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Dan Vock

@danvock.bsky.social
2.1K followers 1.3K following 14K posts

Freelance reporter. Illinoisan in D.C. Helping you understand how government works—or doesn’t. I RT Illinois news and politicians a lot. Reach me at dcvock@gmail.com Subscribe to my newsletter danvock.substack.com

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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 4m
Reupping now that the book is out. All about the Chicago pope!
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19thnews @19thnews.org · 2h
A deadly measles outbreak in Pennsylvania has infected more than 975 people this year and been linked to five deaths. It has also infected at least 50 pregnant women in the state, causing doctors in outbreak areas to change how they care for pregnant patients and their babies.
19thnews.org
What Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak could mean for pregnancy care across America
It's raising new questions about immunity testing before pregnancy, early vaccinations for babies and the many complications that could rise from infection.
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Judy Stone @drjudystone.bsky.social · 13h
Immune amnesia from #measles. With growing cases and the anti-vax craze, we're going to be in big trouble with a variety of infections. www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/meas...
cidrap.umn.edu
Measles outbreaks could leave thousands vulnerable to infectious diseases for years
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 1h
I’ve been saying that state legislatures have been stuck in a post-2010 world for more than a decade. It looks like this year’s elections could do the most to shake up that dynamic since the Tea Party Republican surge wapo.st/4hwCZms
wapo.st
GOP is at risk of significant state legislative losses, Post analysis finds
Democrats have a rare chance to boost their state presences after years of Republican gains.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 3h
Justice Alito devotes an entire chapter of his new book to the emergency docket—and to responding to people like me (“the most prolific academic critic of the emergency docket”). As I explain over at “One First,” it … didn’t go well: www.stevevladeck.com/p/256-so-une...
In the pre-publication galleys to his new book, So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country, Justice Alito spelled my last name inconsistently. This is, I suspect, the pettiest possible point on which to open in discussing a Supreme Court justice’s new memoir, and I would never have mentioned it except for the fact that inconsistency turns out to be the organizing feature of the chapter in which I (“the most prolific academic critic of the emergency docket”) repeatedly appear.The central inconsistency of Chapter 8, which is devoted to the emergency docket, is structural: Rather than tackle the subject holistically (as one might expect in a book), Alito mashed together the speech he gave five years ago at Notre Dame Law School with a “postscript.” The former was deeply flawed even at the time (among lots of other things, Alito repeatedly insisted that there was “nothing new” about the Court’s behavior on emergency applications during the first Trump administration and COVID); and the latter tries to move the goalposts away from the specific phenomena to which critics like me have actually objected.The result is to leave readers with a disjointed, inaccurate, and misleading sense of what the debate is even about—to say nothing of how the Court’s own behavior since September 2021 (including Alito’s) has only further undermined the already-flawed claims Alito made back then. Somewhere between the galleys of Alito’s book and the final product (which hits bookstores today), someone apparently figured out that my last name should be spelled the same way (and correctly!) throughout. The other, more significant inconsistencies were, apparently, harder to fix.
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Barry Butler Photography @barrybutler9.bsky.social · 2h
Sunrise Silhouette. This morning's start in Chicago.
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Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · 2h
The 2nd birthright order isn’t significant bc of its legal impact as an order, but bc in it Trump personally explicitly endorsed a policy vision fundamentally opposed to 14A as interpreted by SCOTUS ICE actions destabilizing the meaning of US citizenship are consistent with Trump’s official policy
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CNBC @cnbc.com · 2h
Car buyers are stretching loans to afford payments — it's a 'potential warning light,' analyst says
cnb.cx
Car buyers are stretching loans to afford payments — it's a 'potential warning light,' analyst says
A record number of car buyers took out 84-month or longer loans in the third quarter, but rising amounts financed are pushing monthly payments to new highs.
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Shola Hoon @sholahoon.bsky.social · 2h
“[Hegseth] believes that wars are won by whichever side’s soldiers can do the most pushups, and whose obsession with creating an all-white, all-male military leadership is dragging the Department of Defense down by the day.” @paulwaldman.bsky.social says what National Media is reluctant to.
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 2h
Some context FYI iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/08/14/l...
iowacapitaldispatch.com
Lahn criticizes 'personal attacks' on residency, family in Iowa governor race • Iowa Capital Dispatch
As he spoke, opponents to the gubernatorial candidate held signs calling him a "part-time Iowan," referencing frequent flights to Kansas.
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Katie J. Wells @katiejwells.bsky.social · 2h
dc, as the waymo debates unfold, take note...
