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E.J. Fagan

@ejfagan.com

3.8K followers 1.6K following 1.8K posts

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois Chicago. Author of The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics. Also, baseball.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · Nov 18

Hello new Bluesky followers!

I study U.S. politics and policymaking, focusing on the politicization of expertise and information processing.

I published a great book this summer. It's called The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics. Check it out!

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development): Fagan, E.J.: 9780197759660: Amazon.com: Books

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development) [Fagan, E.J.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development)

www.amazon.com

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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 28m

Perry is back on the bench.

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 38m

As we wait for Judge April Perry to rule, here's my full story from this morning's extraordinary hearing, for @wttw.bsky.social:

Federal Judge Appears Skeptical of Reasoning Behind National Guard Deployment in Illinois During Ongoing Hearing

Lawyers for the Department of Justice told U.S. District Court Judge April Perry the president deployed the National Guard because “levels of violence against federal law enforcement executing their l...

news.wttw.com

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Michelle 🪷🇲🇽🇺🇸🌵 @chicana74.bsky.social · 18h

This headline 🤣🤣🤣

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 4h

Lots of folks talking about this. This was one of the most heavily discussed parts of the TRO request, and I covered some of that on Monday.

tl;dr: Read Law Dork; be informed.

www.lawdork.com/p/illinois-l...

It is further ORDERED that all Federal Agents, excepting those who do not wear a
uniform or other distinguishing clothing or equipment in the regular performance of their official
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Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 5 of 6 PagelD #:839
duties or are engaged in undercover operations in the regular performance of their official duties, must have visible identification (for which a unique recognizable alphanumeric identifier sequence
will suffice) affixed to their uniforms or helmets and prominently displayed, including when
wearing riot gear.

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eric gonzalez juenke @egojunk.bsky.social · 11h

Students are going to love this. Love it so much they want to scream.

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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 7h

we have been working on this new polling aggregation website for a few months now, and are excited to share it with the world! plenty more features and polls to come.

FiftyPlusOne.news @fiftyplusone.news · 7h

new polls website just dropped fiftyplusone.news

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Thomas Nestico @tjstats.ca · 6h

Anthony Volpe’s 73.3 K% is the worst mark ever in a divisional series (min. 15 PA)

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 23h

It's now considered controversial to fight the KKK in a video game.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 18h

Pretty sure that Stroman’s player option didn’t vest.

E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 19h

Taylor Green and others rose to prominence by capturing attention when Trump was sidelined in 2021-2022. That's not so easy when Trump is in the White House. But MTG isn't about to become a behind the scenes work horse or backbencher who does constituent services, so she needs a new strategy.

CNN @cnn.com · 19h

CNN Exclusive: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls on Speaker Johnson to bring the House back to DC and rails on the GOP's handling of health care.

‘Everyone’s just getting destroyed’: MTG calls on Johnson to bring House back to DC and rails on GOP handling of health care | CNN Politics

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene broke sharply with her party leaders on Wednesday as they tried to project a united front in the deepening standoff with Democrats over health care and the government s...

www.cnn.com

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Matt Grossmann @mattgrossmann.bsky.social · 23h

Companies are hiring many more internal policy specialists than lobbyists; it is a much larger investment in politics and internal expertise
www.andrewbenjaminhall.com/HallSun25.pdf

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 22h

I live one town over from Berwyn, which is a beautiful and quiet working class suburb. I drive my kid past where this likely occurred all the time. You don’t just randomly point assault rifles around like it’s Fallujah because someone is going to get killed.

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 1d

While Trump escalates his attacks on our freedoms with occupations of our cities and secret police forces terrorizing our communities, normal everyday people across the nation are showing up every single day with courage and defiance. Join your local peaceful protest: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...

Laura N. Rodríguez Presa on Twitter: “A federal agent points a weapon at a woman who was recording them.

Jess, a U.S. citizen and member of a neighborhood patrol team that documents and shares ICE activity across the city, was filming when the incident occurred earlier today in the Berwyn area.”

