All posts by Rick Hasen

Must-read NYT: “Trump Escalates Use of Official Power to Intimidate and Punish His Perceived Foes”

April 11, 2025, 7:02 amauthoritarian threats in US, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Savage, Haberman, Swan, and Schmidt in the NYT: President Trump’s first-term efforts to spur law enforcement officials to pursue his political enemies were haphazard, informal and often hashed out in private. Now, his demands for investigations are starting to… Continue reading

“Trump is Already Undermining the Next Election”

April 11, 2025, 6:57 amauthoritarian threats in US, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Paul Rozenzweig for The Atlantic: An unfortunate reality now confronts Americans who value the rule of law: The court system has limited capability to act as a guardrail against Trumpist authoritarianism. And so elections matter—vitally. The final and most powerful… Continue reading

“At the Supreme Court, the Trump Agenda Is Always an ‘Emergency'”

April 11, 2025, 6:53 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Abbie VanSickle for the NYT: The Trump administration has in recent weeks asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end birthright citizenship, to freeze more than a billion dollars in foreign aid and to permit the deportation of… Continue reading

Historians Keyssar and Wilentz Put SAVE Act’s Proposed Disenfranchisement in Historical Perspective

April 10, 2025, 9:31 amThe Voting WarsRick Hasen

Democracy Docket: Voting-rights advocates and Democratic officials have already made clear the massive threat the SAVE Act poses to access to the ballot in the here and now, warning that it could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. But in… Continue reading

“House passes bill that could make it harder for married women to vote” (SAVE Act)

April 10, 2025, 9:07 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

The 19th: The U.S. House has passed a bill that voting rights groups have repeatedly warned would make it harder for millions of Americans, including married women, to vote. The Republican-controlled House on Thursday voted for the Safeguard American Voter… Continue reading

An Important Reminder about the Special Danger of the Chris Krebs Trump Announcement

April 10, 2025, 7:01 amauthoritarian threats in US, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Politico: A president ordering investigations of specific individuals whom he considers to be his political enemies is a remarkable breach of the traditional wall of separation between the White House and the Justice Department. Under that norm of separation,… Continue reading

Sixth Circuit on 2-1 Vote Lifts Stay in Longrunning Dispute over Ohio AG’s Failure to Approve Ballot Language Summary for Petition Circulation; AG Goes to SCOTUS

April 10, 2025, 6:55 amdirect democracy, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

You can find the Sixth Circuit’s order and dissent at this link. The AG is already off to SCOTUS.

“Fear and loathing over California ballot counting”

April 10, 2025, 6:47 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Politico: California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process has led to a rare bipartisan realization in Sacramento — the state needs to dramatically pick up the pace in producing election results. But Democrats and Republicans are nowhere near in agreement on how… Continue reading

Trump Targets CISA’s Chris Krebs (and Miles Taylor)

April 9, 2025, 6:14 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

AP: President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics on Wednesday by signing a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration and stripping them of any security clearances they… Continue reading

“Judge finds Newsmax aired false and defamatory claims about voting-tech company”

April 9, 2025, 6:10 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

NPR: A Delaware judge, once again, has found that a conservative news outlet broadcast false and defamatory claims about the role a voting technology company played in the 2020 presidential election. This time, that network is Newsmax, Fox News’ upstart… Continue reading

“Tulsi Gabbard Declared Her Residency in Texas. Then She Voted in Hawaii”

April 9, 2025, 1:30 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

CNN: As Tulsi Gabbard completed her transformation from a Hawaii Democratic politician to a MAGA surrogate last year, she put down stakes in a far redder state. Gabbard and her husband bought a home outside of Austin and declared under… Continue reading

“DOJ: Some Jan. 6 defendants should be repaid money they sent to Congress”

April 9, 2025, 7:24 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico: Jan. 6 defendants whose convictions were wiped out by President Donald Trump are entitled to a refund of restitution payments they made to cover damage to the Capitol, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The department’s determination could result in… Continue reading

I’ll Be Interviewing Elie Mystal About His New Book, “Bad Law” at the UCLA Hammer Museum on April 17

April 9, 2025, 7:16 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Join us! Event is free and tickets are first come. first served. There is no livestream but a recording will be available after the event.

“Trump Wants Mail Votes to Arrive By Election Day. Red States Are Rushing to Toe the Line.”

April 9, 2025, 7:12 amabsentee ballots, election administration, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Bolts: Frustrated by slowing mail delivery, particularly in rural areas, the Kansas legislature in 2017 passed a law to let elections officials count mail ballots that arrived after Election Day, for up to three extra days, so long as the… Continue reading