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Stephen Spaulding

@stevespaulding.bsky.social
1.8K followers 377 following 395 posts

Brennan Center at NYU Law | Used-to-be: Policy Director for Senator Amy Klobuchar + the Senate Rules Committee | VP @ Common Cause | Sr. Counsel to Representative Zoe Lofgren + House Admin Committee Dems | Special Counsel at the FEC | opinions are my own 🏳️‍🌈

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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Majority Leader John Thune already said earlier this summer that the Senate would jam through a successor in the lame duck if the Senate flips and a justice retires.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Today the Trump administration hit a new milestone. It filed its 41st application on the Supreme Court's shadow docket. Forty-one. That's how many it filed during the president's *entire* first term.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Congressional Women’s Softball Game live on @c-span.bsky.social 🥎
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Something the House of Representatives spent time on today before leaving until mid-November. 🦖🦕
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Great to join @katieleebarlow.bsky.social to discuss the @brennancenter.org’s recent report on the barrage of threats that federal judges and their families are facing at a time of democracy under strain. District court judges in particular are on the front lines of upholding our Constitution.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
61 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act became law. Congress then reauthorized it five times—each time with overwhelming bipartisan votes. Then the Roberts Court started dismantling it. Congress must be repair & strengthen the VRA after the damage done by the Supreme Court.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This by @pewresearch.org is the third major poll this month showing rock bottom approval of the Supreme Court. Note the historic partisan gap in approval of the Court. It is not healthy to have this degree of polarization between Republicans and Democrats.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Re-upping this Gallup poll from yesterday and the public's record disapproval of the Supreme Court. Note how 25 years ago -- when the Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush -- approval barely took a dip. Approval took a dive after Dobbs and it's only getting worse.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Later this afternoon the Senate is going to take a cloture vote on a resolution providing for the “en bloc” consideration of 74 nominees. This is the result of Senate Republicans invoking the nuclear option last year to jam Trump’s exec noms through in one up-or-down vote.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A great @acslaw event in FL w/ Judge Barkett on Congress, the Constitution and SCOTUS. Many thanks to Elliot Williams for moderating the discussion. Judge Barkett made plain that there’s no principled reason the highest court in the land shouldn’t have a binding ethics code. 1/
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I’m looking forward to discussing Supreme Court reform efforts with Judge Rosemary Barkett (ret.) in a conversation moderated by Elliot Williams tonight in Miami. Thanks to our friends at the @acslaw.bsky.social’s South Florida Chapter for hosting!
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The DOJ hailed its passage at the time.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The photo below was taken 20 years ago today -- July 27, 2006. It's President George W. Bush signing the Voting Rights Act reauthorization and amendments into law. It passed a GOP-controlled House by a huge bipartisan vote of 390-33 and the Senate unanimously (98-0).
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Excuse me? Will Chief Justice John Roberts — the Smithsonian’s Chancellor — be saying anything about this?
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
And term limits for the Court are popular. A poll released last month by Marquette put support at 79% of the public. That’s 73% of Republicans, 71% of independents, and 87% of Democrats in support of Supreme Court term limits. 10/
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
#JusticeInMotion launches Today! Judges are meeting Americans outside courthouses AND in the community to talk about how the #RuleofLaw must ensure equal justice and fairness in everyday American life. Follow their journey in: PA ➡️ OH ➡️ MI 👉 justiceinmotion.us
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
"This is my home, the country where my heart is. Here are my hopes, my dreams. But other hearts in other lands are beating, with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.” 1/
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Happy Pride, Washington DC!
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Not normal. The President is delaying the confirmation of a key national intelligence official in an effort to pass a law to block millions of American citizens from voting. @brennancenter.org research shows 21 million Americans lack ready access to the docs they’d need to vote.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Disturbed by what’s happening at 60 Minutes. A few years ago I sat down with Leslie Stahl for a piece about the Senate filibuster rule. I still remember walking into the offices and feeling the history, seriousness, and commitment to journalism that defined the place. Truth still matters.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Today in Congress, @raskin.house.gov says he supports term limits for Supreme Court justices, and notes it’s constitutional for Congress to pass such a law. It’s popular too. He’s right on all counts. 1/
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Visiting MLK Jr’s memorial at night is a an experience all should try. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Today the Supreme Court, notwithstanding "equal justice under law" on its marble facade, demolished what remained of the Voting Rights Act today. There are three immediate steps that Congress must pursue.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
a gorgeous day on Capitol Hill
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Fifty-eight years ago tonight, the day before an assassin’s bullet ended his life, Rev. Martin Luther King,Jr. delivered this prophetic last speech.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”—Rev. MLK Jr.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
The @brennancenter.org got a shout out on tonight’s Jeopardy! Do you know the answer? In the form of a question, of course…
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
“Upend voting” is an understatement.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Wall Street Journal editorial board opposes the SAVE Act. (Nice to see in print at the dentist’s office too.)
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Today marks 3 years since Karen Hobert Flynn passed away. She was a dear friend who led Common Cause. It’s still hard to comprehend how someone so full of life can disappear. Her leadership lives on through the fight to defend democracy. We will win. Thinking of her family & friends tonight.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
FYI the U.S. Senate's "Bipawtisan Doggi Gras Pawrade" that took place in the Hart Senate Office Building yesterday was duly authorized by S. Res. 611, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent on February 12.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Today the White House announced two Republican nominees to the @FEC. When confirmed, they’ll restore a quorum to the agency—so there’ll be 2 Dems and 2 Rs, albeit with two vacancies (an additional R and D) still to be filled.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Justice Jackson, responding to the unpopularity of Citizens United: “What I’m heartened by is the engagement of the American people with our legal system. That’s what’s important for maintaining the rule of law.”
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Yesterday Justice Jackson was asked if she had confidence in our courts to defend free & fair elections in light of Trump’s comments on nationalizing elections and the FBI’s seizure of 2020 ballots in Fulton County. She replied that she has absolute confidence in our courts.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Yesterday on The View, Justice Jackson was asked about how SCOTUS has expanded presidential power with the immunity decision and greenlit presidential power grabs by way of the shadow docket. Here’s her response—and how she’s speaking to the public through her dissents.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
This is Dupont this morning—Wednesday, January 28. #DC ❄️
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Friendly reminder that appropriations report language in the leg branch bill lets people sled on the Capitol grounds 🛷🧣☃️❄️
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Quote 2:
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Citizens United turns 16 years old tomorrow. A very not sweet 16. Here are two of the most absurd quotes from the 5-4 decision. Quote 1:
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I think this needs a second edition.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Citizens United v. FEC (unleashing a floodgate of money in politics) Shelby County v. Holder (gutting the Voting Rights Act) Rucho v. Common Cause (slamming the courthouse doors shut to ending partisan gerrymandering) Trump v. U.S. (presidential immunity) All brought to you by the Roberts Court.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
But have their bee colonies been corrupted by Citizens United?
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
And the Republicans’ lawyer makes very clear to Justice Jackson that his client could be back to challenge other campaign contribution limits.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
The aggregate limits being more than $1M a year.
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Stephen Spaulding @stevespaulding.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
And fyi the attorney for the Republican Senate campaign committee refused to say whether baseline party contribution limits are even constitutional.
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