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Cecilia Muñoz

@ceciliamunoz.bsky.social
5.3K followers 700 following 103 posts

Serial policy nerd: led President Obama's Domestic Policy Council after 20 years at Unidos US; now growing new NGOs. On way too many boards. Author: More Than Ready.

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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
John Palfrey @palfrey.org · 27/09/2026
Collective Action for the First Amendment A free press and the First Amendment matter to our democracy in America. Collective action is essential to upholding the First Amendment. Democracy will not sustain itself....
jpalfrey.blog
Collective Action for the First Amendment
A free press and the First Amendment matter to our democracy in America. Collective action is essential to upholding the First Amendment. Democracy will not sustain itself.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A massive group of demonstrators is currently forming a human chain around the Kennedy Center following Trump’s threats against it
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John Palfrey @palfrey.org · 09/09/2026
"The United States still lacks a comprehensive, legally binding A.I. safety framework." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I Worked on Safety at OpenAI. The Fix Isn’t Hard.
Even without government regulation, private companies can act on their own to address A.I. safety concerns.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This is terrible news, not just for the Smithsonian, but for the country. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/a...
nytimes.com
Smithsonian’s Secretary to Resign as Trump Tries to Rule the Institution
In the face of escalating White House attacks about how museums present American history, Lonnie G. Bunch III has announced his decision to depart.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Attention writers of historical fiction: Ms. didnt come into common use until the 1970s, and only after a fight. I’ve read way too many books by writers unaware of that history. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/a...
nytimes.com
In Battle to Use ‘Ms.,’ Gloria Steinem Had to Fight The New York Times (Gift Article)
In the 1970s, Ms. Steinem confronted the newspaper’s executive editor about the honorific in an exchange of letters, pressing it to use the alternative to Miss or Mrs.
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 01/09/2026
The General Services Administration fired thousands at its Public Buildings Service, then hired hundreds back — all while eliminating the office that kept on-site daycare affordable for federal employees governmentwide. We've documented it all. Learn about these changes and others here ⬇️
civilservicearchive.org
The Civil Service Archive
Tracking changes affecting the shape and operation of federal government agencies under the second Trump administration.
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
So many of these writers, entire sections, and at times outlets are not engaged in serious writing or thinking. "The Case for Reparations" and "The 1619 Project" remain excellent works of journalism. I am not sure either would have been published today in the outlets where they appeared.
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Ben Raderstorf @raders.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is a very important lawsuit from @protectdemocracy.org, @citizensforethics.org and the Electronic Privacy Information Center 👇
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 31/08/2026
Headlines around the USPS, mail voting, & SCOTUS are confusing by design. Here is what you really need to know: 1️⃣ Mail voting remains safe and protected by law. 2️⃣ States set election rules—not POTUS. 3️⃣ The chaos is a strategy to spread doubt and fear. We’re not taking the bait, take action with us
ifyoucankeepit.org
Don’t panic about the USPS mess
Trump’s mail-in voting chaos — and incompetence
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 23/08/2026
🚨 Status Update: Improving In the latest AAW update, we detail how attempts to subvert the 2026 elections are facing major hurdles, even as the administration tries illegal tactics like withholding disaster relief to tilt the playing field. Read more here: protdem.org/elections
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Graphic titled "AUTHORITARIAN ACTION WATCH" with a "JUST UPDATED" badge. A main heading reads "Authoritarian actions corrupting elections are" followed by a dark blue dropdown box with a red arrow pointing down, containing the word "Improving". Below, text reads: "Trump’s attempt to use DHS funding to interfere with elections is facing legal resistance." At the bottom right is an illustration of a torn "I Voted" sticker featuring an American flag. Protect Democracy's logo appears in the bottom left corner.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My home town FTW. It’s Comic Con all day, every day.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Well, this is adorable
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
This piece documents what we know to be true: Justice Kavanaugh's blessing has emboldened the kind of officials who have long used the word "tonks" to describe their prey. (It refers to the sound a flashlight makes when it strikes a person's head.) Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/u...
nytimes.com
New Evidence Shows Federal Agents Using Racial Slurs During Immigration Sweeps (Gift Article)
Body-camera video and other court evidence capture federal agents using slurs and targeting Latinos while bypassing white bystanders during immigration sweeps in Chicago and Los Angeles
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Wonderful piece about an exciting idea - makes me think we can actually - finally - pass a childcare policy that works for everybody. open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com
How to Break the Fifty-Year Stalemate on Childcare Policy
A new proposal aimed at Democrats emphasizes learning from past failures and giving parents choice.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Groups like KIND (KIds in Need of Defense) and the Vera Institute have been defunded for their work providing representation to unaccompanied migrant children. The new grantee of $150 million? A Texas law firm with 26 employees and no immigration experience. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
politico.com
26-employee Texas law firm gets $150M to represent 24,000 children in immigration court
None of the Burke Law Group’s lawyers list immigration law as an area of expertise, per the firm’s website.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 29/07/2026
