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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 1d

I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Letter Regarding Compact

MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...

docs.google.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 7h

A rebootable offense.

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Lauren Kuehne @omfishient.bsky.social · 15h

🧪Excited to co-present this @standupforscience.bsky.social event next week with UW's Dr. Ryan Kelly

We'll cover how to effectively engage in public comments, to help shape public policy at all levels, federal to local. Attend in person or virtually!

RSVP: act.standupforscience.net/events/power...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 12h

On top of everything else, this too should be non-negotiable; when the government does re-open, follow the law and pay furloughed federal workers what they are due.

🎁
wapo.st/47dbJEe

Furloughed workers not guaranteed back pay after shutdown, OMB claims

Federal workers may not be entitled to back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up te...

wapo.st

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 12h

This whole thing is an example of degenerate Trump thinking. Vought had references to the law deleted from OMB shutdown guidance. It's still the law.

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 13h

Let me be clear: backpay for these workers is required under a federal law I wrote with former Senator Cardin — which Trump signed — during the last Trump shutdown.

This is just more fear mongering from a president who wants a blank check for lawlessness. It won't work.

Federal workers not entitled to back pay after shutdown, budget office claims

Federal workers may not be entitled to back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up te...

www.washingtonpost.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18h

More are united around a simple message: RFK Jr should not be HHS Sec. His decisions undermine our public health capacity and put lives and health at risk.

As 6 former Surgeon Generals argue:

"He has rejected science, misled the public and compromised the health of Americans."

🎁
wapo.st/3VTALll

Opinion | Six surgeons general: RFK Jr. is a threat to the health of Americans

It was our duty in office to warn of dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

wapo.st

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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 21h

A Compact for Control:
No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.
@yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social @uchicagolaw.bsky.social
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

A Compact for Control (opinion)

No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.

www.insidehighered.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

And more:

"Federal funding for higher education research should be based not on political litmus tests, but on academic, scientific, and intellectual criteria that serve the nation and the world."

Clear, succinct, and a model to follow.

Pass it on.

It just might be contagious.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

... The issue is that, under our laws and Constitution and the American tradition of academic freedom, the executive branch cannot coerce independent institutions of higher learning to “align” with the ideological orthodoxies of the moment."

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

"The issue is not whether some ideas in the Compact are sensible, or could be adjusted to become so....

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

This grad alum of MIT (Course 8, '03) agrees.

Just say no.

Friends don't let institutional friends sign Trumpian compacts.

A message from the @aaup.org chapter at MIT:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Letter Regarding Compact

MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...

docs.google.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Reporting from @cenmag.bsky.social on the last-minute announcement and eligibility changes to the NSF GRFP program, including a link to the petition to restore eligibility to 2nd year PhD students + more.

Petition:
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

Story:
cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 1d

Jim O‘Neill, Interim Director of the CDC and a man with zero knowledge, training or experience in science or public health, has finally signed off on the ACIP recommendations for COVID19 vaccines.

“Informed consent is back”, he said, acting as though people were being forcibly vaccinated.

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David Demory @d2mory.bsky.social · 1d

Happy to share our new work on Temperature-driven biogeography of marine viruses infecting Micromonas:
academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Temperature-driven biogeography of marine giant viruses infecting picoeukaryotes Micromonas

Abstract. Climate shapes the biogeography of microbial and viral communities in the ocean. Among abiotic factors, temperature is one of the main drivers of

academic.oup.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Another excellent piece by @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social et al. that raises the question: what is the administration doing other than dismantling for dismantling's sake?

🎁

wapo.st/4q1M3ly

Trump slashed funding for universities that helped create these vital drugs

Medications that prevent HIV, shrink tumors and treat seizures were invented with government funding. At research universities, that money is now canceled or in jeopardy.

wapo.st

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Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 1d

My comments with @celinegounder.com @kffhealthnews.org

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Inside the High-Stakes Battle Over Vaccine Injury Compensation, Autism, and Public Trust - KFF Health News

The evidence is unequivocal: Vaccines do not cause autism. Yet adding autism to the list of conditions covered by a federal payout program, as health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems inclined to ...

kffhealthnews.org

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 2d

NEW: Judge Immergut issues her written second TRO, blocking the Trump admin from deploying ANY federalized National Guard troops from ANY state in Oregon. (Full hearing thread below) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Based on this Court's prior Opinion and Order Granting Plaintiffs' First Motion for
Temporary Restraining Order, ECF 56; the hearing on Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary Restraining Order; and the newly submitted declarations, ECF 60, 63, 65, this Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, ECF 59, and ORDERS as follows:
1. Defendants are temporarily enjoined from deploying federalized members of the
National Guard in Oregon.

2. This Second Temporary Restraining Order expires by its own terms in fourteen
days on October 19, 2025.
3. Plaintiffs are ORDERED to post a nominal bond of $100 within 48 hours. The
bond shall be filed in the Clerk's Office and be deposited into the registry of the Court.
4. Defendants' Request to Stay or Administratively Stay this Second Temporary
Restraining Order, which was raised in the hearing on Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary
Restraining Order, is DENIED.
The Court Clerk will contact the parties to schedule a telephone hearing on
October 17, 2025, to address whether this Second Temporary Restraining Order should be extended for another 14 days.
6. Any motion for a Preliminary Injunction shall be filed no later than October 17,
2025; Defendants' opposition shall be due no later than October 23, 2025, and Plaintiffs' reply shall be due on October 27, 2025.
A combined hearing on the preliminary injunction motion and a trial on the merits
under Rule 65(a)(2) is set for October 29, 2025, before the Honorable Judge Karin J. Immergut, in Courtroom 13A, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
IT IS SO ORDERED
DATED this 5th day of October.
/s/ Karin J. Immergut
Karin J. Immergut
United States District Judge

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2d

time to bring back the print edition of the city paper.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2d

seems like the city paper could do the funniest thing.

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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d

Breaking: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he'll sue the Trump administration after it federalized 300 of his state's National Guard troops and deployed them to Oregon.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2d

"[A]ll universities have to do now is do nothing—no accepting the compact, no counter-offers, nothing—and the government will be left with no more power to coerce and control the First Amendment-protected activities of major American universities than it has today."

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

10 22

Reposted by Joshua Weitz

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2d

National parks caught in the crosshairs of government shutdown

National parks across the country face conflicting demands and uncertainty as a result of the ongoing federal funding dispute.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Joshua Weitz

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 2d

The Trump administration wants to make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202... @merylkornfield.bsky.social

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans

Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

www.washingtonpost.com

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