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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 15h

This was a fascinating conversation @ilascolumbia.bsky.social…check out the video! 👇

Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies @siwpscolumbia.bsky.social · 18h

Last week, SIWPS Director @profsaunders.bsky.social participated in a panel w/ María Alejandra Vélez, @gramsey.bsky.social, & @emoncada.bsky.social titled "Drugs and Security: Shifting U.S. Policy in Latin America.”

Watch the recording via @ilascolumbia.bsky.social ⬇️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtY...

Columbia ILAS | Drugs and Security: Shifting U.S. Policy in Latin America

YouTube video by ILAS Columbia

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies @siwpscolumbia.bsky.social · 5d

📚 Please join us next week for a conversation with @adambaczko.bsky.social on his book, "The Taliban Courts in Afghanistan: Waging War by Law."

🗓️ Friday, October 10
🕛 12:00–2:00 PM

Register here ⬇️
events.columbia.edu/go/TalibanCo...

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies @siwpscolumbia.bsky.social · 18h

Last week, SIWPS Director @profsaunders.bsky.social participated in a panel w/ María Alejandra Vélez, @gramsey.bsky.social, & @emoncada.bsky.social titled "Drugs and Security: Shifting U.S. Policy in Latin America.”

Watch the recording via @ilascolumbia.bsky.social ⬇️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtY...

Columbia ILAS | Drugs and Security: Shifting U.S. Policy in Latin America

YouTube video by ILAS Columbia

www.youtube.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 22h

Also, residents of DC did not love it either.

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 1d

What a headline…

Charlie Savage @charliesavage.bsky.social · 1d

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

It is not clear what is behind the move by Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist. A legal ethics specialist said it could raise conflict-of-interest issues.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

I truly don't understand what people thought was going to happen

Mary Dudziak @marydudziak.bsky.social · 1d

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected? @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected?
Circular graph showing over half answered: much more than I expected, about a quarter: more than I expected, about an eighth: similar threat to what I expected, small sliver: much less threat than I expected.

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, people need to understand that probably the single biggest reason given in Judge Immergut’s order for blocking the Guard deployment was that the facts on the ground simply did not reflect any serious issues for ICE.

In Chicago there is enough of a difference that it could impact a court case.

Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 1d

I think folks should prepare themselves for the off chance that there is a different outcome in Chicago than the litigation has yielded thus far in Portland. The facts on the ground, I think, are arguably different enough.

But that’ll raise serious Posse Comitatus issues in Chicago. It’s not good.

Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 2d

Texas proudly invading Illinois.

It’s hard to describe the level of potential constitutional crisis here.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

👇👇👇👇👇👇

Lindsay P Cohn @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social · 2d

Folks we are watching the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review since the 19th c

www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Judge issues new broader order barring any National Guard from relocating to Oregon

Judge asked federal government lawyer: 'Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?'

www.oregonlive.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 1d

I think folks should prepare themselves for the off chance that there is a different outcome in Chicago than the litigation has yielded thus far in Portland. The facts on the ground, I think, are arguably different enough.

But that’ll raise serious Posse Comitatus issues in Chicago. It’s not good.

Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 2d

Texas proudly invading Illinois.

It’s hard to describe the level of potential constitutional crisis here.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

Trump's defiance of of a (Trump-appointed) federal judge in Oregon and the Governor of Illinois over national guard troops shows again that in the realm of national security, there are no constraints left on the presidency. @foreignaffairs.com www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Imperial President at Home, Emperor Abroad

American foreign policy in an age of unrestrained executive power.

www.foreignaffairs.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 2d

Once again, where is the CNO? SECNAV? After what just happened in Quantico, when will the military top brass speak up?
I asked this after the disgrace at Ft. Bragg, too.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Tony Clark @anthonyclark.bsky.social · 3d

*DEVELOPING*: I've updated my scoop with previously unreported details about the State Dept. staffer who requested the sword, NARA's response, and that the gift Trump gave King Charles III wasn't even a replica of Eisenhower's West Point Officer's Sabre:
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3d

If a federal judge, appointed by Trump, can call him “simply untethered to facts,” our White House press corps can as well.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

