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Don Moynihan

@donmoyn.bsky.social

160K followers 2.2K following 14K posts

Policy Professor, Ford School, University of Michigan. Irish immigrant. Administrative burdens guy. Free newsletter, Can We Still Govern?: https://donmoynihan.substack.com

donmoynihan.substack.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 8h

Re-upping this piece on news that Vought is firing federal employees:
*Vought lying that shutdowns compel layoffs, never have before.
*Layoffs are a choice, the shutdown is an excuse.
*Comes on top of existing RIFs, will make restoring govt services harder post-shutdown.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Shutdown hostage taking

Russ Vought's threatens more mass firings; SCOTUS blesses his de facto impoundment

substack.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 20m

RFK Jr unhappy about cdc scientists who would not go along w his claims

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 28m

RIFs can’t be done without agency leadership so this is RFK Jr extending his purge of CDC scientists to help Vought’s shutdown agenda. Genuine public health risks created by aggrieved men.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 48m

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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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1h

DOGE was a catastrophic failure by any measure except further hollowing out govt to be fleeced by tech guys. So yeah, DOGE seems like a success if rent-seeking is your goal, but no serious policymaker is under any obligation to take these people seriously, and those that do are doing it for the $

He praised Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative to slash federal spending, texting a recent photo of himself hanging out with Mr. Musk and a Tesla robot. He likewise praised David Sacks, another San Francisco tech billionaire and the chairman of Mr. Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

Like, I think our society has given way too much political power to guys whose worldview is reshaped by political invitations to dine with the King of England and have no idea about what is happening in American cities.

Mr. Benioff is close enough to Mr. Trump to have been invited last month to a state dinner that was hosted by King Charles for the president at Windsor Castle in England. Mr. Benioff said that he was incredibly honored to be seated directly across the table from Mr. Trump and spent the dinner telling him “how grateful I am for everything he’s doing,” he recounted.

Mr. Benioff, who also owns Time magazine, said he had not closely followed the news about the immigration raids, Mr. Trump’s call to gerrymander congressional districts before the midterm elections, the government shutdown or the Trump administration’s attacks on the media. He said Time, which named Mr. Trump its “Person of the Year” last year, had faced no pressure from the White House.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

These guys have gotten incredibly rich by fleecing the government with subpar tech that was designed for rentseeking rather than performance. A smart Dem agenda item would be to build internal tech capacity. The fact that it would punish these guys is just a silver lining.

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 2h

Being a billionaire must really fuck with your mind. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 5h

Since it is Friday, I am once again reminding you that I am running for CA Assembly District 72, and that my solemn pledge not to use any campaign funds to eat excessive amounts of tortellinis remains in effect.

These are personal tortellinis.

secure.actblue.com/donate/kluwe

A plastic bowl filled with discount tortellinis and marinara sauce

www.kluweoc.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

Incredible Congressional hearing opportunity here which is to ask Oz if he knows how numbers work.
Like, Katie Porter whiteboard stuff: "Ok, if the drug was $100 per month, and it was reduced by 650%, what would the price be?"
bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Dr Oz: "Drugs for lung diseases are discounted massively. The president highlighted 650%. Significant discounts ... "

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

"Turn around or you're going to get the dog."

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 4h

This is not a border crossing.
There’s no law that any of us have to show our papers on the interior.

This is a blatant civil rights violation. How is anyone supposed to know whether this man is a real ICE agent or just pretending to be one?!

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 3h

He tried everything else and now he's going to put on a frog costume and dance like Gene from Bob's Burgers okay

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

National Design Studio has one client, and it's not the American public

Let the Right Hon In @danhon.com · 2h

National Design Studio looks like it's shipped its first website:

trumprx.gov

TrumpRx

The lowest prescription prices in America. Coming January 2026.

trumprx.gov

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

The price of the undeserved power you receive as a Trump cabinet official is to be a conspiracy theory prop, to have everyone you know still based in the world of facts and reason look at you and think "what the fuck happened to that guy?" bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Trump: "I had it going very well in my first term, but we were interrupted by a rigged election."

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2h

It is very telling that behind Trump stand senior HHS officials. They literally stand behind the most obvious falsehoods, which tells you all you need to know about how much faith you should put in any statements they make about the science of public health

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4h

Trump: "Portland, I mean -- every time I look at that place it's burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don't put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up."

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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 4h

that johnson is more terrified of seating a duly elected democrat who could force an epstein vote than having the entire government shut down really makes me wonder about that epstein vote tbh

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 3h

As a group, District Judges (from across the ideological spectrum!) performing as well as just about anyone right now in defending democratic liberty.

