Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 4h

Hell, let's just bring back Up With People at this point. Or Ned Flanders's parable of the flood. thehill.com/blogs/in-the...

thehill.com

8

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 5h

I've been banging this drum for the past four months or so: DOGE and Russ Vought broke the appropriations process. What's the point of going through the arduous process of crafting 12 spending bills, clearing them through committee and getting them through two chambers if Trump does rescissions?

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 13h

If appropriations bills are not seen as enforceable contracts, why should any Member of Congress vote to fund any part of the federal government under Donald Trump? You're voting to provide money for lawlessness. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

There is no budget "deal" to be made

President Trump has so broken the constitutional framework as to make joint normal, responsible government impossible.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

24 370 1.2K

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 6h

I know we're all used to the president talking like Livia Soprano all the time, but this is a goddamn outrage

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 11h

“.. we’re going to take care of our people,” Trump added. “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of. And we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

@thehill.com
thehill.com/homenews/adm...

26 280 1K

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Jonathan Bernstein @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 7h

My item on this suggested that while it could be how inept Trump always is, what I suspect is going on is that the GOP has just lost the ability to talk to anyone outside their strongest supporters. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/underminin...

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 7h

(Politico) - One week into the government shutdown, top Republican leaders appear to have lost the plot.

#RepublicansInDisarray @politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

2 15 41

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 7h

You know it has to be really, really, really extremely bad Republican disarray if even Politico admits it

Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 7h

Disarray!
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Politico: Republicans are in disarray 1 week into the shutdown

5 38 200

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 7h

Dude. They have treatments for this.

3 30

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 16h

Goodness gracious.

I am sure this will endear the them more to the public that is already blaming the Republicans more for shutting the government down.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

8 11 56

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Evelyn Douek @evelyndouek.bsky.social · 16h

I wrote about an under-appreciated aspect of AAUP v. Rubio. It is the first case of the Trump Era to explicitly identify and reject the primary and most pernicious form of speech suppression employed by this Administration: Chill.

balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/aaup...

Balkinization: AAUP v. Rubio and the Big Chill

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

21 30

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

That was the old practice this new language specifically displaced.

2 1 33

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

They're relying on the "subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse" language to say that back pay will be available only if the new approps law specifically includes it. But if that were what that language meant, the entire provision would be meaningless.

1 3 32

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

31 USC 1341(c)(2).

1 1 22

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

It *is* their shutdown. Trump and Vought have been shutting down the government (except for ICE and the military) since January 20. That they are running around so gleefully using the lapse in appropriations to target Dem-aligned constituencies shows this is just what they want.

P Collirigger @pcollirigger.bsky.social · 16h

Doesn't this undermine the Republican message that the shutdown is the Dems' fault? If the Republicans are going to use the shutdown to carry out their divisive policies, doesn't that make it look like it is THEIR shutdown?

6 28 81

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

As @vermontgmg.bsky.social says here, "How can anyone in Congress — Democrats or Republicans — make a budget 'deal' with this administration if we now know the President is going to ignore implementing any part of the 'deal' he wants?" Read the whole thing: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

2 73 220

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Jon Walker @jonwalkerpdx.bsky.social · 16h

Really zero reason for the Senate Democrats to ever vote for any government funding bill since Trump is very explicitly and purposely violating the letter of the law. Any new bill is basically fancy toilet paper.

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

Feel free to attribute the following to a former OMB General Counsel: The supposed "new legal analysis" is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit. What the law actually says is that when Congress enacts a law ending a lapse, furloughed employees get paid at the earliest date possible. Period.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

37 130

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

Feel free to attribute the following to a former OMB General Counsel: The supposed "new legal analysis" is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit. What the law actually says is that when Congress enacts a law ending a lapse, furloughed employees get paid at the earliest date possible. Period.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

140 1.1K 3.4K

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 17h

It's labor that's standing up. If the university enterprises won't do it, the faculty will have to join together to do it.

Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 17h

The AAUP and other labor groups sue the administration over its plan to charge $100,000 for every new H-1B. The AAU is not party to the suit, even though though its members among the largest employers of foreign academics. We’re seeing which groups are willing to let others take the heat.

Higher ed groups sue over Trump administration’s $100K H-1B visa fee

The surprise policy rolled out last month could cause “catastrophic setbacks” to research in the U.S., the lawsuit alleges.

www.highereddive.com

15 52

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 18h

As always, @angierasmussen.bsky.social is essential in explaining where this dumb idea came from, and why it's so pernicious. open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

2 10 34

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 19h

This piece by @beaubaumann.bsky.social is really good and focusing on all the right questions. lpeproject.org/blog/rebuild...

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America

In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is…

lpeproject.org

2 15 36

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

ICE's lies keep piling up.
ICE: 10 cars rammed ICE
Video shows: No cars rammed ICE
ICE: She boxed ICE in
Video: ICE boxed her in
ICE: She shot a rifle at ICE
Truth: She did not have a rifle
ICE: ICE returned fire
Truth: Only ICE fired
There should be some punishment for this firehose of lies.

New details on Border Patrol shooting, alleged vehicle ramming in Brighton Park revealed in court

Prosecutors said two Chicagoans had been following a vehicle being driven by Border Patrol agents for 20-30 minutes before the alleged ramming took place.

abc7chicago.com

3 62 110

Reposted by Sam Bagenstos

Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 1d

From the people who brought you a fake case in 303 Creative and still got the justices to bulldoze protections for queer people………

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d

I'm sorry but how does this person have standing to challenge Colorado's ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy when she has explicitly disclaimed any desire to change a patient's sexual orientation or gender identity? How is this a real case? slate.com/news-and-pol...

The Supreme Court’s First Blockbuster Case This Term Looks Pretty Fake

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that seeks to undo a major triumph of the LGBTQ+ movement.

slate.com

15 140 510

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d

Yep.

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d

String quartet version of Every Breath You Take blasting on this plane during boarding is, if anything, creepier than the original.

3 37

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d

I have no issue with this list.

1

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d

Dumb idea. "The current recommendation is that a child should get two doses of MMR; the first between 12 and 15 months, and the second between the ages of 4 and 6 years. If they were split apart, a child would need to get six separate shots." thehill.com/policy/healt...

thehill.com

3 9 25

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 1d

What @mjtoma.bsky.social said here. open.substack.com/pub/newrepub...

For God’s Sake, Democrats: Don’t Cave

They’re widely, and rightly, perceived as weak. The shutdown fight is their chance to shock us for a change.

open.substack.com

1 2 32