Nathan Cortez
@nathancortez.bsky.social
Callejo Endowed Professor at SMU Law. Admin law, FDA law, regulatory theory, 1A, data policy.
https://faculty.westacademic.com/Book/Detail?id=341299
https://cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781531002459/Readings-in-Comparative-Health-Law-and-Bioethics-Third-E
https://faculty.westacademic.com/Book/Detail?id=341299
https://cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781531002459/Readings-in-Comparative-Health-Law-and-Bioethics-Third-E
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is crowing about Robert Kennedy Jr.’s CDC pushing debunked vaccine misinformation.
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
November 21, 2025 at 2:05 AM
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is crowing about Robert Kennedy Jr.’s CDC pushing debunked vaccine misinformation.
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
Wow.
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers have just identified a powerful new antibiotic that is 100x STRONGER than existing drugs against deadly superbugs like MRSA and VRE. Hiding in a well-known soil bacterium, pre-methylenomycin C lactone KILLS drug-resistant bacteria WITHOUT triggering resistance.
November 18, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Wow.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from showing Faceboon and Instagram users 15 billion “higher legal risk” scam ad impressions a day, internal documents state.
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from showing Faceboon and Instagram users 15 billion “higher legal risk” scam ad impressions a day, internal documents state.
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
That haul vastly exceeds how much the company expects regulators
To fine it for running scam ads.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
I was looking up a case almost no one paid attention to this summer, and I encountered this heck of a footnote from Ketanji Brown Jackson aimed at the six conservative justices.
(Justice Sotomayor, who joined part of her dissent, didn't join the footnote.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
(Justice Sotomayor, who joined part of her dissent, didn't join the footnote.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
![Screenshot of Footnote 12 from Stanley v. City of Stanford, Florida:
The majority’s contention that I reject “ ‘pure textualism’ [a]s insufficiently pliable to secure the result [I] seek,” ante, at 10, stems from an
unfortunate misunderstanding of the judicial role. Our interpretative
task is not to seek our own desired results (whatever they may be). And,
indeed, it is precisely because of this solemn duty that, in my view, it is
imperative that we interpret statutes consistent with all relevant indicia
of what Congress wanted, as best we can ascertain its intent. A methodology that includes consideration of Congress’s aims does exactly that—
and no more. By contrast, pure textualism’s refusal to try to understand
the text of a statute in the larger context of what Congress sought to
achieve turns the interpretive task into a potent weapon for advancing
judicial policy preferences. By “finding” answers in ambiguous text, and
not bothering to consider whether those answers align with other sources
of statutory meaning, pure textualists can easily disguise their own preferences as “textual” inevitabilities. So, really, far from being “insufficiently pliable,” I think pure textualism is incessantly malleable—that’s
its primary problem—and, indeed, it is certainly somehow always flexible enough to secure the majority’s desired outcome.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jech7rem6vijss4euf4fijao/bafkreicaiihpgp3kfw7bkg3dfoekuvbi27petgdlrvserzfznkam2ctdyy@jpeg)
November 3, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I was looking up a case almost no one paid attention to this summer, and I encountered this heck of a footnote from Ketanji Brown Jackson aimed at the six conservative justices.
(Justice Sotomayor, who joined part of her dissent, didn't join the footnote.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
(Justice Sotomayor, who joined part of her dissent, didn't join the footnote.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
We're seeing a massive institutional deportation and state violence apparatus being built and it honestly feels like people dont grasp the sheer scale of it and what already is in place. For every horrific video of masked feds kidnapping people there are so many people pushing paper to help.
NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine.
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
October 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
We're seeing a massive institutional deportation and state violence apparatus being built and it honestly feels like people dont grasp the sheer scale of it and what already is in place. For every horrific video of masked feds kidnapping people there are so many people pushing paper to help.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
The ACIP meeting planned for 22-23 October has been indefinitely postponed. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Threat to US vaccines as CDC staff supporting key advisory panel laid off
Critics say scientists ‘held hostage’ by RFK Jr as changes mean vaccine development and guidance in peril
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
The ACIP meeting planned for 22-23 October has been indefinitely postponed. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
October 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
If That’s a donation, it goes to the treasury and only congress can decide how to spend it. No such (lawful) thing as private payment of government obligation.
Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown
www.nytimes.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:13 AM
If That’s a donation, it goes to the treasury and only congress can decide how to spend it. No such (lawful) thing as private payment of government obligation.
Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
“Coverage of this mass sports gambling arrest is brought to you by DraftKings“
October 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
“Coverage of this mass sports gambling arrest is brought to you by DraftKings“
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Just receieved this today from Florida Blue. This is for a Bronze plan. Our monthly premiums are going from $333 (2025) to $2300 in 2026.
October 20, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Just receieved this today from Florida Blue. This is for a Bronze plan. Our monthly premiums are going from $333 (2025) to $2300 in 2026.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Reporters were seen exiting the Pentagon and vacating their workspaces in the building on Wednesday after most news organizations rejected the Defense Department's new press rules and refused to sign documents acknowledging the policy.
October 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reporters were seen exiting the Pentagon and vacating their workspaces in the building on Wednesday after most news organizations rejected the Defense Department's new press rules and refused to sign documents acknowledging the policy.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
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.
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.
October 16, 2025 at 2:52 AM
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.
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.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:45 PM
If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Great reporting by @lizzylawrence.bsky.social.
Great, insightful quotes from @reshmagar.bsky.social, @nathancortez.bsky.social & @rachelsachs.bsky.social.
Not great news, to say the least, for public health, innovation, or any of us.
