David Froomkin
@dfroomkin.bsky.social
Assistant professor, University of Houston Law Center. I write about democracy and the separation of powers. ssrn.com/author=3062912
Pinned
David Froomkin
@dfroomkin.bsky.social
· Jul 29
politicalsciencenow.com
I am very honored that my dissertation has been selected by the American Political Science Association to receive the 2025 Leonard D. White Award for the best dissertation in the field of public administration. What a time to be thinking about why we should have a separation of powers!
“It’s quite rare for the state to announce that it has a racial objective behind a redistricting plan,” he said. “In fact, announcing that the objective of a redistricting plan is to reallocate political power on the basis of race is exactly what a state is not supposed to do.”
UH Law Prof: Supreme Court Should Toss '25 Redistricting Maps - Houston Press
A University of Houston law professor says Republican politicians clearly initially presented their call for redistricting on racial grounds.
www.houstonpress.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
“It’s quite rare for the state to announce that it has a racial objective behind a redistricting plan,” he said. “In fact, announcing that the objective of a redistricting plan is to reallocate political power on the basis of race is exactly what a state is not supposed to do.”
Reposted by David Froomkin
"There was a fairly explicit racial gerrymander here. They said it was about race before they said it was about politics." - University of Houston law professor David Froomkin
www.houstonpress.com/news/uh-law-...
www.houstonpress.com/news/uh-law-...
UH Law Prof: Supreme Court Should Toss '25 Redistricting Maps - Houston Press
A University of Houston law professor says Republican politicians clearly initially presented their call for redistricting on racial grounds.
www.houstonpress.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
"There was a fairly explicit racial gerrymander here. They said it was about race before they said it was about politics." - University of Houston law professor David Froomkin
www.houstonpress.com/news/uh-law-...
www.houstonpress.com/news/uh-law-...
In which Josh Blackman and I disagree about the effects of Judge Smith's dissent.
My take: "the rhetoric of Judge Smith's dissenting opinion increases the likelihood that a stay from the Supreme Court would be understood as a partisan intervention."
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...
My take: "the rhetoric of Judge Smith's dissenting opinion increases the likelihood that a stay from the Supreme Court would be understood as a partisan intervention."
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...
U.S. circuit judge blasts ruling against Texas redistricting map, seeks Supreme Court review | Houston Public Media
Judge Jerry E. Smith accused his two colleagues who issued the injunction of acting in bad faith, issuing a decision rife with errors, falsehoods, and judicial activism.
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:56 PM
In which Josh Blackman and I disagree about the effects of Judge Smith's dissent.
My take: "the rhetoric of Judge Smith's dissenting opinion increases the likelihood that a stay from the Supreme Court would be understood as a partisan intervention."
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...
My take: "the rhetoric of Judge Smith's dissenting opinion increases the likelihood that a stay from the Supreme Court would be understood as a partisan intervention."
www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...
I think it is hard to read the Smith dissent as anything other than sending a message that conservative judges will face consequences for following the law when it does not further conservative movement goals. How Roberts was treated for his vote in NFIB v. Sebelius but on steroids.
Given the unprecedented and widely discussed avalanche of violent threats targeting federal judges these days, an appellate judge's decision to go after a district judge in this way in a high-profile opinion seems inappropriate. At best.
To be clear, Trump appointed the judge that Judge Smith calls out by name repeatedly throughout his dissent (Judge "Jeffrey Vincent Brown") during Trump's first term.
I've never seen one judge go after another by name, let alone using all three names as if Judge Brown were an assassin.
I've never seen one judge go after another by name, let alone using all three names as if Judge Brown were an assassin.
November 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I think it is hard to read the Smith dissent as anything other than sending a message that conservative judges will face consequences for following the law when it does not further conservative movement goals. How Roberts was treated for his vote in NFIB v. Sebelius but on steroids.
