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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Reposted by Justin Pidot

Leadership is doubling down, but GOP members are getting nervous about the budget’s extreme unpopularity. You can call your Representative now at 202-224-3121.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/02/2025

Your regular reminder that the US air & water pollution laws passed in the 60s & 70s -- and the elaborate federal bureaucracy created to administer them -- constitute one of the most successful gov't interventions in history. WILDLY successful. The envy of the world.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

Greg Shill @gregshill.com · 20/02/2025

I'm quoted along with @rickhills.bsky.social and other experts in this deep dive on the attempted revocation of federal approval for congestion pricing, by @henrygrabar.bsky.social. slate.com/business/202...

slate.com

Trump’s Attempt to Kill Congestion Pricing Will Backfire

Traffic tolls, welcome to the resistance.

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Justin Pidot @justinpidot.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

And just like that, all of the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act are gone. Don’t know how they are going to avoid this causing massive chaos and unpredictability for anyone seeking a federal permit. ceq.doe.gov/docs/laws-re...

ceq.doe.gov

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Among the consequences of this EO, if upheld, would be to transform the Federal Elections Commission from a fair referee for federal elections into a partisan tool to bolster the party in power.

Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Reposted by Justin Pidot

Firings are happening right now at the National Science Foundation. Essential staff are being cut. This isn’t about the budget. If it was, they’d be going after the military (17%) or state appropriations (38%). NSF is 0.7% of the federal budget. All federal employees make up only 4% of the budget.

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Every expression of “outrage” was a political calculation to take power and do worse.

How can we have fair elections if the incumbent president controls the Federal Elections Commission? We need an independent agency to oversee our elections, not a political operations designed to steamroll opposition parties.

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Effectively ending independent agencies is itself a BIG deal that upends a 100 years of precedent and agency structure. That’s what we should focus on now.

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That THIS EO does not infringe on the independence or authority of courts doesn't mean those core principals aren't under threat (see statements of Vance). We need to save our fire on that front for when it's needed. 3/3

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Trump's EO asserts that the President and AG provide "authoritative interpretations of law for the executive branch." The effect is to bind independent agencies, which have been understood to have the authority to adopt their own legal interpretations, not the "independent judiciary." 2/3

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Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies

Let's be clear about the nature of Trump's latest power-grab . He is effectively ending the independence of independent agencies (if the courts allow him to). He DID NOT assert that the President's interpretation of the law overrides Congress or the Courts. 1/3 www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

whitehouse.gov

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

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

Avi Zevin @azevin.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Musk and his lackeys are taking the unprecedented, outrageous, unnecessary, and suspect step of accessing the tax returns and social security payments of every American family and business. Will the public wake up? Will Democrats successfully make hay? Will Republicans finally speak up?

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Justin Pidot @justinpidot.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Scientists explaining the devastating impact of Trump's assault on science. "[Trump's] actions will end research that is working to cure cancer, develop new technologies, drugs, and therapies, clean up environmental contamination, or solve climate change." tucson.com/opinion/colu...

tucson.com

Local opinion: Cutting funding for science in Arizona hurts our economy and our future

The cuts are leading us down a path that will cede the United States' world leadership in science, medicine and health.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

In response to Trump’s assertion, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” we say: The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

Barb McQuade @barbmcquade.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Here is the oath all executive branch employees take. It is to support and defend the Constitution, not to “implement the president’s agenda.” If the two purposes diverge, the Constitution prevails.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I hear the nagging question you ask inside your head a few hundred times a day: "Is it me, or has a huge portion of this country lost its mind?" It isn't you. johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/dont-gasli...

johnpavlovitz.substack.com

Don't Gaslight Yourself. You're Right To Grieve What's Happening to America.

I know what you're thinking.

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Anyone else watch this video and think “dang that’s awesome! Wish it were me!” . . . Just me?

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Trump Publicly Admits He Thinks He Can Break Any Law He Wants

“And though it may be objectively shocking that a modern American president would repeatedly admit to this, without fear of significant pushback, on a random Saturday, it is regrettably unsurprising for this particular president.” www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

rollingstone.com

Trump posted on Presidents Day weekend, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” — a startling, if not surprising admission.

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A Marine vet thought he found a 'home' working at the VA. Now he's one of 1,000 fired.

This is what slashing the federal workforce looks like. Human suffering. Opportunity squandered. And the continuing selflessness of (former) civil servants. And for what? Nothing that serves the America people. taskandpurpose.com/news/veteran...

taskandpurpose.com

Andrew Lennox, who was terminated from the VA, noted the irony of the VA claiming it had fired some veterans to help veterans.

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Dahlia Lithwick @dahlialithwick.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Musk has minor notes: the wellness farms will be run by Tesla and the patients will manufacture batteries.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

Make your calls. Go to your town halls. Ask your state and local officials what they are doing under state and local law. Rest. Hydrate. Make soup for the hungry. Don’t let people tell you that you’re doing it wrong. Not a sprint. Not a marathon. A relay. Find your team. Thank you.

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Musk said he was occasionally going to make mistakes. So what if it was almost immediately and involved nuclear weapons? What’s the big deal, we have lots of them. . . Oh wait, maybe this is a big deal.

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Guessing he didn’t make a lot of friends while he was there.

Thankfully, it appears that “felonious individual” remains available.

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Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Could be. My only point is this: They engineered this “meeting” to turn the screws on these folks. It was an evil ploy to force people to choose between their ethics and their friends.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

I support our federal workers. I support our federal workers. I support our federal workers. I support our federal workers.

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I don’t disagree that it’s a serious ethical violation. I do, however, think there’s a difference between someone who eagerly abets corruption to advance their career and someone who does so to protect others. Don’t yet know what we have here. We will see if they get a fat promotion.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I think a little different. These lawyers were told if no one signed they would all be fired. If Bork hadn’t signed only he was out of a job. He was only looking out for himself and we don’t know enough about whoever signed today.

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Reposted by Justin Pidot

The interim US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a FedSoc member and former Scalia clerk, has done more to publicly expose the corruption of the Trump administration this week at greater personal cost than any elected official I can think of.

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Not sure this is quite the classic prisoners dilemma, since it sounds like anyone who defects will save the jobs of the rest. You have to sit there looking your colleagues in the face knowing you could save their jobs by compromising your ethics.

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If we needed even more evidence that Trump wants a DOJ loyal only to him and not the constitution or the rule of law . . .

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Reposted by Justin Pidot

“If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.” static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics... All of this. All. Of. It.

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The original proc: The quest for LGBT equality after Stonewall evolved from protests and small gatherings into a nationwide movement. Lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and transgender people united to ensure equal rights for all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity

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Proof that doing evil exacts a severe physical toll, or am I confusing correlation and causation again?

Good! Need more laughs to cut through everything else.

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They are determined to prove that federal agencies cannot deliver for the American people to justify more tax cuts and deregulation. Failure is a feature not a bug. (At least that’s my assessment)

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