Sam Bagenstos
@sbagen.bsky.social
Personal account. Personal views. Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School & Arlene Susan Kohn Professor of Social Policy, University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy. Former General Counsel, HHS and OMB.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Acting CDER Director Tracy Beth Høeg is not wasting any time ensuring that babies are as vulnerable as possible to preventable diseases that kill them.
Now she's going after preventive RSV meds based on unverified claims from an anti-vax blogger.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Now she's going after preventive RSV meds based on unverified claims from an anti-vax blogger.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Exclusive: US FDA launches fresh safety scrutiny of approved RSV therapies for infants
U.S. health regulators informed senior executives at Merck, Sanofi and AstraZeneca last week that their approved protective RSV treatments for infants would face fresh safety scrutiny following concer...
www.reuters.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Acting CDER Director Tracy Beth Høeg is not wasting any time ensuring that babies are as vulnerable as possible to preventable diseases that kill them.
Now she's going after preventive RSV meds based on unverified claims from an anti-vax blogger.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Now she's going after preventive RSV meds based on unverified claims from an anti-vax blogger.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
“From Day One of Trump’s second term, there has been a callous indifference to human life….But the media, and the watchdogs, have struggled to convey this reality with so many of the deaths taking place off camera.” Timely reminder from @willbunch.bsky.social
It's great that the media, Congress is going all Watergate on one of Trump's many crimes, the 'double-tap' murder of 2 Caribbean sailors
But the reality is that Trump's death cult has killed hundreds of thousands, mostly through senseless USAID cuts
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
But the reality is that Trump's death cult has killed hundreds of thousands, mostly through senseless USAID cuts
My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
The Trump regime murders that aren’t on video | Will Bunch Newsletter
Plus, troubled Mount Airy Lodge is a perfect Trump venue.
www.inquirer.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:19 PM
“From Day One of Trump’s second term, there has been a callous indifference to human life….But the media, and the watchdogs, have struggled to convey this reality with so many of the deaths taking place off camera.” Timely reminder from @willbunch.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
This FYI is I think the basic structural impulse being Robert Jackson's account of presidential power!
Quite obviously, Congress and the president are meant to work TOGETHER to instantiate the will of the People
Quite obviously, Congress and the president are meant to work TOGETHER to instantiate the will of the People
to quote myself on this
December 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This FYI is I think the basic structural impulse being Robert Jackson's account of presidential power!
Quite obviously, Congress and the president are meant to work TOGETHER to instantiate the will of the People
Quite obviously, Congress and the president are meant to work TOGETHER to instantiate the will of the People
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Madison and the Framers made the brilliant conceptual leap from Montesquieu, who said that each branch of government represented a different power in society (the Crown, the Church, the nobility) to a situation in which there was only the people...
December 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Madison and the Framers made the brilliant conceptual leap from Montesquieu, who said that each branch of government represented a different power in society (the Crown, the Church, the nobility) to a situation in which there was only the people...
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
This is good. Enough with the Wilsonian crap that there's a single national will and that the president has some mystical connection to it. The Framers were wiser than that, and the Constitution they wrote makes no sense unless we accept that.
to quote myself on this
December 9, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This is good. Enough with the Wilsonian crap that there's a single national will and that the president has some mystical connection to it. The Framers were wiser than that, and the Constitution they wrote makes no sense unless we accept that.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
"...following concerns raised by vaccine skeptics..."
Exclusive: US FDA launches fresh safety scrutiny of approved RSV therapies for infants reut.rs/48JXrL2
Exclusive: US FDA launches fresh safety scrutiny of approved RSV therapies for infants
U.S. health regulators informed senior executives at Merck, Sanofi and AstraZeneca last week that their approved protective RSV treatments for infants would be subject to fresh safety scrutiny following concerns raised by vaccine skeptics, multiple sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
reut.rs
December 9, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"...following concerns raised by vaccine skeptics..."
This is exactly right.
the unitarian notion of accountability is, in general, very strange as it holds that a single election — the president’s reelect — is more democratically accountable than the rolling process of democratic assent produced by legislative elections and congressional oversight.
December 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
This is exactly right.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
(2) seems to be an even more dubious point than (1). first because agencies are shaped by congress as well as executive appointments, and second because the agency rule-making process is more transparent and democratic than top-down decrees from political appointees
The theory of the unitary executive is that (1) the constitution requires it and (2) you get democratic accountability through presidential control through the power to remove agency heads. (1) is dubious (2) seems ridiculous at the present moment.
December 9, 2025 at 1:57 PM
(2) seems to be an even more dubious point than (1). first because agencies are shaped by congress as well as executive appointments, and second because the agency rule-making process is more transparent and democratic than top-down decrees from political appointees
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
yep. and particularly low income workers whose wages were rising faster than anyone else's and much faster than inflation. that's now reversed bsky.app/profile/mtsw...