Reposted by David Froomkin
I dunno, man, if I began an opinion with a 3+ page "Preliminary Statement" complaining about disrespectful conduct by the other two judges on the panel, I would not immediately follow it up with this:
November 19, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I dunno, man, if I began an opinion with a 3+ page "Preliminary Statement" complaining about disrespectful conduct by the other two judges on the panel, I would not immediately follow it up with this:
The different approaches taken in the Texas redistricting case by two Republican-appointed judges, Judge Brown (following the law) and Judge Smith (deranged conspiracy theorizing), provide a pretty good microcosm of our legal culture.
November 19, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The different approaches taken in the Texas redistricting case by two Republican-appointed judges, Judge Brown (following the law) and Judge Smith (deranged conspiracy theorizing), provide a pretty good microcosm of our legal culture.
Reposted by David Froomkin
That's the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966, 5 U.S.C. § 7342, under which Trump doesn't get to keep foreign gifts unless he buys them at fair market value. Do we think Trump doesn't know this? Or do we think he just steals them, and assume this is as dead a letter as so many other laws? 2/2
November 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
That's the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966, 5 U.S.C. § 7342, under which Trump doesn't get to keep foreign gifts unless he buys them at fair market value. Do we think Trump doesn't know this? Or do we think he just steals them, and assume this is as dead a letter as so many other laws? 2/2
None of us should be pretending that the Constitution has not completely collapsed.
"It was tough to beat Apple, but the Swiss did it." said one administration official.
How the Swiss convinced Trump to drop tariffs with gifts of a Rolex desk clock and a 1 kg gold bar.
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How the Swiss convinced Trump to drop tariffs with gifts of a Rolex desk clock and a 1 kg gold bar.
www.axios.com/2025/11/14/t...
How to lobby Trump with Swiss precision: gifts, gold and gab
How the Swiss broke a diplomatic logjam on tariffs by arriving with tributes fit for a king.
www.axios.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:50 PM
None of us should be pretending that the Constitution has not completely collapsed.
Reposted by David Froomkin
The main thing I want you to understand is that if you're like an unironic Bluesky liberal the people who control the heights of American culture and the intelligentsia genuinely despise you and would prefer the company of fascist pedophiles.
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The main thing I want you to understand is that if you're like an unironic Bluesky liberal the people who control the heights of American culture and the intelligentsia genuinely despise you and would prefer the company of fascist pedophiles.
Kids taught to "read" without processing the words on the page. In a world of AI, the next step is being taught to "think" without processing any ideas.
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Kids taught to "read" without processing the words on the page. In a world of AI, the next step is being taught to "think" without processing any ideas.
Reposted by David Froomkin
A horrifying read, based on NYT interviews with 40 people the Trump administration sent to an infamous prison in El Salvador. (Gift Link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A horrifying read, based on NYT interviews with 40 people the Trump administration sent to an infamous prison in El Salvador. (Gift Link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
Reposted by David Froomkin
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
Trump on Ilhan Omar: "I look at somebody who comes from Somalia...and she comes in and tells us how to run our country. 'The Constitution says this, the Constitution says that.' The whole thing is crazy."
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
Possibly the most horrifying explanation. If true, it means that Senate Dems are taking a big loss now in order to preserve their ability to take big losses in the future.
November 10, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Possibly the most horrifying explanation. If true, it means that Senate Dems are taking a big loss now in order to preserve their ability to take big losses in the future.
Reposted by David Froomkin
People are saying there's no upside to this deal. Wait a second. Isn't the end of Chuck Schumer's political career an upside?
November 10, 2025 at 1:55 AM
People are saying there's no upside to this deal. Wait a second. Isn't the end of Chuck Schumer's political career an upside?
Reposted by David Froomkin
reminder to any ambitious Dems waiting in the wings: announcing a primary challenge right now to a squishy Democrat who’s up in 2026, whether they voted tonight to shine Trump’s shoes or not, will almost instantaneously be awash in cash. fortune—and a primary challenge—favors the bold.
November 10, 2025 at 2:14 AM
reminder to any ambitious Dems waiting in the wings: announcing a primary challenge right now to a squishy Democrat who’s up in 2026, whether they voted tonight to shine Trump’s shoes or not, will almost instantaneously be awash in cash. fortune—and a primary challenge—favors the bold.