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Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 2h
This is an important thread, folks. @propublica.org is doing such good work. Important work.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 2h
13/ Collectively, these cases show that as the administration has relentlessly pursued immigrants, federal agents have run roughshod over the constitutional rights of citizens too. Read our investigation:
projects.propublica.org
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica
The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 2h
12/ We spent months compiling every case we could find of immigration agents detaining Americans. We did it because the government hasn't. And now, we're sharing every one of those cases with you. Explore our database: propub.li/4egbSK2
Screenshot of database titled "Explore All Incidents Where Citizens Were Detained." Text below explains that this is every incident ProPublica could find in which one or more citizens were reportedly detained between January 2025 and September 2026. There are 506 citizens' cases in the database, and users can sort by what the incidents involve, where the incident is located, and the recency of the case.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 3h
3/ 100+ Americans have been held after agents questioned their citizenship. Nearly all of them were people of color. They say they were profiled — detained because of their skin color, accents or jobs. “ICE isn’t looking for criminals. They’re looking for Latinos,” one said.
100+ U.S. citizens held after agents questioned their citizenship
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 3h
2/ Federal agents have detained at least 70 children and teens who are American citizens. Some were handcuffed or zip-tied. In one instance, a 15-year-old with disabilities was handcuffed outside a school in Los Angeles when agents mistook him for an alleged gang member.
At least 70 U.S. citizen children detained, some of whom were handcuffed
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 3h
The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
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The Washington Sun @washingtonsun.com · 14h
Rep. Joyce Beatty is asking a federal judge to force the DOJ to turn over documents about President Trump’s role in the Kennedy Center’s planned two-year shutdown, accusing the administration of improperly shielding evidence behind presidential privilege.
washingtonsun.com
Rep. Beatty Asks a Judge to Compel Evidence in Kennedy Center Lawsuit
The Justice Department has asserted presidential privilege over requests involving Trump and White House officials.
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AAUP @aaup.org · 18h
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: The AAUP is suing the Trump administration over new policies that threaten green card applicants with family separation. 1/
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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
fourth (!) paragraph "Mr. Hastert admitted at his sentencing that he sexually abused teenage wrestlers as young as 14 whom he coached at Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Ill., where he worked from 1965 to 1981. The federal judge who sentenced Mr. Hastert called him 'a serial child molester.'"
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Andrew Deck @andrewdeck.bsky.social · 18h
ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors. "It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
Left: A cartoon generated by ChatGPT and signed with Emily Flake’s signature that was posted to a Reddit forum in June. Right: A real Emily Flake cartoon published in The New Yorker on August 20, 2026 and licensed via The Cartoon Bank.
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Brendan Kevenides @bkevenides.bsky.social · 17h
Now I want "Safety Sticks." Can we have safety sticks to id drivers who park in Chicago's bike lanes?
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 15h
My experience was pretty much the opposite. I learned if you worked hard enough, you could do pretty much anything. But people got v frustrated when it turned out that wasn’t actually true. Meritocracy only goes so far, but money, connections etc go farther. That’s the root of a lot of resentment
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 16h
Wayne’s take is so foreign to me. Yes, I was on a spelling team in middle school. But my kids’ elementary school in DCPS literally has a spelling bee club for 3rd through 5th graders that’s oversubscribed
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 17h
✊
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 17h
Twice in the last few weeks, National Guard members have appeared in places where residents did not expect to see them: congregating outside D.C. public schools around student drop-off times. wapo.st/4rMScmA
wapo.st
The National Guard keeps appearing outside D.C. schools, stoking tensions
The U.S. Marshals Service says the guard members and federal agents are there to deter crime. Families say their presence is ineffective and unsettling for students.
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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 19h
Midterms are around the corner, and the way local law enforcement collaborates with ICE is on the ballot. New guide by @boltsmag.org outlines the races across the U.S. that could reshape Trump's deportation agenda👇
boltsmag.org
The 25 Sheriff and Prosecutor Races Set to Shape Criminal Justice and ICE Collaboration
Voters face stark choices for offices with vast powers on policing and punishment. Bolts walks you through key contests to watch across a dozen states.
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Jared Rutecki @jaredrutecki.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
My latest: “They knew he had this misconduct on his record and hired him anyway.” Anjanette Young responds after the former Chicago Police sergeant fired over the raid of her home was hired by Niles and transferred to its detective bureau. (with @heathercherone.bsky.social)
news.wttw.com
CPD Sergeant Who Led Botched Raid at Home of Anjanette Young Now Working as a Suburban Police Detective
Records show the department is standing by Alex Wolinski even after an appellate court upheld his termination. Anjanette Young criticized the move: “They knew he had this misconduct on his record and ...
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 19h
Judge Stadtmueller, a Reagan appointee in Wisconsin, orders the release of an ICE detainee in part because of the "systemic rigging of bond hearings against detainees." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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New York Attorney General Letitia James @newyorkstateag.bsky.social · 19h
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the CDC have stopped recommending seven vaccines for children, including vaccines that protect against hepatitis B, RSV, and meningitis. These vaccines have kept millions of children out of the hospital and saved countless lives. I'm suing.
