Blaine Stum
@bstum.bsky.social
310 followers 520 following 250 posts
DC Council Staffer 🏛️ Staunchly Pro-Democracy Former CJ TA Provider/Researcher Gay Cat Owner 🏳️‍🌈😸 Movie and Music Nerd 🎥🎶🤓 **All Opinions My Own**
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Reposted by Blaine Stum
bradheath.bsky.social
President Donald Trump's threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
ddayen.bsky.social
So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."
Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis
In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.
prospect.org
Reposted by Blaine Stum
marcelias.bsky.social
Donald Trump is calling for the jailing of his political opponents in Chicago. His DOJ lackeys have already indicted a NJ Congresswoman for conducting ICE facility oversight and James Comey. John Bolton's house was raided.

We must treat these latest threats seriously and all stand up against them.
bstum.bsky.social
I’d love if it people who are not actual residents of DC don’t speak for those of us who are.
atrupar.com
Rep. Riley Moore: "I think the actual residents of Washington DC are very happy with the outcome. And I think the actual residents of Chicago and our other great cities here in America would actually like to have safe streets and not people murdered every night."
bstum.bsky.social
It’s been wild to watch a group of legislators so quickly, willingly, and knowingly abdicate their authority. I guess they don’t want the job?
bstum.bsky.social
Someone needs to remind Congressional Republicans that the legislature— not the Executive— appropriates revenue. Apparently they missed that part of American Government 101.
bstum.bsky.social
Appreciate the work you did. I remember debating Abowd a few times about the need for differential privacy and it was... a frustrating conversation every time.
Reposted by Blaine Stum
michellechap76.bsky.social
Here's a fun fact for week 2 of the federal shutdown:

Number of appropriations bills passed by the House this year: 3

Number of anti-DC bills passed by the House this year: 7

Even when the House was in session, Republicans were spending time harassing DC instead of doing their jobs #FreeDC
Reposted by Blaine Stum
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
For lots more context beyond Elliott's essay, @lilymasonphd.bsky.social & I have a forthcoming article in POQ on best practices for measuring & interpreting violent political attitudes, w/ tons of new evidence.

Pre-print: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9blbj...

Appendix: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kc1i5...
Reposted by Blaine Stum
swin24.bsky.social
“The senior administration official, as well as other Trump officials, note that it is a priority of the president’s that these kinds of military deployments — in L.A., and now D.C., in times of relative calm — become normalized in American political culture”

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Blaine Stum
jeffasher.bsky.social
New this week: I took a preliminary look at DC's crime trends since the federal intervention. I don't see much change in overall violent crime, potentially a drop in shootings that's hard to tease out from the preexisting trend, and a drop in property crime. jasher.substack.com/p/re-evaluat...
Re-Evaluating Washington DC's Crime Trends
A preliminary look at crime trends in DC.
jasher.substack.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
justiceconnection.bsky.social
Today, we released a letter signed by nearly 300 former DOJ employees who were recently pushed out.

Together, we sound the alarm about the degradation of DOJ and warn that democracy can’t survive without the primary institution that enforces the law: bit.ly/48AnzcT
Reposted by Blaine Stum
victorerikray.bsky.social
The media trots out the "deplorable" comment from a decade ago to castigate the left. Once a week now Trump implies that the military should destroy democrats, and it is just how things are.
atrupar.com
Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."
Reposted by Blaine Stum
ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
The protests are on one block. Nothing is burning down. His justification for sending in troops is all based on lies.
Reposted by Blaine Stum
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
So much Democrat and pundit handwringing about the shutdown as if they're in charge of the government.

They're not. The only possibilities are Trump makes things worse with Democratic approval or Trump makes things worse despite Democratic resistance. Don't bail him out.

My latest (on @msnbc.com):
Opinion | Democrats shouldn’t bail out Trump as the shutdown drags on
The best time for the opposition to take a stand, rather than settle for untrustworthy promises, is right now.
www.msnbc.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
kristinacooke.bsky.social
I spoke to a Venezuelan woman who was arrested in this raid and later released with her 4yo son. She said agents broke down their door, pointed guns at them and made sexualized remarks about Venezuelan women. When she returned to her apartment it was boarded up and all her possessions were gone.
Reposted by Blaine Stum
Reposted by Blaine Stum
davidjbier.bsky.social
Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…
Reposted by Blaine Stum
sahilkapur.bsky.social
New Washington Post poll on who voters blame for the government shutdown:
Reposted by Blaine Stum
anjalienjeti.bsky.social
My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”
Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
chicago.suntimes.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
Reposted by Blaine Stum
haleaziz.bsky.social
ICE had made only 85 arrests in Washington from Jan. 20 through the end of July. But from early August until mid-September, ICE made around 1,200 arrests, according to officials with knowledge of the data.

We detail how that happened:

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/u...
How Washington Became a Testing Ground for ICE
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
chmnmendelson.bsky.social
While the shutdown will undoubtedly impact some District residents employed by the federal government, local services will not be affected. We may also see some cutback in federal services and that will also affect District residents.

My statement below
“The shutdown and subsequent threats to employees’ livelihoods by the federal government is disappointing, unfortunately unsurprising, and ultimately avoidable,” Mendelson said. “The Republicans hold control of both Houses of the Legislature as well as the Presidency. This is a problem of their own doing.
 
“But make no mistake, the District government will continue to function. The District is well-managed and we have funds in our coffers, so we will continue operations. The federal government could learn by the example set by the District of Columbia government.”
Reposted by Blaine Stum
jamellebouie.net
my latest is expanding on the observation that your view of the politics of opposition to the administration depend largely on your view of the election (gift link)
Opinion | Trump Has No Mandate to Destroy America
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Blaine Stum
juliezebrak.bsky.social
“Trump’s remarks were not…merely among the most disturbing or dangerous ever delivered by a US president. None, even during civil war or other moments of unrest, has so openly and hostilely targeted their own civilians.” @djrothkopf.bsky.social
www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-gener...
Trump’s Generals Speech Proved to Be Dumb, Deluded... and Dangerous
President Trump and Pentagon Pete seem determined to declare war on America itself.
www.thedailybeast.com