Leading up to Election Day, organizing to ensure you and your community are ready to vote is the #1 way to defend the right to choose your leaders. But what happens after votes is cast? We'll need to hold the line on the results. Read how to defend the will of voters beyond Election Day.
ifyoucankeepit.org
Hold the line
Make sure the winners take office
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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
This is such a disturbing flex. He’s basically acknowledging that he and Trump have raised the bar on what scandals presidents can get away with so much that Watergate was nothing compared to them today. True. But yikes.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
And there it is: Trump makes clear he's more interested in making it harder for you to vote than making it easier for you to afford your home. The rising cost of living is not a national emergency to him but him being able to steal an election he's gonna lose is. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Refuses to Sign Housing Bill Until Unpopular Voting Restrictions Pass Congress
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Didn’t manage to capture it in a photo, but I’m here to report that during the ceremony to open the Obama Center, an actual bald eagle flew over the proceedings.
The tall stone “obamalisk” of the Obama Center’s museum with a clouded blue sky behind it, and the Obamas visible in a podium behind plexiglass to the right.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
This!! 👇
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 29/05/2026
"The choice before us now isn’t just between the two major parties: it’s between the broken system we inherited and a fairer one we can build together." Former senior WH official @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social on how proportional representation could fairly represent voters of color everywhere.
democracyjournal.org
The Real Districting Culprit
It isn’t gerrymandering. It’s the existence of single-member districts in the first place. It was never designed to help minority voters.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Cecilia Vega, the only Latina ever to have served as a correspondent on 60 Minutes, was fired today. Wish I had words for how disgusted I am.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 28/05/2026
Latino voters make up 20% of the U.S. population, but only 11% of Congress. Voters of color have long been underrepresented, but extreme partisan gerrymandering is only making it worse. @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social outlines how proportional representation changes that ⬇️
democracyjournal.org
The Real Districting Culprit
It isn’t gerrymandering. It’s the existence of single-member districts in the first place. It was never designed to help minority voters.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Campos: While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 27/05/2026
How do we stop the never-ending gerrymandering wars and attacks on voters of color? @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social, who led the White House Domestic Policy Council, argues in Democracy Journal that the fix isn’t simply drawing better maps — it’s proportional representation.
democracyjournal.org
The Real Districting Culprit
It isn’t gerrymandering. It’s the existence of single-member districts in the first place. It was never designed to help minority voters.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
This moment of extreme gerrymandering and diminishing voting rights has made it all the more urgent to press for big reforms in our democracy. Not only is this necessary; I'm increasingly convinced that it's achievable. democracyjournal.org/arguments/th...
democracyjournal.org
The Real Districting Culprit
It isn’t gerrymandering. It’s the existence of single-member districts in the first place. It was never designed to help minority voters.
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
This is insane corruption and not being covered my mainstream media. 1. Subscribe to @popular.info 2. Where is the coverage in the rest of the press?!?
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
This wasn’t the first time mass deportation agents targeted and held Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a US citizen and essential construction worker in Alabama. "In fact, Saturday’s encounter marked the third such incident, according to court filings.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
ICE keeps detaining the same US citizen again, and again, and again. He’s fighting back.
“I only wish to live my life in peace,” Leonardo Garcia Venegas said in a declaration.
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Maria Sacchetti - reporter - The Washington Post @mariasacchetti.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
NEW (my signal: mariapost.45) A lawyer who vowed to “fight exclusively for the rights of men.” An attorney who championed ICE in MN. A judge who denied protection to a man because he didn’t look “overtly gay.” All are among the new "deportation judges." www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
Trump officials hire ‘deportation judges’ with less training, experience
The president is remaking courts to clear a backlog of asylum cases. Hires include an attorney for Jan. 6 rioters and a lawyer who championed Minneapolis ICE raids.
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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 14/04/2026
For the first time in modern American history, the federal gov is being turned against our elections to lay the groundwork for overturning results the administration doesn't like. Read how we can protect our elections against Executive Override. protdem.org/executive-override
protdem.org
How the Trump administration plans to interfere with the 2026 elections
2026 will be different from any election in American history. The Trump administration is wielding the full power of the government against our own elections.
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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The Herodotus Trap, if you will.
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Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · 07/04/2026
Completely unstable and perilous. The House must bring up impeachment articles, and the Senate needs to remove a president who wants to commit war crimes. We cannot sit idly by as Donald Trump threatens to end an entire civilization.
Washington Post
Trump warns ‘a whole civilization will die’ if Iran doesn’t make a deal
The president had issued a deadline of 8 p.m. Eastern time for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz, pledging destruction by midnight if leaders don’t comply.

