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Reposted

Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · May 23

📍Episode 2 is live. Soon after Trump took office, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture purged vital climate-focused information from its web pages. @cristianfarias.com & @stephaniekrent.bsky.social discuss how our lawsuit with @earthjustice.org helped restore it. Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Episode 2: Farmers Fight Data Purge

Podcast Episode · The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment · 05/23/2025 · 34m

podcasts.apple.com

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · Apr 24

So, uh, it certainly looks like DOJ intended to file a letter to Judge Liman in MTA v. Duffy, but….it accidentally filed a letter containing its legal advice to the Department of Transportation instead

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

Re: MTA v. Duffy, No. 25 Civ. 1413 (S.D.N.Y.)
Dear Erin:
We write with respect to the above-referenced litigation brought by the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority ("MTA") against the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA"), and Executive Director of the FHWA, Gloria Shepherd, to provide you with information concerning
(1) the litigation risk that DOT faces in defending the Secretary's February 19, 2025 decision to terminate the New York City Central Business District Tolling Program ("CBDTP") agreement, and (2) a process for terminating the CBDTP agreement outside of the current litigation for DOT to consider.
As discussed below, there is considerable litigation risk in defending the Secretary's
February 19, 2025 decision against plaintiffs' claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual rocedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process. For the reasons outlined below, it is unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized "value pricing" pilot under the Value Prising Pilot Program (" ar
FHWA may, however, be able to properly terminate the CBDTP value pricing pilot pursuant to established Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") regulations concerning the termination of cooperative agreements. Termination of the CBDTP agreement pursuant to these OMB regulations would still allow FHWA to end the CBDTP for the Secretary's stated reasons, but would do so as a matter of changed agency priorities rather than arguing the CBDTP was not statutorily authorized in the first instance. Importantly, DOT can seek termination of the agreement pursuant to the OMB regulations in addition to, and not in place of, defending the rationale laid out in the Secretary's letter.
Case 1:25-cv-01413-LJL Document 65 Filed 04/23/25 Page 2 of 11
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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Apr 4

Diane is great in her own right...the not-Bondi part is icing on the cake!

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 31

The Department of Energy is rebranding the Solar Decathlon. My bet: the "Gas Decathlon": a contest to see which student team can come up with the least efficient building design. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: Solar is out as DOE rebrands Solar Decathlon

Student teams will compete only for honorable mentions at the rebranded “BuildingsNEXT Student Design competition."

subscriber.politicopro.com

samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 31

Take a stand or bend the knee. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/o...

Opinion | For God’s Sake, Fellow Lawyers, Stand Up to Trump

The time has come to defend the oath we took when we became officers of the court.

www.nytimes.com

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 28

Earthjustice invites D.C. bar members to meet Diane Seltzer, candidate for bar president, on April 22. You must RSVP at the link. Remember that voting begins on April 15, and that Diane's opponent is Brad Bondi. RSVP here: tinyurl.com/498vwymc

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 27

You can't make this stuff up. In the first sentence of a request to disqualify a judge, Trump's DOJ demanded proceedings "free from any suggestion of impartiality."

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The Lincoln Project @lincolnproject.us · Mar 24

Pete Hegseth today

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 26

You know you're a lower court MAGA judge when Neil Gorsuch says he has "no trouble" rejecting arguments you found convincing. www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Supreme Court upholds Biden regulations on 'ghost gun' kits

The decision means that the federal government can regulate the easily obtainable gun parts in the same way as firearms purchased from specialist stores.

www.nbcnews.com

samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 26

I filled out todays's "progress towards petro-state dictatorship" bingo card with just this one article: Trump megadonor. Attack on oil industry safety rules. Filing before Judge Kacsmaryk. DOJ refusal to defend settled precedent. Bingo! subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: Trump ally seeks to topple pipeline safety enforcement

An energy company led by GOP megadonor Kelcy Warren wants the process for penalizing violations declared “unconstitutional."

subscriber.politicopro.com

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Tristan Snell @tristansnell.bsky.social · Mar 26

This is what happens when you have an entire cabinet full of folks who would NEVER pass a regular security clearance.

Led by a president who would never be able to pass one either.