But if you spent 2021 and 2022 whining about the prices of burrito taxis instead of celebrating the best ever job market for workers in the 21st century you should know that you were helping the bosses' little scheme. Scheme worked! Trump's back and people are now desperately holding onto their jobs
December 9, 2025 at 3:19 PM
yep. and particularly low income workers whose wages were rising faster than anyone else's and much faster than inflation. that's now reversed bsky.app/profile/mtsw...
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
HHS states that “assertions that the FDA is slow walking this review for political purposes are baseless...FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right.”
The problem? Comprehensive reviews have consistently shown the abortion pill is safe.
The problem? Comprehensive reviews have consistently shown the abortion pill is safe.
The best reading of this article: Trump is going to use FDA to restrict medication abortion, but he wants to wait until after the midterms so the Republicans don't experience blowback. But that just makes the midterms more important. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Slow Walking a Long-Awaited Abortion Pill Safety Study
The Food and Drug Administration has delayed a promised review of safety data for the abortion drug mifepristone at Commissioner Marty Makary’s request to put it off until after the midterm elections,...
www.bloomberg.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
HHS states that “assertions that the FDA is slow walking this review for political purposes are baseless...FDA’s comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right.”
The problem? Comprehensive reviews have consistently shown the abortion pill is safe.
The problem? Comprehensive reviews have consistently shown the abortion pill is safe.
I was going to just share an excerpt of this great @donmoyn.bsky.social piece, but there are too many excerpts worth sharing. Just read the whole thing. If you care about governance, democracy, and the rule of law, these issues are crucial. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
At will? Whose will?
Removing independent agency heads is part of a broader assault on a nonpartisan government
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I was going to just share an excerpt of this great @donmoyn.bsky.social piece, but there are too many excerpts worth sharing. Just read the whole thing. If you care about governance, democracy, and the rule of law, these issues are crucial. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
I'm sure I speak for basically every Pistons fan when I say it's impossible not to love Daniss Jenkins: www.freep.com/story/sports...
Rick Pitino knew Daniss Jenkins was destined for success with Pistons
Two players come to mind when Rick Pitino thinks of those who epitomize the romantic ideal of a basketball player: Billy Donovan and Daniss Jenkins.
www.freep.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I'm sure I speak for basically every Pistons fan when I say it's impossible not to love Daniss Jenkins: www.freep.com/story/sports...
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Little did baby Bybee know he’d be the Torture Memos guy AND that this Rehnquist-era states-rights argument would somehow make him a Trump-era RINO
And here is Bybee's 1997 article on the matter (which is cited in the footnotes twice and appears to be the reason why we're getting this): scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcont...
December 9, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Little did baby Bybee know he’d be the Torture Memos guy AND that this Rehnquist-era states-rights argument would somehow make him a Trump-era RINO
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Trump's attempts to deploy the National Guard into California and Oregon are a bridge too far for THE GWB JUDGE WHO AUTHORED THE TORTURE MEMOS...
...to which baby Trump 2.0 judge, just weeks into the job, says nuh-uh!
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
...to which baby Trump 2.0 judge, just weeks into the job, says nuh-uh!
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
December 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Trump's attempts to deploy the National Guard into California and Oregon are a bridge too far for THE GWB JUDGE WHO AUTHORED THE TORTURE MEMOS...
...to which baby Trump 2.0 judge, just weeks into the job, says nuh-uh!
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
...to which baby Trump 2.0 judge, just weeks into the job, says nuh-uh!
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
This is a fantastic piece. Everyone who cares about public health should read it.
My latest for @thenation.com: "Public Health Needs a New Motto: No Apologies, No Surrender"
It’s time we stopped flinching at the assaults of the far right—and started fighting back.
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
It’s time we stopped flinching at the assaults of the far right—and started fighting back.
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Public Health Needs a New Motto: No Apologies, No Surrender
It's time we stopped flinching at the assaults of the far right—and started fighting back.
www.thenation.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:47 AM
This is a fantastic piece. Everyone who cares about public health should read it.
Our coalition convincing itself that the right didn't really mean it, and wasn't really going to take the extreme actions they're constantly talking about, is a big part of what got us where we are today -- in abortion as in so many other areas. Our side needs to elevate the issue now.
Yes. And.....
Alternate reading: there is no review actually happening. They're just saying that to get Josh Hawley off their backs.
Alternate alternate reading: the FDA is too busy trying to restrict Tylenol and infant vaccines to bother with abortion.
Alternate reading: there is no review actually happening. They're just saying that to get Josh Hawley off their backs.
Alternate alternate reading: the FDA is too busy trying to restrict Tylenol and infant vaccines to bother with abortion.