April 7, 2026 at 9:22 a.m. EDT26 minutes ago
2 min
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
In an age of creeping relativism, a universal moral law still exists. Threatening to end an entire civilization of 90 million people in order to bend a nation’s conduct to your will is grossly morally wrong. It is evil. And we should say this loudly.
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Hot off the press, my op-ed in MSNOW on Trump’s budget request. Proud of this one, but particularly happy they let me keep the final paragraph with only light editing. www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
Budgets force us to prioritize at the margins, to determine where to use our limited resources. As a result, they reflect our values. Government is supposed to invest in future wellbeing and to ameliorate current suffering. And while life is unfair, and we will never be able to fix that, the role of government is to help make life less unfair so that struggling people can get by and even have a decent chance to get ahead. The president's budget request instead imagines an America that does less for struggling Americans. A
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Reposted by Cecilia Muñoz
Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 31/03/2026
The Trump admin's new EO would also require DHS to compile a list of verified U.S. citizens in each state who are eligible to vote. Such a list is likely to remove eligible voters and perpetuate a false narrative about the security of our elections. Read more about the tool ⬇️
protectdemocracy.org
The SAVE tool, explained
The use of the SAVE tool are part of a larger effort to weaponize government data and tilt the 2026 elections before a single ballot is cast.
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Elizabeth Wilkins @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
In a moment where it’s so clear that so much is broken, we have to get down to the studs on what our public institutions and policy are for. That’s true for taxes. This is a shared social project to fund our public goods, create broad social insurance, and rebalance power in our economy.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
🧵 I recently spoke with Taylor Owen @theglobeandmail.com Machines Like Us podcast about an urgent question: How do you make a technology safe when the political will to govern it has evaporated? And what happens if we don't? www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/mac...
theglobeandmail.com
When did common sense AI policy become radical?
How do you make a technology safe when nobody seems particularly interested in regulating it – and what might happen if we don’t?
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I like a scenic snowfall as much as anybody, but it was 80° in DC yesterday and it is currently snowing, and I am OVER IT
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Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · 26/02/2026
BREAKING: Trump-Noem DHS admits to wrongfully arresting 261 DACA recipients, 86 of whom were deported, since Trump’s second term started, per disclosure to Congress.
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Hello! I’m the reporter who has been tracking citizens detained by immigration agents. And last night, I noticed something: A lot of them were at the State of the Union, including a number of whom I’ve written about. Their stories should be known:
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
This. Not only really important, but an excellent use of illustration, IMHO.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
So moved by this www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/19/o...
chicagotribune.com
Julie Morita: My parents were interned in camps for Japanese Americans. We are repeating that national sin.
Reflecting on the interment of Japanese Americans and what is happening today challenges us to see how fragile our civil liberties are.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Let me explain what this genuinely EVIL memo does. The admin is doubling down on its plan to arrest, detain, and interrogate tens of thousands of legally present refugees; people already vetted who’ve lived here legally for 1+ year. Hundreds were arrested in Minnesota before a court blocked this.
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New Policy
When a refugee is admitted to the United States, the admission is conditional and subject to a mandatory review after one year of physical presence in the United States under INA § 209(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1159(a)(1). [footnote 1] At one year after admission:

[Footnote 1] 18 C.F.R. § 209.1(a)(1) states that every refugee whose status has not been terminated "is required to apply to USCIS one year after entry in order for USCIS to determine his or her admissibility ." 8 C.F.R. § 209.1(b) provides that this [end fragment of footnote 1]

The refugee must return, or be returned, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody for inspection and examination for admission as an LPR.
If the refugee does not voluntarily return, DHS will return the individual to custody (i.e., arrest and detain) for this purpose.
DHS may maintain custody for the duration of the inspection and examination process.
This detain-and-inspect requirement ensures that refugees are re-vetted after one year, aligns post-admission vetting with that applied to other applicants for admission, and promotes public safety.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
G.W. Bush on George Washington: "Few qualities have inspired me more than Washington’s humility. I have studied the corrupting nature of power, and how retaining power for power’s sake has infected politics for generations." Happy Presidents Day inpursuit.substack.com?utm_source=n...
inpursuit.substack.com
In Pursuit | Substack
A national project to debrief the America experiment at 250 years. In Pursuit is a non-partisan, not-for-profit initiative of More Perfect. Click to read In Pursuit, a Substack publication with thou...
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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
The commander in chief telling troops who they have to vote for is itself a presidency ending impeachable scandal.
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
I don’t think I have words to describe how moving that halftime show was….
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The Obama Foundation @obamafoundation.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
From one natural-born US citizen to another, have a great Benito Bowl!
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
THIS www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Why haven’t American elites stood up for Minnesota? | Daniel Altschuler
If US elites can find the courage to speak up, we can still prevent our country from descending into full-blown autocracy
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Cecilia Muñoz @ceciliamunoz.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
First day since the massive layoffs at #WashingtonPost, and the impact is already devastatingly visible.
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