left is saying, "no money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law."

David Noll @david.noll.org · 1d

interesting that if you say the constitution creates a separation of powers systems in which there are no kings, they think you hate america

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

@mit.edu has done an incredibly important service to the nation by being willing to be the first school to reject the administration's "compact."

President Kornbluth focuses—and she's right—on the principle that "scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2d

Friends, some advice if you plan on spending time outside in an animal costume, sharing for no particular reason:

-You will sweat a lot more than you think. Have water/snacks

-You cannot move well (the Left Shark guy is a trained experienced professional dancer). Don’t run or you’ll trip and fall.

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Joshua Erlich @joshuaerlich.bsky.social · 2d

Virginia Dems are going to get Saddam Hussein style election numbers

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FEDERAL LAYOFFS WILL BE IN THE THOUSANDS: WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL
October 10, 2025 at 1:04 PM @ Everybody can reply

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

And that's, of course, in addition to the damage to American soft power, to research in the United States, and to American colleges and universities (the last of which is, clearly, the point for this administration).

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

Just your regular reminder that these international students were *not* "taking seats away" from American students. They were *subsidizing* American students. Fewer Americans will be able to afford an education because of this.

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · 6d

The decline is occurring as the Trump administration has delayed visa processing, instituted travel bans or restrictions for 19 countries, threatened to deport international students for pro-Palestinian speech, and heightened the vetting of student visa applicants.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 1d

It's like when people brag about having been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It's banking on readers not knowing just how easy that is.

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Steven S Smith @profstevensmith.bsky.social · 2d

Credible commitments are the essence of dealmaking. Trump & Repubs cannot make credible commitments.

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Hegseth sucks. The Qataris suck. But we aren’t giving Qatar an airbase in Idaho. It’s building dorms etc. at an existing base to train them on F-15s we sold them, just like Singapore already has there. Common arrangement we have with lots of countries. This one was already being planned under Biden.

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 2d

(I'm not saying that'll work in the medium run; I just think it is in fact part of what he's thinking)

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 2d

Maybe somewhat (although why they'd want to just keep pushing the release of the files closer to the midterms is a mystery).

But I think Johnson also really does want to try and prevent the House GOP from getting rolled by a Senate deal on a CR.

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