And, importantly, it's the nominee cue that matters. R senators affiliated with the FedSoc do not differ in their voting compared to non-affiliated R senators. Its a cue that isn't simple an in-group message.

Really excited to see this in print!

Specifically, we find it serves as an important partisan cues with D and R senators diverging in how they vote for these noms.

Further, these results are conditional on senator ideology -- including more moderate Dem senators more likely to vote for FedSoc affiliated noms.

Check out this cool new work!

As senators work through hundreds of nominees/Congress (in addition to all their other work), we argue nominees FedSoc affiliation serves as an important cue for senators when voting on judicial nominees.

#OpenAccess from the Journal of Law and Courts -

The Influence of Federalist Society Affiliation on Senator Voting in Federal Judicial Nominations - cup.org/4meYp7l

- ‪@christinecbird.bsky.social, @jonathanmking.bsky.social & Zachary A. McGee

#FirstView

We are hiring! UGA Political Science is looking for an Assistant Professor in American Politics (any subfield).

Ad is here:
www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/443...

Deadline is 9/15.

I just got here BUT I already got to meet Hairy Dawg at orientation, so I can confirm it's a great place to work!

New publication alert! @elizabethlane.bsky.social and I examine how the institutional interests of the Office of the Solicitor General shape its positions and the justices' reactions to them 1/3 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Some professional news:

I'm incredibly excited to announce that I will be joining the University of Georgia Dept of Political Science in Fall 2025.

I will miss my colleagues and students at WVU but am looking forward to joining an amazing department in Athens!

Overall, we show that changes to norms and rules in one branch of government (the Senate) can fundamentally alter the process of staffing another branch (the federal judiciary).

Look out for it soon in APR!

Furthermore, in this "post-nuclear" era, we see implications that -- with the cloture mechanism being the main driver of confirmation success -- it is *essential* to have unified government. Under divided government, presidents may not get many (if any) of their nominations confirmed

This, in turn has led to successful nominations moving quicker than recent confirmations but with a key caveat -- nominations are being prioritized by their position in the judicial hierarchy.

That is, circuit court confirmations are being prioritized over district courts.

We demonstrate that the 2013 nuclear option -- where the Senate reduced the cloture threshold (or, ending a filibuster) to a simple majority dramatically changed how the confirmations process works.

Now, nominations are almost exclusively proceeding to confirmation via cloture

Newly accepted at American Politics Research (w/ the twitterless Ian Ostrander)!

Like judicial confirmations?
Like Senate rules change?
Want to know how the 2013 nuclear option changed judicial nominations?

Then do I have the paper for you!

My toddler's book on the Supreme Court inadvertently explaining the current political situation (looking at you Article I)

Notice announcing that effective THIS MONDAY, all existing and new NIH awards will be capped at 15% indirects: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Most universities currently have indirect rates that are over 50%....so this will decimate research universities' budgets #WomenInSTEM #DataScience #PoliSky

wow NIJ announces they've cancelled all current RFPs

Out today online! I analyze the effect radical right parties have had on voter turnout in Europe. While some have argued the radical right can mobilize voters, I find radical right parties contesting an election -> decrease in trust -> lower voter turnout. t.co/mCC6YdZDmE

Happy @apsrjournal.bsky.social publication day for our very timely piece "How the Trump Administration’s Quota Policy Transformed Immigration Judging" (w/ @enblasingame.bsky.social,
@robertocarlos.bsky.social, @joeornstein.bsky.social). Open access here: doi.org/10.1017/S000...

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