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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 11h

"Indeed, the sounds we’ll hear today will be the pitter-patter of GOP feet scurrying as fast as they can to cameras to curry favor with their neon god by complaining loudly that he didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize they have to say he deserved."

www.thebulwark.com/p/insidious-...

The Insidious Effort To Rationalize Trump’s Lawfare

This is not a president justified in going after those who went after him. It’s a person making a mockery of our justice system.

www.thebulwark.com

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 5h

How do different forms of state capacity protect democracy? D Andersen, @chknutsen.bsky.social & @skaaning.bsky.social argue coercive & administrative capacity affect stability in distinct ways depending on threat: buff.ly/2yUrCqu

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com

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Matt Peterson @mattpeterson.bsky.social · 5h

China put Trump in a corner. Every way out hurts. www.barrons.com/articles/chi...

China's latest threat to clamp down on exports of rare earths appears to have blindsided President Donald Trump. The Chinese plan "came out of nowhere," Trump said Friday in a social media post.
"Nobody has ever seen anything like this."
Beijing's escalation of the trade fight has put the Trump administration on the backfoot at a moment of weakness. China's actions show that the U.S. is vulnerable to economic pressure, and China has forced the administration to choose between further escalation or a humiliating climbdown.

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Dan Friedman @dfriedman.bsky.social · 5h

Having heard the hotel room cancelation story, unfortunately only from one source, and gotten scooped, I don't understand the Politico story to be a vexatious political attack.

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 10h

Paul Ingrassia is now threatening to sue Politico:

“This vexatious political attack masquerading as "journalism" is defamatory and will be addressed in forthcoming litigation.”

October 10, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Re: Statement on behalf of my client Paul Ingrassia regarding last night's story, Key Trump nominee accused of sexual harassment, POLITICO (Oct. 9, 2025), https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/09/ingrassia-trump-harassment-dhs-
00596545
POLITICO's hit piece about Mr. Ingrassia is calculated to cause maximum harm to his promising career — and torpedo his nomination for Special Counsel. This vexatious political attack masquerading as "journalism" is defamatory and will be addressed in forthcoming litigation.
To be 100% crystal clear, so that there is zero room for doubt: Mr. Ingrassia did not engage in any wrongdoing in connection with the matters reported. As POLITICO itself reported: "The woman, whom POLITICO is not naming, said in a statement that she 'never felt uncomfortable' about Ingrassia's behavior and said she had never made a complaint." This is one of the only accurate parts of POLITICO's otherwise fantastical and fictional partisan fairy tale.
Accordingly, one last time, I call upon POLITICO to publicly apologize and issue a full retraction of this disgraceful and partisan sludge.
/s/ Edward Andrew Paltzik
taylordykema.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5h

Vought promised to put federal employees “in trauma” - consider this, HHS employees are reading in the news about layoffs but most are not allowed to check their emails to see if they are affected because of the shutdown.

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 8h

Unknown layoffs are happening at HHS. Unknown in terms of who and which agencies.

www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/h...

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HHS employees to be fired as White House enacts mass terminations it blames on shutdown

Federal health employees are being fired as the White House makes good on a promise to terminate federal employees en masse because of the shutdown.

www.statnews.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5h

well played sir

Reposted by Don Moynihan

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 10h

profrogteering

The Birds The Turtles and The Beast @turtlebee.bsky.social · 10h

The Frog Costume has gone from $25 to almost $40 on amazon over the last week. There's an army brewing.

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Brian Hiatt @hiattb.bsky.social · 6h

A little moment in my newest James Gunn interview www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv...

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Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 9h

A few minutes ago in the House:

- Speaker Mike Johnson officially cancels votes next week, extending the House recess through a fourth week

- House Republicans block Democrats from passing a bill to pay the troops during the shutdown, ensuring they will miss paychecks next week

House Press Gallery: During today's pro forma session, the Clerk read a message from the Speaker designating Tuesday, October 14 through Sunday, October 19 as a district work period.

Punchbowl's Briana Reilly: House gaveled in and out of its pro forma just now w/o recognizing Rep Elfreth, who was seeking to UC a mil pay bill from Rep Sykes.

Elfreth told reporters after that House Dems stand “ready and willing to take” up standalone legislation to pay troops.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5h

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

If anyone has a case for being thrown out of NATO, it’s the member that has actually threatened to violate the territorial sovereignty of two of its fellow member-states… 😬

Euractiv @euractiv.com · 1d

Trump floats expelling Spain from NATO

"Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly," the US president said.

dlvr.it

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