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 1d

CBO fy2025 projections for deficit/spending/etc are out

Some issues make simple comparisons apples-to-oranges, so I'll do apples-to-apples & explain in the thread

Relative to pre-Trump projections:
-Primary deficits ⬆️ $34 bn
-program spending ⬆️ $97 bn
-revenues ⬆️ $63 bn
www.cbo.gov/publication/...

2025 (January estimate, adjusted to fix issues) 2025 CBO estimate (remove student loan one-time revaluation) 2025 (adjusted for student loans) vs. 2025 projection (adjusted to fix issues)
Spending 7061 7166 105
Program spending 6108 6205 97
Interest 953 961 9
Revenue 5163 5226 63
Primary deficit 945 979 34
Total deficit 1898 1940 42

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

Just to clarify how dumb and political it is to bring in the Texas National Guard to allegedly protect a federal facility in Broadview, here is the distance from the Illinois National Guard base nearby compared with Texas.

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

It was taxpayers’ money. Did Homan give it back? If he kept it, did he declare it on his taxes?

Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 2d

Tom Homan, head of ICE, accepted $50k from undercover FBI agents last year, reportedly a bribe in a sting operation. All cash, in a paper bag. Pam Bondi, reading from a script, insists Homan did nothing wrong—yet she refuses to answer any questions about what happened to that cash? Really?

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

WATCH — @whitehouse.senate.gov : “What became of the $50,000 in cash in that Cava bag? Did the FBI get it back from Homan?”

AG PAM BONDI: *LASHES OUT aggressively, avoids answering entirely* 🤷🏼‍♀️

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

In most cases, a party out of power makes promises about macroeconomics that it can't really deliver on. Prices, economic growth, unemployment etc are mostly out of the control of policymakers.

Democrats in 2029 are going to be able to lift tariffs and pretty quickly lower the cost of living.

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 1d

Housing is too expensive to build and too expensive to afford.

Donald Trump's solution? Make it even MORE expensive with his chaotic tariffs.

Americans can't afford Donald Trump's housing market.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

Ugh. Blame my not sleepy toddler.

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Brian Floyd @brianmfloyd.bsky.social · 1d

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

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

Fun fact: the Illinois National Guard has a large depot about fifteen feet away from the Broadview town border. You could literally park there and walk to the protest sites. But instead Trump is sending these winners from Texas.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Greg Abbott sends the elite Meal Team 6 from the Texas National Guard into Illinois.

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Jonathan Bernstein @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 1d

My item on this suggested that while it could be how inept Trump always is, what I suspect is going on is that the GOP has just lost the ability to talk to anyone outside their strongest supporters. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/underminin...

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

(Politico) - One week into the government shutdown, top Republican leaders appear to have lost the plot.

#RepublicansInDisarray @politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 2d

i have met a number of pigs, including pigs i later went on to eat (we have small farmers in our family) and quite frankly, getting to know pigs has made me feel even less bad about eating them

they would 100% eat us if given the chance

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 2d

Just go ahead and delete article 1 entirely while you’re at it.

George Pearkes @peark.es · 2d

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Barry Burden @bcburden.bsky.social · 2d

The 2024 @electionstudies.bsky.social has the share of "pure independents" in the US at its lowest level since 1952 (7%)

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 2d

"Welcome to hell" - @reckless.bsky.social

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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: Trump is moving to kill all funding for proposed Texas and Louisiana mega-hubs to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere

The bipartisan-backed hubs represented a rare clean tech industry where the US was on the cutting edge

by @emilypont.bsky.social for @heatmap.news

heatmap.news/politics/doe...

Trump to Cancel Direct Air Capture Hubs in Texas, Louisiana

A new list of grant cancellations obtained by Heatmap includes Climeworks and Heirloom projects funded by 2021 infrastructure law.

heatmap.news

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 2d

Apparently medical procedure bans that conservatives disagree with are now free speech.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy