Chris Edelson
@chrisedelson.bsky.social
Assistant professor of government at American University. Area of focus: US presidential power and authoritarian threats to democracy. Writing a book on emergency presidential power in context of Trump. https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/edelson.cfm
Pinned
Chris Edelson
@chrisedelson.bsky.social
· Feb 28
trump's breathtaking, revolutionary unilateral action could not be justified even in an emergency (and none existed when trump took office). He is claiming unilateral power that goes beyond what Lincoln claimed at start of civil war--& Lincoln crucially gained retroactive approval from Congress 1/2
Reposted by Chris Edelson
This is a number of my CUNY Brooklyn College students.
DHS has announced the end of temporary immigration protections for Haitians.
The decision, effective Feb. 3, 2026, affects up to more than a half million Haitians. They now face returning to a country plagued by criminal gangs that control all major roads into the capital Port-au-Prince.
The decision, effective Feb. 3, 2026, affects up to more than a half million Haitians. They now face returning to a country plagued by criminal gangs that control all major roads into the capital Port-au-Prince.
Trump says Haiti no longer meets requirements for TPS. Haitians have to leave
The Department of Homeland Security said TPS for Haiti ends Feb. 3, 2026, affecting over half a million people who may face return to gang-controlled Port-au-Prince.
amp.miamiherald.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
This is a number of my CUNY Brooklyn College students.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Our tribal ID’s validity depends entirely on the person we’re presenting it to. My attempting to use it has failed many times because of the lack of knowledge people in government have about it. After this, I expect the feds to try to further delegitimize it.
November 27, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Our tribal ID’s validity depends entirely on the person we’re presenting it to. My attempting to use it has failed many times because of the lack of knowledge people in government have about it. After this, I expect the feds to try to further delegitimize it.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
the requirement is, of course, “be white” amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
Trump says Haiti no longer meets requirements for TPS. Haitians have to leave
The Department of Homeland Security said TPS for Haiti ends Feb. 3, 2026, affecting over half a million people who may face return to gang-controlled Port-au-Prince.
amp.miamiherald.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
the requirement is, of course, “be white” amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
This is yet another Disney villain move by the trump admin--real life people who took a college student away from her family as she tried to join them for the holiday, shackled her wrists and ankles and sent her to a country she has not lived in since she came to the US at age 8.
19-year-old college student deported despite judge's order blocking her removal
A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported despite a federal judge's order.
abcnews.go.com/US/19-year-c...
A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported despite a federal judge's order.
abcnews.go.com/US/19-year-c...
19-year-old college student deported despite judge's order blocking her removal: Lawyer
A 19-year-old college student who was on her way to surprise her family for Thanksgiving break was detained at a Boston airport and later deported.
abcnews.go.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This is yet another Disney villain move by the trump admin--real life people who took a college student away from her family as she tried to join them for the holiday, shackled her wrists and ankles and sent her to a country she has not lived in since she came to the US at age 8.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
ICE DETAINED MARILYN. Fuck these people. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
‘Northern Exposure’ actor gave ICE agents in Redmond her tribal ID. They called it ‘fake,’ she says
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles of "Northern Exposure" was detained by ICE at a Redmond bus stop. When she showed them her Tribal ID, they told her it was fake.
www.seattletimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
ICE DETAINED MARILYN. Fuck these people. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Reposted by Chris Edelson
I've been saying this Saturday! bsky.app/profile/froo...
Pretty convincing evidence here that the Trump administration was planning to jailbreak and provide asylum for Bolsonaro -- and that Trump inadvertently revealed the plan.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
Trump appears to blurt out secret plan, not knowing it's already a bust
YouTube video by MS NOW
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
I've been saying this Saturday! bsky.app/profile/froo...
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Our government is disappearing people and subjecting their families to unimaginable terror.
November 27, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Our government is disappearing people and subjecting their families to unimaginable terror.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
This interview with Any Lucia Belloza is heartbreaking but everyone should read it. These are the lives our country is destroying.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
![“I was so happy when I got there [to Babson],” Lopez Belloza said. “I was just living the college life — going to events, going everywhere ... everything there was really great. I really loved the school."
She and her father also had a special shared aspiration. With her business degree, Lopez Belloza was going to help her father open his own tailor shop, they hoped.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u6ajzyiqzkzbppp2x2y7fpfu/bafkreib33kpkgmvas4z6avgq62styxbzrzuawjufqyddtoynqgbiwnhtzy@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 10:55 AM
This interview with Any Lucia Belloza is heartbreaking but everyone should read it. These are the lives our country is destroying.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Bolsonaro to jail for 27 years. Trump completely free 🤡
Other, more serious countries, etc. etc.
Other, more serious countries, etc. etc.
Breaking News: The last pending criminal prosecution against President Trump was dismissed by a judge in Georgia, effectively ending efforts to hold Trump criminally responsible for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. trib.al/EnJu57H
November 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Bolsonaro to jail for 27 years. Trump completely free 🤡
Other, more serious countries, etc. etc.
Other, more serious countries, etc. etc.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Antithetical to a republic on so many levels.
November 27, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Antithetical to a republic on so many levels.
not just to score political points: trump is using the military, including National Guard, as part of a broader effort to consolidate power without limits. These 2 National Guardsmen should have been celebrating the holiday with their families; I hope they recover soon.
These two things are true:
1) Shooting National Guard members is horrific and criminal.
2) So is putting National Guard members in harm’s way to score political points.
1) Shooting National Guard members is horrific and criminal.
2) So is putting National Guard members in harm’s way to score political points.
November 27, 2025 at 3:04 PM
not just to score political points: trump is using the military, including National Guard, as part of a broader effort to consolidate power without limits. These 2 National Guardsmen should have been celebrating the holiday with their families; I hope they recover soon.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Trump's speech about the shooting in DC veered into him attacking the Somali community in Minnesota, which of course had nothing to do with the shooting. Gives away his bigoted game.
November 27, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Trump's speech about the shooting in DC veered into him attacking the Somali community in Minnesota, which of course had nothing to do with the shooting. Gives away his bigoted game.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
It raises the question of what is the law? Does it exist to protect people from real injustice? Or to be used as a weapon against otherwise law abiding people when they commit minor infractions of Byzantine regulations?
November 27, 2025 at 1:18 PM
It raises the question of what is the law? Does it exist to protect people from real injustice? Or to be used as a weapon against otherwise law abiding people when they commit minor infractions of Byzantine regulations?
Reposted by Chris Edelson
November 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Could be the result of:
- A politically motivated attack
- A robbery
- A negligent discharge
- An argument between Guard members
The point is: Don't assume anything and wait for details
- A politically motivated attack
- A robbery
- A negligent discharge
- An argument between Guard members
The point is: Don't assume anything and wait for details
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two National Guard members have been shot in Washington, D.C., and their condition isn't known, AP source says.
November 26, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Could be the result of:
- A politically motivated attack
- A robbery
- A negligent discharge
- An argument between Guard members
The point is: Don't assume anything and wait for details
- A politically motivated attack
- A robbery
- A negligent discharge
- An argument between Guard members
The point is: Don't assume anything and wait for details
DHS is truly nuts. People living in the US (in many cases for decades, in many cases after being brought here as children or infant) didn't break into anyone's home. Smearing millions of people as violent criminals is dishonest and it is dangerous.
DHS: We need to be able to violate the Constitution and be given 100s of billions because we're catching "criminals" who are raping and killing Americans
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
November 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
DHS is truly nuts. People living in the US (in many cases for decades, in many cases after being brought here as children or infant) didn't break into anyone's home. Smearing millions of people as violent criminals is dishonest and it is dangerous.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
DHS: We need to be able to violate the Constitution and be given 100s of billions because we're catching "criminals" who are raping and killing Americans
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
November 26, 2025 at 7:13 PM
DHS: We need to be able to violate the Constitution and be given 100s of billions because we're catching "criminals" who are raping and killing Americans
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
Me: No, you're not.
DHS: Your premise is shockingly dangerous!
Reposted by Chris Edelson
“I had to take the baby from my crying wife’s arms.“ It hasn’t even been a year, and this is not a scandal anymore? What is wrong with us?
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
“I had to take the baby from my crying wife’s arms.“ It hasn’t even been a year, and this is not a scandal anymore? What is wrong with us?
Reposted by Chris Edelson
The people who do this, who conceived of it, who demand it, are real life monsters.
“I had to take the baby from my crying wife’s arms.“ It hasn’t even been a year, and this is not a scandal anymore? What is wrong with us?
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The people who do this, who conceived of it, who demand it, are real life monsters.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Huge red flag! Fascism was about politics as violence, politics as domination. In other words, fascists attacked political and ethnic minorities in the name of the leader, the nation, and the sacred. Fascism in its many forms did not hesitate to kill its own citizens.
One-third of the Republicans in Congress: “I didn’t see it.”
Another third: “He was only joking.”
The last third: “I agree with him.”
Another third: “He was only joking.”
The last third: “I agree with him.”
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Huge red flag! Fascism was about politics as violence, politics as domination. In other words, fascists attacked political and ethnic minorities in the name of the leader, the nation, and the sacred. Fascism in its many forms did not hesitate to kill its own citizens.
The Wannabe Fascists, like Finchelstein's other books, is immensely useful in providing historical and geographic perspective to make sense of what we are experiencing. It also offers a very useful alternative to the "is trump fascist/is he not?" debate by offering a 3rd option.
It is confirmed! Second Revised Edition of my book, The Wannabe Fascists will be published in 2026 with
@ucpress.bsky.social
@ucpress.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The Wannabe Fascists, like Finchelstein's other books, is immensely useful in providing historical and geographic perspective to make sense of what we are experiencing. It also offers a very useful alternative to the "is trump fascist/is he not?" debate by offering a 3rd option.
Reposted by Chris Edelson
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths
The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer defend Biden-era limits on fine-particle pollution, which causes heart and lung disease.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Reposted by Chris Edelson
A lengthy posting on President Trunp's primary social account this morning furiously reacts to a NYT story documenting a president showing signs of aging. A co-author of the piece, Katie Rogers, is attacked as "a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us...
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM
A lengthy posting on President Trunp's primary social account this morning furiously reacts to a NYT story documenting a president showing signs of aging. A co-author of the piece, Katie Rogers, is attacked as "a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us...