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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 15h

I continue to believe that the GOP’s exercise of the nuclear option to allow en bloc confirmation of executive branch nominees is one of the most consequential and under-covered Hill stories of the year.

There are now only 16 in the queue.

Senate GOP beats Biden's confirmation numbers

Thanks to new rules through the "nuclear option."

www.axios.com

Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 24d

The Trump administration is pressuring states to hand over sensitive information about voters. The Brennan Center is tracking the DOJ’s requests and how states respond. bit.ly/3JFbKaB

Tracker of Justice Department Requests for Voter Information

The Trump administration is pressing state officials to provide sensitive information about voters.

www.brennancenter.org

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 4d

🚨And Justice Jackson calls out the continued "grave misuse" of the emergency a/k/a shadow docket and its "repeated, gratuitous, and harmful interference in the lower courts while lives hang in the balance."

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 6d

Saddened by Jane Goodall's death. I'm reminded by her remarks at @HaverfordEdu in 2004:

"Hang on to what you have learned about your important role in this life. Every day, you make a difference by the way you behave, by the way you speak, above all by your actions."

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 7d

📺Tune in now to the @brennancenter.org's "Democracy Day in Court" broadcast -- @mawaldman.bsky.social is moderating a discussion about big cases that the Supreme Court will be hearing this term, which gavels in on Monday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrGO...

Democracy’s Day in Court

YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice

www.youtube.com

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 7d

This is extraordinary (see thread below)

Andy Sellars @sellars.bsky.social · 7d

AAUP v. Rubio is out, and look at how it starts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Ahead of the case caption, a handwritten note: "Trump has pardons and tanks . . . . what do you have?" Judge Young's reply: "Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous,
Alone, I have nothing but my
sense of duty.
Together, We the People of the
United States –- you and me --
have our magnificent Constitution.
Here’s how that works out in a
specific case –- "

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11d

Another Friday, another shadow docket decision from SCOTUS. Note too Justice Kagan’s sharp critique of the Court barreling its way to a decision “with scant briefing, no oral argument, and no opportunity to deliberate in conference.”

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 13d

The last remaining Republican FEC Commissioner is resigning on October 3, making it the fourth vacancy of the six-member Commission.

The FEC hasn't had a quorum since May, so there won't be a big difference in how the agency has been running. www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washing...

FEC vice chairman resigns, eyes Chip Roy’s Texas House seat

James E. “Trey” Trainor III said that his resignation is effective Oct. 3 and that he is “seriously evaluating” a run for the House.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Tom “T.M.” Wolf @tomtmwolf.bsky.social · 15d

Yup.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 15d

"Still more, it should not be used, as it also has been, to transfer government authority from Congress to the President, and thus to reshape the Nation’s separation of powers." 2/2

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 15d

SCOTUS is doing this via its shadow docket to revisit Humphrey's Executor - a 90 year old precedent about presidential power.

As Justice Kagan writes in dissent, "[o]ur emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars." 1/

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 15d

NEW: The Supreme Court freezes a lower court order reinstating FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump illegally fired, by a 6–3 vote. So Slaughter remains terminated.

SCOTUS also schedules arguments to decide whether to overrule Humphrey's Executor. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

No. 25A264 (25-332)

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, ET AL. v. REBECCA KELLY SLAUGHTER,

ET AL.

ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
[September 22, 2025]

The application for stay presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE
and by him referred to the Court is granted. The July 17,

2025 order of the United States District Court for the Dis-
trict of Columbia, No. 25–cv–909, ECF Doc. 52, is stayed.

The application is also treated as a petition for a writ of cer-
tiorari before judgment, and the petition is granted. The

parties are directed to brief and argue the following ques-
tions: (1) Whether the statutory removal protections for

members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the sep-
aration of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor

v. United States, 295 U. S. 602 (1935), should be overruled.
(2) Whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal
from public office, either through relief at equity or at law.
The Clerk is directed to establish a briefing schedule that

will allow the case to be argued in the December 2025 ar-
gument session. The stay shall terminate upon the sending

down of the judgment of this Court.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 19d

"And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back." /end

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 19d

On the fifth anniversary of Justice Ginsberg's death, a reminder of something she once said.

"We are not experiencing the best of times. I am optimistic in the long run. A great man once said the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum." 1/

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 21d

Justice Brett Kavanaugh defended the Supreme Court’s use of unexplained emergency orders. Here’s why he’s wrong:
bit.ly/4mzvX0p

Supreme Court Must Explain Why It Keeps Ruling in Trump’s Favor

The Court has repeatedly halted lower court orders and allowed administration policies to go forward via its “shadow docket” without any explanation.

www.brennancenter.org

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 22d

September in DC

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 26d

I miss the powerful voice of Representative John Lewis and his visionary leadership of peace and nonviolence, especially today. Re-read his last op-ed.

Opinion | John Lewis: Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation (Published 2020)

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 29d

#SCOTUS all-but overruled a unanimous, 90-year-old precedent through an unexplained "administrative" stay this morning, and that's only the second-most-problematic thing it did before lunchtime.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Sep 4

RFK - the elder - wrote some beautiful words that Ted Kennedy quoted when he gave his brother’s eulogy in 1968.

They are worth remembering in these times.

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Reposted by Stephen Spaulding

Alicia Bannon @aliciabannon.bsky.social · Sep 4

This is a remarkable article. Federal judges are increasingly speaking out against SCOTUS’s approach to the shadow docket. This isn't typical & underscores the impossible position for lower courts when SCOTUS makes new law on its emergency docket – especially when it doesn’t explain its rulings. /1

Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · Sep 4

🚨EXCLUSIVE:

Federal judges tell NBC News the Supreme Court has got to do a better job of explaining emergency rulings, with frequent decisions in favor of Trump at least appearing to validate harsh criticism of the judiciary at a time of rising threats:

www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

In rare interviews, federal judges criticize Supreme Court's handling of Trump cases

Ten judges tell NBC News the Supreme Court needs to explain its rulings better, with some urging Chief Justice John Roberts to do more to defend the judiciary against external criticism.

www.nbcnews.com

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Sep 2

More here: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Tracking who Trump is appointing to fill key administration roles

Follow President Trump’s progress filling over 800 positions, among about 1,300 that require Senate confirmation, in this tracker from The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service.

www.washingtonpost.com

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Sep 2

The morning’s political newsletters were full of reporting on Senate GOP plans to go nuclear on changing the rules for confirming nominees.

Here are the latest stats on how the president’s nominees are faring, per @washingtonpost.com + @ourpublicservice.bsky.social stats—about on par with Biden.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Aug 31

"Some days in late August at home are like this, the air thin and eager like this, with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar..."—William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Aug 26

"DOGE Put Critical Social Security Data At Risk, Whistleblower Says"

But for the Supreme Court's June shadow docket decision allowing DOGE to access sensitive Social Security Administration records, this wouldn't have happened.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

DOGE Put Critical Social Security Data at Risk, Whistle-Blower Says

www.nytimes.com

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Aug 26

A reminder that the Supreme Court went out of its way to signal special treatment for the Federal Reserve's removal protections in a brief shadow docket decision in May when it greenlit the firing of members of other independent agencies.

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · Aug 25

POTUS is now threatening to sue over the Senate's blue slip procedures (where home state Senators signal their support/opposition to a judicial nominee).

Courts are unlikely to interfere in an internal (and informal) Senate committee procedure. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

Trump Promises Lawsuit Over Senate’s ‘Blue Slips’ for Judges

President Donald Trump said his administration will file a lawsuit against a Senate practice that requires a home state senator’s approval for federal appointments like judges and US attorneys.

news.bloomberglaw.com

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