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 22

Please tell me this is not a video game reference

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 22

I have no sympathy for CJ Roberts’ predicament. He helped create it by refusing to address gerrymandering, gutting the Voting Rights Act, outlawing campaign finance reform, and stalling Trump’s criminal prosecution.

samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 22

Bingo. If you have any dealings with the government, you would be nuts to rely on Paul, Weiss. And I’m shedding no tears for its downfall: the firm gets an “F” from Law Students for Climate Accountability.

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · Mar 21

Paul Weiss: "Fight for you? Oh, honey, we don't even fight for ourselves!"

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 21

As its website proudly notes, the "Weiss" in Paul, Weiss was Louis Weiss, who was famous for his commitment to civil rights. He would be ashamed of the firm he founded today: its partners just admitted that they care more about their pockets than their principles. www.paulweiss.com/about-the-fi...

History

1875 | 1910 | 1950 | Our Name Partners Introduction Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, together with its predecessor firms, has been a presence in New York City for nearly 150 years and a...

www.paulweiss.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · Mar 16

A federal court’s jurisdiction does *not* stop at the water’s edge. The question is whether the *defendants* are subject to the court order, not *where* the conduct being challenged takes place.

Were it otherwise, the government could act lawlessly overseas and courts would be powerless to stop it.

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 14

EPA repealing its GHG endangerment finding to "drive a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion" is like putting Galileo in jail to make the sun go around the earth. www.epa.gov/newsreleases...

EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History | US EPA

EPA News Release: EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History

www.epa.gov

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 14

Trump's environmental actions, like his tariff policy, looks more like culture war than policy agenda. Because this particular move is like deleting the word "door" from a building code. www.eenews.net/articles/fem...

FEMA looks to strip climate phrases from official documents

The proposed list of words to avoid also includes terms that only tangentially relate to global warming, such as “water conservation.”

www.eenews.net

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Dahlia Lithwick @dahlialithwick.bsky.social · Mar 13

With @mjsdc.bsky.social on judges finally breaking the third wall
slate.com/news-and-pol...

A Federal Judge Roasts the DOJ’s “Sham” Excuses for Trump’s Mass Firings

U.S. District Judge William Alsup delivered a furious rebuke to the Trump administration over its mass purge of civil servants.

slate.com

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 13

“That’s just not right in our country, is it? That we run our agencies with lies like that and stain somebody’s record for the rest of their life? Who is going to want to work in a government that would do that to them?” I heart Judge Alsup. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Judge orders Trump officials to offer jobs back to fired probationary workers

Judge William Alsup directed the Trump administration to extend the offer to probationary workers fired last month across several agencies.

www.washingtonpost.com

samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 10

“No one sues the government lightly,” said [BigLaw managing partner]. “You want to make sure you are doing it for fundamentally important reasons” Translation: happy to challenge regulations on behalf of business. Chicken to challenge dictators on behalf of real people. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Fear of Trump Has Elite Law Firms in Retreat

Many big corporate law firms are declining to help with public criticism and legal opposition to the second Trump administration, in the wake of executive orders punishing law firms with Democratic ti...

www.wsj.com

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 7

Last year, China added 82,277 heavy-duty electric trucks to its roads. The U.S. added 1,476. Ending investments in clean trucking hands China a major victory in its campaign to dominate the future of manufacturing.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Trump stalls $1B push to electrify trucking at Port of LA

The Biden administration program was aimed at cleaning up diesels that create the region’s deadliest air pollution. Now it’s all in doubt.

www.eenews.net

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 6

As a lawyer, I can't think of more clear-cut proof that we now have an authoritarian government.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. The

www.whitehouse.gov

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 4

“The majority is saying EPA can still protect water quality if it invests more staff time in issuing each permit,” Sankar said. “I guess they haven’t heard that Trump is gutting the agency.” @maxinejoselow.bsky.social wapo.st/3XntnA0

Supreme Court strikes down EPA rules on discharge of water pollution

The justices ruled that the agency cannot impose generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards.

wapo.st

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samsankar.bsky.social @samsankar.bsky.social · Mar 4

I think @abbiedillen.bsky.social was trying to convey that the only way Trump climate policy makes sense (if at all) is by thinking of it as hypermasculine bro-stupidity.