NYT: A series of internal F.B.I. emails released on Thursday showed that agents and officials followed standard procedure nearly three years ago when they opened the historic criminal investigation into Donald J. Trump’s attempts to stay in power after he… Continue reading

In a major decision today, a New York appellate court reversed a trial court decision striking down the New York Voting Rights Act on its face. The court held that the town of Newburgh wouldn’t necessarily be forced to violate… Continue reading

WaPo: he White House budget office is ordering a pause to all grants and loans disbursed by the federal government, according to an internal memo sent to agencies Monday, creating significant confusion across Washington. In a two-page document, Matthew J.… Continue reading

Adam Liptak in the NYT: The right should embrace that legacy, John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former official in the George W. Bush administration, wrote in 2018, after Mr. Trump… Continue reading

WRAL: A new political ad just started airing this week in North Carolina — focusing on an election that’s been over for nearly three months. It’s unusual for a political ad to air long after ballots have been counted. But… Continue reading

On Thursday, Rick linked to a DemocracySoS essay by Greg Dennis arguing that Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is categorically “superior to Condorcet Voting as a tool for political depolarization.” To support his position, Dennis offers two arguments, neither of which… Continue reading

The NYT has a long story by @miwine and @NYTnickc about the decline of competitive districts in the 2024 elections. A key point from an experienced member of Congress comes at the end of the story: “As competitive districts dwindle,… Continue reading

CNBC: A newly introduced constitutional amendment that would allow President Donald Trump to be elected to a third term in the White House faces very long odds — at best — of getting approved, a Harvard Law School professor said… Continue reading

NYT: Attorneys general from 22 states sued President Trump in two federal district courts on Tuesday to block an executive order that refuses to recognize the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants as citizens, the opening salvo in what promises to… Continue reading

Marc Caputo for Axios: President Trump‘s sweeping pardons for 1,500 Jan. 6 criminals and defendants were a last-minute, rip-the-bandage-off decision to try to move past the issue quickly, White House advisers familiar with the Trump team’s discussions tell Axios.… Continue reading

January 28 Fair Elections and Voting Rights: What’s Ahead in the Next Four Years?      Register for the webinar here. In-person registration here. Lunch will be provided.Tuesday, January 28, 12:15pm-1:15pm PT Room 1327 at UCLA Law and onlineAmy… Continue reading

A short Common Ground Democracy post with this subtitle: “Post-inauguration, there continue to be misunderstandings of the election.”

Thomas Wolf for the Brennan Center: President Trump claimed to end birthright citizenship on the first day of his second term. Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional, in direct conflict with the plain language of the 14th Amendment and over a… Continue reading

Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: Among the dozens of Biden-era executive orders that President Trump revoked on Monday was one that had reversed the first Trump administration’s unprecedented policy of altering a key set of census results. Since the first… Continue reading