Steven S Smith
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Steven S Smith
@profstevensmith.bsky.social

Political scientist, ASU and Wash U. Congress, elections, public opinion, survey research. Husband, dad, granddad. RT ≠ endorsement. Personal views. https://stevesnotes.substack.com https://sites.wustl.edu/smith/

Steven S. Smith is Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. He also is the Kate M. Gregg Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis. For many years, he was the Director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, He served on the faculties of George Washington University, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Smith is one of the leading scholars of legislative institutions and congressional politics and is cited frequently by major news sources. He served as editor of Legislative Studies Quarterly and chaired the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association. He won the Barbara Sinclair Lecture Award from the American Political Science Association in 2023. .. more

Political science 62%
Business 12%
Vehicles that are abandoned due to an ICE detention and towed to the City's impound lot will be released to their owners or a representative at no cost.

Learn more: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/getting-around/parking-driving/impound-lot/#d.en.200746

Reposted by Steven S. Smith

There is a special place in Hell for scammers who peddle bogus autism treatments to desperate parents. Under RFK Jr. -- a friend of the scammers -- FDA has deleted online warnings about these treatments. www.autismpolicyblog.com/2026/01/fda-...
FDA Deletes Warning About Bogus Autism Treatments
In  The Politics of Autism , I write: The conventional wisdom is that any kind of  treatment  is likely to be less effective as the child ge...
www.autismpolicyblog.com

Reposted by Steven S. Smith

Corrected in the Record 👍

The main bank account holding revenue from the Venezuelan oil sales is located in Qatar.

“There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
Exclusive: US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar
The details shared with Semafor mark an initial milestone in the administration’s plan following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
www.semafor.com
The Minnesota shooting case is now metastasizing unlike any i've ever seen. The successive resignations of heads of the crim section at CRD and 3 top career prosecutors in Minn -- who had hung in all this year n/w/stg multiple outrages-- means the Department is in open revolt in DC and the field.
This is Minneapolis:

Walk into my neighborhood ACE last night & see the signage on their door notifying fed agents that it’s private property and cannot be used for immigration enforcement. These signs are all over the city.

Walk in & the nearest shelf has goggles & whistles.
NPR @npr.org · 4d
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration over unconstitutional ICE conduct. And, SCOTUS hears two cases on whether states can bar transgender athletes from women's sports. n.pr/4qX0lUd
Minnesota sues over Trump's ICE enforcement. And, SCOTUS hears trans athlete cases
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration over unconstitutional ICE conduct. And, SCOTUS hears two cases on whether states can bar transgender athletes from women's sports.
n.pr
Where is the business community and corporate leaders of Minnesota based companies in speaking up? Why aren't the big law firms sending lawyers to represent the people being attacked?

We are not at the end of this authoritarianism, we are at the beginning. And, sadly, we are on our own.

The shame, the shame.

Reposted by Steven S. Smith

FLASH: Sen Mark Kelly (D-AZ) files federal civil lawsuit against Pete Hegseth

===>

youtube.com/shorts/UA4Ok...
FLASH: Sen Mark Kelly (D-AZ) files federal civil lawsuit against Pete Hegseth
YouTube video by Scott MacFarlane Reports
youtube.com
ICE kidnap 17-year-old U.S. citizen working at Target then dump him bleeding and crying miles away in a Walmart parking lot… 🤬
Its not that the media is not covering what is happening, but it does feel like the military occupation of an American city should be treated as a national crisis.
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis

The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway

They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming
With Trump going full authoritarian on Venezuela-Greenland, ICE, and the Fed, the response has to be serious. Four Republican senators (Tillis, McConnell, Murkowski, Collins?) could announce they’ll caucus for now with the Dems to give them control of the Senate to check Trump.
A video of ICE agents conducting door-to-door searches today in Minneapolis

The homeowner requests a warrant repeatedly, is told they don't require one, then is told they're getting it, then the agents storm in anyway

They also point a taser at her to try and disrupt filming

Sorta. Science funding, which is primarily distributed through peer-reviewed grants, lacks some of the credit-claiming features of earmarks and other forms of pork. But, yeah, protecting science/health institutions and universities more generally plays a role here.

Let's remember Renee. If the Dems win the House this fall, there will be hearings on events surrounding her death, the administration's reactions, and the FBI investigation. Impeachment likely. The opportunity for prosecutions will return in January 2029. Expect Trump pardons. DHS folks do.

Reposted by Steven S. Smith

From earlier in the week:

How Congress Talks About Somalia and Somalis
(And Why That History Matters Now)

open.substack.com/pub/dcinboxi...
How Congress Talks About Somalia and Somalis
(And Why That History Matters Now)
open.substack.com
From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Disturbed, Sounds of Silence....by a mile

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg...
Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence (Official Music Video) [4K UPGRADE]
YouTube video by Disturbed
www.youtube.com

Agreed. Protests of this Court need to be loud and eventually produce reform. paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
Democrats Need to Treat the Supreme Court Like the Villain It Is
The Court is out of control, and we'll never see reform unless we build the case for it. Starting now.
paulwaldman.substack.com
Now that Bari Weiss pulled a segment telling the truth about Trump's deportations to let Stephen Miller have his say (i.e. spread propaganda), it's a good time to check out our deep dive into Miller's real worldview and agenda, which doesn't pull any punches:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...
Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State
He is descended from Russian Jews—you know, the kind of people who were once denounced as alien and unassimilable. Today, his project is to unleash government persecution of those he deems alien and u...
newrepublic.com

Why aren't the serious journalists on 60 Minutes resigning?

www.frbsf.org

NEW -

Race, Gender, and Nascent Political Ambition - https://cup.org/4s4ZzFT

- Andrea Junqueira, @dzobrien.bsky.social, @mhayes.bsky.social, Jongwoo Jeong, Brian Crisp & Matthew Gabel

#OpenAccess

Reposted by Steven S. Smith

NEW -

Race, Gender, and Nascent Political Ambition - https://cup.org/4s4ZzFT

- Andrea Junqueira, @dzobrien.bsky.social, @mhayes.bsky.social, Jongwoo Jeong, Brian Crisp & Matthew Gabel

#OpenAccess
I was in the Speaker's Lobby when this happened and it generated a storm of protest. Rep. Riley Moore R-WV gaveled a procedural vote to a close while one Democrat was ready to vote. That vote would have defeated the measure on a 204-204 tie - but Moore opted for a very fast gavel.
4 House Republicans have signed the discharge petition for a 3-year extension of health insurance subsidies offered by Democrats. That gives it 218 signatures - and will force a vote probably in January.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

Senators--Thune--come to the defense of your colleague and your institution. Now would be a good time.
🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration escalated its effort to punish a sitting U.S. senator for protected political speech Monday, formally converting the Pentagon’s review of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) into an official Command Investigation under military law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Trump Admin Intensifies Military Probe Against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Launches Command Investigation
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration escalated its effort to punish a sitting U.S. senator for protected political speech Monday, formally converting the Pentagon’s review of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) into an official Command Investigation under military law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Trump Admin Intensifies Military Probe Against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Launches Command Investigation
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com