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 18h
Here’s an excerpt www.npr.org/2026/10/03/n...
npr.org
No one expected Leo to be pope — except everyone who knew him as 'Bob'
When the 2025 conclave began, no one expected an American pope. But by its end, Cardinal Robert Prevost had become Pope Leo. Here's a look behind the scenes.
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Daniel Burke @burke13.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On this day in 2023, Pope Francis officially made Robert Prevost a cardinal, leading to this joyful moment -- one of my favorite images in our new biography, American Pope
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Ben McAdams (The Resurrection Arc) @purrtah.bsky.social · 19h
Dems are adding an additional $3m to Kansas Senate in digital and TV ads
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 23h
11-yo Andrés lived with his dad in Texas—but was deemed “unaccompanied” by ICE and sent to foster care. “They’re kidnapping people’s kids and keeping them in government custody,” a former Biden official told us. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
“You kidnapped my son”
ICE is now separating children from their parents and deeming them “unaccompanied.”
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 19h
I just ordered this book (which comes out tomorrow) from my friend @scottdetrow.bsky.social about the makings of America’s first pope and I can’t wait to read it. He and his coauthor have traveled and reported far and wide to write it bookshop.org/p/books/amer...
bookshop.org
American Pope: Leo XIV's Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City
"Prevost, known as Pope Leo XIV, gets his first of perhaps many biographies to come, but NPR’s Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow set the bar high. . . . A fascinating portrait of a man who has already mad...
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is happening all over rural America. We need to wake up, people. There's no Greg Bovino in his Nazi coat to blow whistles it. It's daily Gestapo-type terror, aided by the banality of evil local cops www.sltrib.com/news/2026/10...
sltrib.com
ICE enforcement in a small Utah town sent a community into fear. Local police played a key role.
ICE enforcement in a small central Utah town has residents afraid to leave home, avoiding main roads and keeping their children home from school, one resident said.
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What an incredible downfall www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/o...
nytimes.com
Dennis Hastert, Powerful Politician Disgraced by Child Sex Scandal, Dies (Gift Article)
The longest-serving Republican speaker of the House admitted in 2016 to abusing teenage boys decades earlier. He was 84.
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Jon Collins @jcollins.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Icymi, I spoke to author @brian-goldstone.bsky.social about his Pulitzer-winning book, ‘There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America.' It's amazing journalism that illuminates the tension at the heart of our society -- many people aren't paid enough to live. share.google/1DZNPcBxv98S...
share.google
‘There is No Place for Us’ tests America's promise that hard work brings security
The Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction narrative “There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America” follows five families around Atlanta as they seek to keep a roof over their heads and their ...
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Also good context here www.the-downballot.com/p/why-the-go...
the-downballot.com
Why the GOP's spending advantage is nowhere near as big as it looks
New data shows Republicans are getting very poor bang for their buck
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A good look at the state of Senate races now, with nifty graphics from @dannydougherty.bsky.social (gift link) www.wsj.com/articles/dem...
wsj.com
Democrats Inch Into Red Territory, but Have Problems on Home Turf
Senate seats in states that President Trump won handily are now seen as tossups, but the GOP has its own list of targets.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 05/10/2026
Oh I shd add: Deisseroth’s work was (say it w me!) supported with public funding through federal science agencies incl NIH, NSF, and DARPA. And I daresay few political deciders in 2004 would have been excited to put algal proteins in HEK cells or neurons. Scientists knew, though.
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 05/10/2026
he really does look like he's about to step off into a bold new future with none of us in it
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“I honestly don’t think there are any Hispanics that live in Doddridge,” said Boring, whose West Virginia jurisdiction has about 7,600 residents. Even so, he added, “When you get an opportunity to get possibly $100,000 for equipment or vehicles, that’s a no-brainer.” 🎁 🔗 www.wsj.com/us-news/immi...
wsj.com
Exclusive | How Local Police Get Paid Big Money for Just a Few Immigration Arrests
The Department of Homeland Security gives local agencies as much as $2 million for each arrest in a nationwide task force.
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I was 1995 to 1999, so no overlap but pretty close! My first experience with email was my students at UIUC account, so, yeah, I’m old. Haha
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hand coding your own webpage in HTML on a UIUC Unix account was a thing way back in my day
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
we fucking loved it, even when there was basically nothing on it, and let me tell you something else: we loved it because of human connection, human diversity, human creativity. WE DON'T NEED A SINGLE THING ANY OF THESE COMEMIERDAS HAVE MADE AND TRIED TO SELL US IN ORDER TO HAVE A GREAT INTERNET.
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
there was streaming before the big companies, and they criminalized it when it was free because it was unfair to artists, and now that it's for-profit it's legal and it's still fucking unfair to artists.
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Thanks!
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Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Where’s the quote from?
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Pierce @pierceah66.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The chair of the KS Republican Party just came out & admitted he has right-wing friends who attend or have attended Hamilton’s church. If that’s not a free “I can reach everybody” ad idk what is…
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