In sum, the President is certainly entitled "a great level of deference," Newsom II, 141
F.4th at 1048, in his determination that he "is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws
of the United States." 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3). But "a great level of deference" is not equivalent to
ignoring the facts on the ground. As the Ninth Circuit articulated, courts must "review the
President's determination to ensure that it reflects a colorable assessment of the facts and law
PAGE 22 - OPINION AND ORDER
Case 3:25-cv-01756-IM Document 56
Filed 10/04/25
Page 23 of 31
within a 'range of honest judgment.'" Id. at 1051 (quoting Sterling, 278 U.S. at 399). Here, this
Court concludes that the President did not have a "colorable basis" to invoke § 12406(3) to
federalize the National Guard because the situation on the ground belied an inability of federal
law enforcement officers to execute federal law. Id. at 1051-52. The President's determination
was simply untethered to the facts.
c. Whether there is a Rebellion or Danger of Rebellion
Defendants also aroue that the Sentember 28 2025 federalization order is authorized

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 4d

Further premeditated killing by the Trump administration.

Labelling the victims of these strikes as "narco-terrorists" does not magically make these attacks legal.

Earlier this morning, on President Trump's orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation. The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics - headed to America to poison our people.

Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route. These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 4d

There are no more constraints on a president’s ability to use military force, and this president is using all that power to target civilians. All Americans should be extremely alarmed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Keith E. Whittington @kewhittington.bsky.social · 5d

Yet another no good, very bad day for the Constitution

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Susie Colbourn @susancolbourn.net · 5d

Applications are now open for the 2026-27 predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships with the America in the World Consortium!

Applicants from all disciplines whose research bears directly on American grand strategy, broadly defined, are welcome to apply.

Deadline: December 1

AWC Pre- and Post- Doctoral Fellowships 2025-2026

The America in the World Consortium at Duke University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Florida seeks applications from current Ph.D. students for its Pred...

www.awconsortium.org

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 5d

You could not more perfectly invert the whole point of the power of the purse than this false notion the legislature cutting off appropriations means the executive gets more power.

Shipwreck @shipwreck75.bsky.social · 5d

President Trump says he is meeting today with Russ Vought, OMB director and "of PROJECT 2025 Fame," to discuss cuts to "Democrat Agencies."

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 5d

What?????????

Tony Clark @anthonyclark.bsky.social · 6d

BREAKING: sources say NARA has forced out Dr. Todd Arrington, the federal director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, after he declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a sword from the library for a gift to King Charles

lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

EXCLUSIVE: NARA Ousts Eisenhower Library Director Over Proposed Trump Gift to King Charles

The director, a historian and Army veteran, declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a priceless artifact from the library's permanent collection

lastcampaign.substack.com

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 5d

This is lawless, inhumane, and cruel. It’s also official government policy personally endorsed by the president and his cabinet. The president may be immune but those who serve him are not.

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 6d

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground

ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

abc7chicago.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Sam Bergman @violanorth.bsky.social · 5d

There are a hundred other crimes and inhumane actions this admin is committing, but as a quick 'n easy slogan, "I will end these criminals who are bankrupting our country and violently kidnapping our neighbors" is hard to beat.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 5d

“Authoritarianism succeeds by making dissent costly. When the authoritarian gale sends citizens running for cover, civil society organizations must anchor democratic principles.”

A must-read from my colleague and amazing writer Turkuler Isiksel.

democracyproject.org/posts/civil-...

Civil Society Institutions Under Authoritarian Encroachment

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

democracyproject.org

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 5d

Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion.

Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.

"It was scary, because I had never had a gun in my face," Fisher said. "They asked my name and my date of birth and asked me, did I have any warrants? And I told them, 'No, 'Ididn't."
Fisher said she was handcuffed before being released around 3 a.m., and she was told that if anyone had any kind of warrant out for them, even if it was unrelated to immigration, they would not be released.

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 6d

The great @kschake.bsky.social does not mince words about what Trump and Hegseth did yesterday in that packed auditorium.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 6d

Kori Schake: “Yesterday morning, Trump and Hegseth behaved reprehensibly. Their speeches…were tantamount to incitement—a genuinely dangerous effort to suborn the military’s oath and condition them for using violence against their fellow Americans.” foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/01/t...

Trump’s Speech to Generals Was Incitement to Violence Against Americans

Military leaders’ quiet professionalism offers hope amid a maelstrom.

foreignpolicy.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth N. Saunders

Sumita Pahwa @sumitapahwa.bsky.social · 7d

Thread with details that are significant re AAUP vs Rubio.

Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 7d

Pls read the 161 page opinion.
I want to highlight some information that came out in discovery & at trial that folks might have missed.
(1) Asst Director Hatch, is the senior director in the Office of Intelligence. He oversees intelligence reports known as Reports of Analysis (ROA)....

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