I don't understand what is even the conceivable upside of this deal. Is the collaboration the point?
November 10, 2025 at 12:51 AM
I don't understand what is even the conceivable upside of this deal. Is the collaboration the point?
Reposted by David Froomkin
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
The problem with urging triangulation as a political strategy is that it is myopic. If Democrats are relentlessly focused on chasing the median voter while Republicans are instead focused on moving the median voter further to the right, then there will be an inexorable rightward drift in politics.
My pitch to progressives would be that you need to think long and hard about how awful — racist, transphobic, a climate denier whatever else — you think I am and then assimilate the information that I’m a Clinton / Biden / Harris voter and Democrats need to win the votes of people way to my right!
November 4, 2025 at 8:35 PM
The problem with urging triangulation as a political strategy is that it is myopic. If Democrats are relentlessly focused on chasing the median voter while Republicans are instead focused on moving the median voter further to the right, then there will be an inexorable rightward drift in politics.
Reposted by David Froomkin
Not sure how many Cheney obits will mention this murderous legacy of his.
Post-9/11 wars have contributed to some 4.5 million deaths, report suggests
Researchers attempt to calculate the number of deaths attributable to the war on terrorism, across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Not sure how many Cheney obits will mention this murderous legacy of his.
One could say the same thing about practically every Republican interviewed on TV. Why bother interviewing any of them? That time could instead be spent informing viewers.
On this @60Minutes interview. Trump lies as he breathes. He lies every time he opens his mouth. We’ve never ever faced this before. And the media still has no fucking clue how to deal with it. It is pointless to interview him if you don’t fact check his lies. It’s just pointless.
November 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
One could say the same thing about practically every Republican interviewed on TV. Why bother interviewing any of them? That time could instead be spent informing viewers.
Reposted by David Froomkin
Look, this is what any attention-seeking news outlet would do if they were honest and not captured by ref-working
someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives
November 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Look, this is what any attention-seeking news outlet would do if they were honest and not captured by ref-working
Reposted by David Froomkin
Recently my brother in law explained what gerrymandering was to a coworker and they didn’t believe him because if that were really happening there would be riots in the street
This week I had someone tell me they're not worried about SNAP being cut off because "that's illegal, so it's impossible Trump could do that, so obviously it's just media sensationalism." Another person told me they weren't worried about ICE because "they can't detain you if you're legally here."
November 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Recently my brother in law explained what gerrymandering was to a coworker and they didn’t believe him because if that were really happening there would be riots in the street
What is happening is the consequence of failing to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. People cannot comprehend that someone who has done such awful things would not be in prison, so to reduce cognitive dissonance they infer that Trump cannot be as bad as Democrats say.
This week I had someone tell me they're not worried about SNAP being cut off because "that's illegal, so it's impossible Trump could do that, so obviously it's just media sensationalism." Another person told me they weren't worried about ICE because "they can't detain you if you're legally here."
November 2, 2025 at 3:43 PM
What is happening is the consequence of failing to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. People cannot comprehend that someone who has done such awful things would not be in prison, so to reduce cognitive dissonance they infer that Trump cannot be as bad as Democrats say.
Reposted by David Froomkin
I use Claude (an AI) to scan my posts for spelling and grammar errors. On the most recent post (about the East Wing, link below), I got a really amazing addendum.
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
October 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I use Claude (an AI) to scan my posts for spelling and grammar errors. On the most recent post (about the East Wing, link below), I got a really amazing addendum.
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
This is probably the single biggest problem with our constitutional design—worse even than the odious Senate and Electoral College.
Call me crazy but I really just don't think a president should be able to veto Congressional judgments that he's abusing his powers
US SENATE VOTES 51-47 TO OVERTURN TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ GLOBAL TARIFFS — FOUR REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMOCRATS; MOVE IS MOSTLY SYMBOLIC AS WHITE HOUSE LIKELY TO VETO
October 30, 2025 at 7:00 PM
This is probably the single biggest problem with our constitutional design—worse even than the odious Senate and Electoral College.