Great, insightful quotes from @reshmagar.bsky.social, @nathancortez.bsky.social & @rachelsachs.bsky.social.
Not great news, to say the least, for public health, innovation, or any of us.
Exclusive: How political pressure is shaping the work of the FDA, from searching for autism treatments to heavily focusing on Covid-19 vaccine adverse events. Read for more details on how the leucovorin decision came about, in particular:
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...
Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work
Current and former FDA staff said the level of involvement of political officials in nitty-gritty regulatory matters is unprecedented.
www.statnews.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Great reporting by @lizzylawrence.bsky.social.
Great, insightful quotes from @reshmagar.bsky.social, @nathancortez.bsky.social & @rachelsachs.bsky.social.
Not great news, to say the least, for public health, innovation, or any of us.
Great, insightful quotes from @reshmagar.bsky.social, @nathancortez.bsky.social & @rachelsachs.bsky.social.
Not great news, to say the least, for public health, innovation, or any of us.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
the guy who caught cal raleigh’s homer was wearing a shirt that said dump 61 here and he immediately took it off and had a shirt that said dump 62 here
October 8, 2025 at 1:43 AM
the guy who caught cal raleigh’s homer was wearing a shirt that said dump 61 here and he immediately took it off and had a shirt that said dump 62 here
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
New KFF poll: Americans want Congress to extend the expiring, enhanced Obamacare credits by a whopping margin of 78% to 22% — a remarkable political entrenchment for subsidies that were a heavy political lift for Democrats just a few years ago, per Politico.
October 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
New KFF poll: Americans want Congress to extend the expiring, enhanced Obamacare credits by a whopping margin of 78% to 22% — a remarkable political entrenchment for subsidies that were a heavy political lift for Democrats just a few years ago, per Politico.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
You could not more perfectly invert the whole point of the power of the purse than this false notion the legislature cutting off appropriations means the executive gets more power.
President Trump says he is meeting today with Russ Vought, OMB director and "of PROJECT 2025 Fame," to discuss cuts to "Democrat Agencies."
October 2, 2025 at 12:29 PM
You could not more perfectly invert the whole point of the power of the purse than this false notion the legislature cutting off appropriations means the executive gets more power.
Really big deal that FDA sent a Warning Letter to Hims & Hers for marketing unapproved new drugs (GLP-1s). Telehealth cos sell compounded versions and generally get away with much more aggressive advertising than drug cos could get away with, all under the idea that they're not drug manufacturers.
Hims & Hers Health, Inc. dba Hers - 09/09/2025
Unlawful Sale of Unapproved and Misbranded Drugs to United States Consumers Over the Internet
www.fda.gov
October 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Really big deal that FDA sent a Warning Letter to Hims & Hers for marketing unapproved new drugs (GLP-1s). Telehealth cos sell compounded versions and generally get away with much more aggressive advertising than drug cos could get away with, all under the idea that they're not drug manufacturers.
I had AI create an image of a federal government shutdown for my Administrative Law course. Not bad.
October 1, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I had AI create an image of a federal government shutdown for my Administrative Law course. Not bad.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
You can read @nicholasbednar.bsky.social's explainer here. Key thing to remember, shutdowns have never triggered mass layoffs before. Instead, this is a government that likes to fire employees looking for an excuse to do more of it. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/redu...
Reductions in Force During Shutdowns
The Trump administration plans to use the pending shutdown as justification for additional RIFs.
www.lawfaremedia.org
September 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM
You can read @nicholasbednar.bsky.social's explainer here. Key thing to remember, shutdowns have never triggered mass layoffs before. Instead, this is a government that likes to fire employees looking for an excuse to do more of it. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/redu...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Six Justices shockingly conclude that it's likely the Impoundment Control precludes an otherwise valid APA claim to require expenditure of obligated funds. This argument, which turns the ICA on its head, is so absurd that the Trump DOJ itself wisely disclaimed it a month ago. Utterly lawless.
September 26, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Six Justices shockingly conclude that it's likely the Impoundment Control precludes an otherwise valid APA claim to require expenditure of obligated funds. This argument, which turns the ICA on its head, is so absurd that the Trump DOJ itself wisely disclaimed it a month ago. Utterly lawless.
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
Say goodbye to the separation of powers.
Top line: The Supreme Court grabs power from Congress, which decides what to do with money that belongs to all of us, and hands it to Donald Trump. Forever.
(This money will never reach its intended recipients.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Top line: The Supreme Court grabs power from Congress, which decides what to do with money that belongs to all of us, and hands it to Donald Trump. Forever.
(This money will never reach its intended recipients.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
September 26, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Say goodbye to the separation of powers.
Top line: The Supreme Court grabs power from Congress, which decides what to do with money that belongs to all of us, and hands it to Donald Trump. Forever.
(This money will never reach its intended recipients.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Top line: The Supreme Court grabs power from Congress, which decides what to do with money that belongs to all of us, and hands it to Donald Trump. Forever.
(This money will never reach its intended recipients.)
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Nathan Cortez
This is bonkers. FDA is going to change leucovorin's label based on a lit review with data on 40 patients w/ cerebral folate deficiency and comparisons to "known natural history."
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/f...
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/f...
FDA brings back GSK's leucovorin drug that RFK Jr. touted as autism treatment
The Trump administration is touting leucovorin as a treatment for autism.
www.statnews.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:07 AM
This is bonkers. FDA is going to change leucovorin's label based on a lit review with data on 40 patients w/ cerebral folate deficiency and comparisons to "known natural history."
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/f...
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/f...