The best reading of this article: Trump is going to use FDA to restrict medication abortion, but he wants to wait until after the midterms so the Republicans don't experience blowback. But that just makes the midterms more important. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
December 9, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Our coalition convincing itself that the right didn't really mean it, and wasn't really going to take the extreme actions they're constantly talking about, is a big part of what got us where we are today -- in abortion as in so many other areas. Our side needs to elevate the issue now.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Team Oligarch Suits Up to Torpedo Netflix/WBD Merger talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/team-...
Team Oligarch Suits Up to Torpedo Netflix/WBD Merger
Simply extraordinary stuff coming out this morning about the battle over what...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Team Oligarch Suits Up to Torpedo Netflix/WBD Merger talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/team-...
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Very annoyed at this.
Congress knows how to use the power of the purse to get what it wants, but refuses to do it to, like, make sure that grants get to Head Start.
Just a total warping of priorities, using the power only in these narrow contexts and never to help poor people
Congress knows how to use the power of the purse to get what it wants, but refuses to do it to, like, make sure that grants get to Head Start.
Just a total warping of priorities, using the power only in these narrow contexts and never to help poor people
Congress to withhold Pentagon travel funds until it sees boat strike videos
Lawmakers quietly stuck the requirement into their must-pass annual defense policy bill.
www.politico.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Very annoyed at this.
Congress knows how to use the power of the purse to get what it wants, but refuses to do it to, like, make sure that grants get to Head Start.
Just a total warping of priorities, using the power only in these narrow contexts and never to help poor people
Congress knows how to use the power of the purse to get what it wants, but refuses to do it to, like, make sure that grants get to Head Start.
Just a total warping of priorities, using the power only in these narrow contexts and never to help poor people
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Remember, as Sean Duffy keeps telling us his ideas for air travel -- dress up nice for your flight! do a little workout before you get on too! -- this is an actual Good Thing We Wanted that Democrats secured for us before these assholes took it away
White House Scraps Cash Payments for Delayed or Canceled Flights
www.nytimes.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Remember, as Sean Duffy keeps telling us his ideas for air travel -- dress up nice for your flight! do a little workout before you get on too! -- this is an actual Good Thing We Wanted that Democrats secured for us before these assholes took it away
I hate this timeline.
This is 0 reps, right? Also, thumb position? What are we doing here: why the hell is this one exercise the new criteria for masculinity/health?
In line for the TSA behind this guy
December 9, 2025 at 12:09 AM
I hate this timeline.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
As a woman who has been pregnant, given birth, breastfed, and formula fed, the only explanation for this shit is Bobby has a fetish for tiny coffins. Not every woman can or wants to breastfeed. Fed is best.
ALSO, where was he when ICE detained a 2 wk PP mom, without a pump and her milk dried up?
ALSO, where was he when ICE detained a 2 wk PP mom, without a pump and her milk dried up?
RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."
December 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
As a woman who has been pregnant, given birth, breastfed, and formula fed, the only explanation for this shit is Bobby has a fetish for tiny coffins. Not every woman can or wants to breastfeed. Fed is best.
ALSO, where was he when ICE detained a 2 wk PP mom, without a pump and her milk dried up?
ALSO, where was he when ICE detained a 2 wk PP mom, without a pump and her milk dried up?
It's not.
Who would ever voluntarily choose to live under the demented monarchical plutocracy our Supreme Court is creating for Trump? How is this a remotely rational way to structure a government?
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
December 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
It's not.
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
Want to help dismantle the nation’s biomedical research infrastructure and go down in infamy among future generations of scientists? Jay Bhattacharya is hiring. #NIH
December 8, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Want to help dismantle the nation’s biomedical research infrastructure and go down in infamy among future generations of scientists? Jay Bhattacharya is hiring. #NIH
Reposted by Sam Bagenstos
🚨 BIG BIG DEAL 🚨
The spokesperson's claim this delay is not political but bc "comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right" is absurd. They claim to have figured out leucovorin + COVID vax deaths already. But they need more time on a drug as well studied as mife?
The spokesperson's claim this delay is not political but bc "comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right" is absurd. They claim to have figured out leucovorin + COVID vax deaths already. But they need more time on a drug as well studied as mife?
The best reading of this article: Trump is going to use FDA to restrict medication abortion, but he wants to wait until after the midterms so the Republicans don't experience blowback. But that just makes the midterms more important. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Slow Walking a Long-Awaited Abortion Pill Safety Study
The Food and Drug Administration has delayed a promised review of safety data for the abortion drug mifepristone at Commissioner Marty Makary’s request to put it off until after the midterm elections,...
www.bloomberg.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:40 PM
🚨 BIG BIG DEAL 🚨
The spokesperson's claim this delay is not political but bc "comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right" is absurd. They claim to have figured out leucovorin + COVID vax deaths already. But they need more time on a drug as well studied as mife?
The spokesperson's claim this delay is not political but bc "comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right" is absurd. They claim to have figured out leucovorin + COVID vax deaths already. But they need more time on a drug as well studied as mife?