Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 2h

Vance says Trump is ‘looking at all his options’ as the president threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...

Vance says Trump is ‘looking at all his options’ as the president threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act

The Insurrection Act would allow the president to deploy the U.S. military domestically for law enforcement purposes.

www.nbcnews.com

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Michelle Hart @michellehart99.bsky.social · 2h

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...

Who Are the Louisiana Voters Behind a Major Supreme Court Challenge?

www.nytimes.com

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Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 2h

HIGH STAKES: The Supreme Court this week considers whether to cast another blow against the landmark Voting Rights Act in a case that could lead to fewer minorities in Congress & state legislatures.

Here's what it's all about:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Stakes are high for voting rights as Supreme Court again tackles Louisiana redistricting dispute

The conservative majority could use the case to further weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to protect minority voters.

www.nbcnews.com

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Jim Drumheller ☮️ 🟧 🐾 @jimdrumheller.bsky.social · 3h

Inmates say Ghislaine Maxwell gets special treatment in luxury prison. Inmates caught saying so are transferred to normal prisons as punishment.

#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles

www.wsj.com/us-news/ghis...

Lockdowns and a Mysterious Meeting: A Quiet Texas Prison Adapts to Life With Ghislaine Maxwell

The unexpected arrival of the Epstein associate upset the camp’s routines. Some inmates say she got favorable treatment.

www.wsj.com

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 20h

Illinois law requires all registered vehicles to display front and back license plates, without exception. But to evade accountability, masked federal immigration agents are driving around in unmarked cars without plates.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...?

Federal immigration officers wear masks, no name tags — now some drive cars without license plates

The Sun-Times has documented four unmarked cars carrying federal officers without required plates, offering another way to shield their identities. Federal officials say they’re meeting regulations.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 19h

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Carolyn Shapiro @cshaplaw.bsky.social · 20h

Note that this is a partial grant of the administrative stay only. The court has not ruled on the stay pending appeal.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 20h

#BREAKING The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals PARTIALLY grants the stay sought by the Trump Administration.

The stay is GRANTED as to federalization of the National Guard.

But it is DENIED as to deployment.

So deployment still BLOCKED, but troops "do not need to return to their home states."

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22h

a russ vought special

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 22h

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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

“We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close.”

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

New — Video shared with me shows ICE officers in DC detaining a man on Friday.

Bystander filming asks man for his name. ICE agent lies and says he’s not allowed to speak to him “by law” and another says “We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close…If he gets any closer, put him in cuffs.”

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 1d

Their complaints that Dems oppose the “rural hospital fund” are so hilarious.

Kind of like: “I’m going to burn down your house and give you a chocolate chip cookie instead.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“What you don’t like chocolate chip cookies!?”

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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23h

PORTLAND, Ore. — A small group of federal agents in camouflage and face masks watched from atop the immigration processing center Thursday night as a unicorn, peacock, dinosaur and raccoon danced to Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.” www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Costumed protesters in Portland defy description of the city as a 'war zone'

Dancing frogs, peacocks and unicorns outside the federal immigration building present a joyful contrast to the Trump administration's portrait of the Oregon city, they say.

www.nbcnews.com

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 23h

Luttig has it right here: “[T]he Supreme Court has given them no choice but to speak out.”

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 1d

More judges speak to the press (the NYT) about what a disaster the Supreme Court (specifically the shadow docket) has been - “incredibly demoralizing & troubling”; a “judicial crisis”; a “slap in the face to district courts.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 1d

They continue to eviscerate the public health machinery that has quietly kept Americans, and others around the world, safe and healthy for decades.

The staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal that reports on health trends and emerging infectious threats, was also laid off. The publication’s storied history includes a June 1981 report that five previously healthy gay men were treated for an unusual pneumonia — the first hint of the AIDS epidemic.

Roughly 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers — the so-called “disease detectives” who respond to outbreaks around the globe — received layoff notices, according to a person familiar with them. The service was spared during an earlier round of layoffs in February.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

“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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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

The IRS is laying off people during the shutdown, even though it was rehiring staff it previously fired because it was so shorthanded.
This one stands out because firing IRS employees costs the government money, since they bring in about $6-8 for every dollar spent on tax enforcement

IRS Halts Layoff Plans, Begins Rehiring Amid Staffing Shortages
The agency is attempting to rebuild its workforce and restore public confidence.

Treasury Department: Treasury cut 1,446 employees on Friday. Two Internal Revenue Service employees confirmed layoffs were taking place at the tax agency, which has already shed more than 25,000 employees. One employee who was laid off was working Friday and exempt from shutdown furloughs.

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Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 1d

Late Friday, the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle over whether the White House can deploy National Guard troops in Illinois.

Trump asks appeals court to intervene after judge blocks National Guard deployment to Illinois

Justice Department lawyers say U.S. District Judge April Perry "impermissibly second-guessed the Commander in Chief."

trib.al

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CNBC @cnbc.com · 1d

Market sell-off: Trump post lops off $2 trillion from stocks in a single day

The unraveling shows the sway the president's one-man trade policy still has over the fate of the global economy.

cnb.cx

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Same day that the US announced a $20 billion bailout of Argentina that will benefit Trump's political allies and donors.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

CNN reporting that 4,000 federal employees were fired on Friday, in HHS, Education, Energy, HUD, Homeland Security, Patent and Trademark Office, EPA.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/10/p...

Trump administration lays off thousands of federal workers during government shutdown | CNN Politics

More than 4,000 federal employees received layoff notices Friday as part of the Trump administration’s broad effort to reshape the government while it remains shutdown, according to a court filing Fri...

www.cnn.com

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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 1d

The editors of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) were apparently fired today.

The precursor to MMWR began in 1878 to address emerging public health threats rapidly.

We are not “great” without it. We are vulnerable to threats from sporadic foodborne illness to bioterrorism.

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Michelle Hart @michellehart99.bsky.social · 1d

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Obamacare Enrollment by State: Most Enrollees Live in Republican Areas

Millions of Americans depend on Obamacare. Here's where they live.

www.nytimes.com

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Robert Smith @bondhack.ft.com · 1d

I very much enjoyed this sweepy take on First Brands Group’s implosion from Rob Copeland at the New York Times.

It was also good of him to the credit the FT for its early reporting on the debacle. A hat tip costs nothing!

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/b...

Billions of Dollars ‘Vanished’: Low-Profile Bankruptcy Rings Alarms on Wall Street

www.nytimes.com

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 1d

Appears the Trump admin’s reduction in force has hit housing hard this evening.

Reports that all CDFI fund staff have been let go. HUD appears to have lost 442 staff.

Yet another federal cut that will make providing affordable housing in the US all the more challenging.

Reports that all staff of CDFI Fund have been let go

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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 1d

More on the CDC tonight: @jeremyfaust.bsky.social , who is impeccably sourced there (physician, Harvard faculty) has details on the divisions hit by the apparently illegal RIFS. insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...

BREAKING NEWS: CDC employees terminated in apparent Friday night massacre.

The Trump administration is using the shutdown to further weaken the our national public health infrastructure.

insidemedicine.substack.com

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

The campaign against “antifa” is about establishing a beachhead for further attacks on speech and assembly rights. We see that today in the effort to preemptively label No Kings protesters as “terrorists.”

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