Lauren Miller Karalunas
@lmillerkaralunas.bsky.social
Counsel, Democracy Program at Brennan Center for Justice
Proud to be a part of this latest SCOTUS filing from @janemanners.bsky.social, who breaks down the history behind when presidents can, and can't, fire agency leaders like FTC Commissioner Slaughter. It's one of several briefs filed by our Historians Council members today - check them out below!
BREAKING: @janemanners.bsky.social, a legal historian and member of the Brennan Center’s Historians Council, filed a brief with the Supreme Court in Trump v. Slaughter, a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s attempt to remove a commissioner of the FTC without cause: bit.ly/4nSvm9B
November 14, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Proud to be a part of this latest SCOTUS filing from @janemanners.bsky.social, who breaks down the history behind when presidents can, and can't, fire agency leaders like FTC Commissioner Slaughter. It's one of several briefs filed by our Historians Council members today - check them out below!
Very excited to join this live event today -- tune in for a discussion that will break down the many different attacks on federal funding with former OMB director Shalanda Young!
Congress has the power of the purse, not the president. But Trump has ignored this constitutional framework.
Join us on Tues., Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. ET for a live virtual event with former Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young. RSVP: bit.ly/3IRO9Uo
Join us on Tues., Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. ET for a live virtual event with former Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young. RSVP: bit.ly/3IRO9Uo
The Power of the Purse
Experts discuss the impact of attacks on federal funding.
www.brennancenter.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Very excited to join this live event today -- tune in for a discussion that will break down the many different attacks on federal funding with former OMB director Shalanda Young!
Amidst many funding cases, it's easy to forget that challenges to the administration's attempted funding freeze are still working their way through the courts. Two amicus briefs filed this week in one of those cases, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, highlight the enormity of what's at stake:
October 3, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Amidst many funding cases, it's easy to forget that challenges to the administration's attempted funding freeze are still working their way through the courts. Two amicus briefs filed this week in one of those cases, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, highlight the enormity of what's at stake:
In a single paragraph, SCOTUS allowed the executive branch to withhold $4 billion in funds Congress appropriated for foreign aid. Make no mistake: this is a major assault on Congress's power of the purse and yet another step towards giving the president king-like power to defy the legislature.
September 26, 2025 at 10:08 PM
In a single paragraph, SCOTUS allowed the executive branch to withhold $4 billion in funds Congress appropriated for foreign aid. Make no mistake: this is a major assault on Congress's power of the purse and yet another step towards giving the president king-like power to defy the legislature.
A reminder that election certification law is already very clear: it's a mandatory legal duty, and county officials in Arizona (and across the country) have no discretion to refuse to certify final election results.
In Arizona, Cochise County supervisors plan to try to test the boundaries of state election laws, saying they want to ditch machines and hand-count ballots, and believe they supervisors should have a choice on whether to certify results. Full story: www.votebeat.org/arizona/2025...
Arizona county known for election turmoil is ready to stir things up again before 2026
New Cochise County supervisors say they want more clarity on the laws — even if it means inviting a court battle with the state.
www.votebeat.org
September 4, 2025 at 8:13 PM
A reminder that election certification law is already very clear: it's a mandatory legal duty, and county officials in Arizona (and across the country) have no discretion to refuse to certify final election results.
Reposted by Lauren Miller Karalunas
The NDNY US Attorney has reportedly issued 2 subpoenas to NY AG Letitia James's office under a 150-yr-old civil rights law in an investigation into whether the office violated Trump's civil rights or the NRA's in successful lawsuits vs each of them. Seems like a page straight out of Project 2025...
Justice Dept. Abruptly Escalates Pressure Campaign on a Trump Adversary
www.nytimes.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The NDNY US Attorney has reportedly issued 2 subpoenas to NY AG Letitia James's office under a 150-yr-old civil rights law in an investigation into whether the office violated Trump's civil rights or the NRA's in successful lawsuits vs each of them. Seems like a page straight out of Project 2025...
Reposted by Lauren Miller Karalunas
Late yesterday, a strong slate of amicus briefs was filed in support of the New York AG's challenge to the Trump Administration's across-the-board freeze of federal funding. Former federal agency officials, scholars, and lawmakers among them! Here are some of the highlights... 🧵⬇️ @brennancenter.org
July 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Late yesterday, a strong slate of amicus briefs was filed in support of the New York AG's challenge to the Trump Administration's across-the-board freeze of federal funding. Former federal agency officials, scholars, and lawmakers among them! Here are some of the highlights... 🧵⬇️ @brennancenter.org
Reposted by Lauren Miller Karalunas
SCOTUS's expanded use of the shadow docket to halt lower court orders against the administration is a huge story. The emergency docket used to be just that - for emergencies. Its expansion has allowed SCOTUS to accrete more power to itself & expand executive power...often without any explanation.
BREAKING: Supreme Court sides with the Trump
administration in yet another emergency plea. This one involves mass layoffs at the Department of Education. The three liberal justices vigorously dissent, accusing the majority of sanctioning “lawlessness“.
administration in yet another emergency plea. This one involves mass layoffs at the Department of Education. The three liberal justices vigorously dissent, accusing the majority of sanctioning “lawlessness“.
July 14, 2025 at 9:45 PM
SCOTUS's expanded use of the shadow docket to halt lower court orders against the administration is a huge story. The emergency docket used to be just that - for emergencies. Its expansion has allowed SCOTUS to accrete more power to itself & expand executive power...often without any explanation.
In an unsigned and unexplained order issued this afternoon, SCOTUS effectively greenlit the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education while the case plays out in lower courts.
Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:
www.supremecourt.gov
July 14, 2025 at 10:17 PM
In an unsigned and unexplained order issued this afternoon, SCOTUS effectively greenlit the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education while the case plays out in lower courts.
Reposted by Lauren Miller Karalunas
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Trump v. CASA changes NOTHING about the fact that President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.
June 27, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Trump v. CASA changes NOTHING about the fact that President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.
Very excited to share this new white paper on election certification! States have a critical opportunity to strengthen their certification frameworks before the midterms - the reforms outlined in the paper will help them meet this moment. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol... @brennancenter.org
Election Certification
Stronger safeguards can ensure that the process cannot be exploited to disrupt elections.
www.brennancenter.org
June 17, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Very excited to share this new white paper on election certification! States have a critical opportunity to strengthen their certification frameworks before the midterms - the reforms outlined in the paper will help them meet this moment. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol... @brennancenter.org
Reposted by Lauren Miller Karalunas
NEW: Next week, a NJ appellate panel will hear oral arguments in "In re Tom Malinowski," a case challenging the state's ban on fusion voting. @lmillerkaralunas.bsky.social breaks down the role of the contested practice in US electoral history and the impact of the case on its future.
New Jersey Considers Challenge to its Ban on Fusion Voting
The practice, which allows multiple political parties to nominate the same candidate for the same office, ensures third parties can meaningfully participate in the electoral process.
statecourtreport.org
December 4, 2024 at 2:02 AM
NEW: Next week, a NJ appellate panel will hear oral arguments in "In re Tom Malinowski," a case challenging the state's ban on fusion voting. @lmillerkaralunas.bsky.social breaks down the role of the contested practice in US electoral history and the impact of the case on its future.