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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Trump's secret police draw assault weapons on US citizens who are protesting peacefully against them, ram cars and then fire tear gas, saying they "feel threatened." The crash happened late Tuesday morning near 105th Street and Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood.
Feds ram SUV after chase down residential street in Chicago, then tear-gas crowd
The crash happened late Tuesday morning near 105th Street and Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood. Two men being pursued were arrested as were two bystanders. The crash drew dozens of neighbors who...
chicago.suntimes.com
11 13

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit , and 11 more

nytimes.com
President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.
Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money
The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.
nyti.ms
310 120 240

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, David R. Miller, Robert B. Reich

bbkogan.bsky.social
Trump and Vought are now breaking both sides of spending law. They’re illegally not spending where the law requires them to spend, and they’re illegally spending where they don’t have the money to spend.

What we have is an appropriations king.

Spending “deals” are meaningless under that setup.
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by Andrew Rudalevige

rudalev.bsky.social
Not the main point of course but if you direct a non-existent official to do something, is that directive binding?
jamiedupree.bsky.social
Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · 8h
The White House has announced the details of how it will shift money into military pay during the shutdown - by using 31 U.S.C. 1301(a). No estimate was given by OMB on how much money is involved, or how long this can work. policy.defense.gov/portals/11/D...
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

jamiedupree.bsky.social
The White House has announced the details of how it will shift money into military pay during the shutdown - by using 31 U.S.C. 1301(a). No estimate was given by OMB on how much money is involved, or how long this can work. policy.defense.gov/portals/11/D...
2 3 6

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, David R. Miller

davidkurtz.bsky.social
Not just Venezuela. Colombia, too. And not just extra-judicial, but indiscriminate: "the Pentagon was unable to determine the individual identities of each person on the boats before they struck them."
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Anna O. Law, Daniel W. Drezner , and 2 more

reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Remember when Stephen Miller claimed the Chicago apartment raid was on a building “filled with Tren de Aragua terrorists”?

Well, DHS has now dropped the number of alleged TdA members arrested in the building from 2 to 1.
Just one "verified" Tren de Aragua member and one U.S. citizen with an active warrant were among the 37, DHS said, without saying how it had verified that gang affiliation. Others taken that day, the agency said, were "illegal aliens."
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by Andrew Rudalevige — Reposted by James Goodwin, Stuart Shapiro

rudalev.bsky.social
Indeed so. The only major effort was to repair the Electoral Count Act. Important - but reforms to the National Emergencies Act, the Civil Service Reform Act (to bar Schedule F), the Insurrection Act, etc., should not have been out of reach.
qjurecic.bsky.social
Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 2d
Congressional Dems and the Biden admin should have put more effort into passing post-Trump reforms. We need more aggressive reform than what was on offer then, but it could really have helped
8 27 140

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Kori Schake

qjurecic.bsky.social
Congressional Dems and the Biden admin should have put more effort into passing post-Trump reforms. We need more aggressive reform than what was on offer then, but it could really have helped
30 40 430

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Nandita Sharma, Tom Clark , and 2 more

atrupar.com
REPORTER: We know the president moved forward with mass layoffs. We're also learning there were significant cuts to staff at special education services. Are you comfortable with those cuts?

MIKE JOHNSON: I haven't seen the specifics of that and I don't know
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by David R. Miller — Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

davidryanmiller.com
Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the US Constitution called and wants to weigh in:
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Scott A. Imberman

amtappeals.bsky.social
Every federal department has a RIF plan. And back in February, they were all ordered to update them. RIFs can be legal, if they follow the plan. But based on the President’s comments yesterday, there is good reason to believe that (a) they aren’t, or (b) the plan itself is illegal. My bet is (a).
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Mark A. Lemley, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 6 more

thetnholler.bsky.social
“YOU hit HER.”

CHICAGO - Trump’s ICE goons ram into a passing car after snatching someone, then brutally drag the female driver of the car they hit out of her car with guns drawn and arrest her too. (Her brother says she’s a citizen)
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Libertarianism, Millei style
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings , and 12 more

davidcorn.bsky.social
A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Joshua S. Weitz, Laia Balcells

sherylnyt.bsky.social
FULL STORY HERE: Emails began flooding CDC inboxes late Friday night announcing dozens of layoffs. HR people brought back from furlough to oversee the RIFs. Disease detectives, entire Washington office, global health, injury prevention, MMWR staff among those hit.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, David S. Cohen

sahilkapur.bsky.social
New from Susan Collins: “I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’s attempt to permanently lay off federal workers who have been furloughed due to a completely unnecessary government shutdown caused by Senator Schumer.”
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, David R. Miller, Aaron Sojourner , and 1 more

heathercherone.bsky.social
Perry: DOJ's definition of rebellion would mean that
"literally all nonviolent protest” could be considered evidence of rebellion. Is that your argument?
Hamilton: The president has determined there is a danger of a rebellion, and you must defer to that finding
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by Lisa W. Fazio — Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, James Q. Wilson, Brendan Nyhan , and 2 more

lkfazio.bsky.social
"American civil society has more than enough financial and organizational muscle to stop this authoritarian offensive. But it requires collective resolve. And it requires leadership, which has been in painfully short supply."

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.
www.thecrimson.com
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Richard S.J. Tol, Norbert Schwarz , and 16 more

atrupar.com
Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller , and 12 more

jackjenkins.me
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray. “I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.” But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire. “We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Joe R. Feagin, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 2 more

sbagen.bsky.social
Feel free to attribute the following to a former OMB General Counsel: The supposed "new legal analysis" is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit. What the law actually says is that when Congress enacts a law ending a lapse, furloughed employees get paid at the earliest date possible. Period.
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d
Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Richard S.J. Tol, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 7 more

atrupar.com
Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

greggnunziata.bsky.social
"We have to take care of this little gnat on our shoulder called the Democrats," says the American President to cheering servicemembers.

This is so incredibly repugnant and un-American, on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin.
1 3 28

Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers , and 7 more

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”

@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Rosemary A. Joyce, Alan Richardson , and 1 more

helldude.bsky.social
its truly remarkable, you have to really take the measure of it and it's almost hard to comprehend it, but the president of the united states is having texas invade illinois and oregon just to make twitter content
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

princetonupress.bsky.social
Tomorrow (October 6th) at 6:00 pm EDT, please join the University of New England in welcoming William G. Howell for a conversation with @rudalev.bsky.social regarding his book with Terry M. Moe, Trajectory of Power. Learn more about this in-person event here: www.une.edu/events/2025/....
Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency by Terry M. Moe and William G. Howell William G. Howell
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Jonathan Portes, Anna O. Law , and 23 more

dlknowles.bsky.social
I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Daniel W. Drezner, Simon Lester , and 2 more

annabower.bsky.social
Among other things, it remains extremely weird that the [checks notes] director of the FBI uses phrases like “ass clown factory” in public statements posted on his official account
FBI Director Kash Patel * ® @FBIDirectorKash X.com BREAKING: MSNBC still an ass clown factory of disinformation. Same circus animals that slobbered all over perp walks of Stone, Navarro, Bannon... MSNBC has no facts and no audience In this @fbi, follow the chain of command or get relieved. & Barb McQuade @ @BarbMcQuade • 15h DOJ policy prohibits "perp walks," in which arrestees are paraded before the cameras.
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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige, Kim L. Scheppele, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 2 more

bradheath.bsky.social
DHS says an operation last week in which agents raided a Chicago apartment building, rappelled in from helicopters, broke down doors and detained numerous residents, resulted in the arrest of two suspected gang members.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
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