Axios: Several Democratic lawmakers received threats on Thanksgiving Day. The threats were signed to suggest they were from “MAGA.” A handful of Republican lawmakers also received threats in the past week. “This is dangerous and insane behavior,” Johnson… Continue reading

Noah Bookbinder (former counsel for Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee) and Gregg Nunziata (formerly counsel for Republicans on the committee and chief nominations counsel beginning in 2006) in a Guest Essay at the New York Times: “Efforts to… Continue reading

Washington Post: “The agreement clears the way for Trump-appointed ‘landing teams’ to start entering government offices to receive briefings from career staff about the operations of hundreds of federal agencies, a ritual of presidential transitions.” Security clearances remain a… Continue reading

NYT: He promised salvation for a country “in ruins” — an end to immigration, a civil service stripped of entrenched left-wing opponents, a judiciary purged of meddlesome judges and a news media giving voice to the people instead of elites.… Continue reading

Politico: “In a one-page decision, Justice Juan Merchan postponed the sentencing, which had been set for Nov. 26, in order to weigh Trump’s bid to dismiss the case entirely based on the fact that he is now president-elect.”

NY Times reports, “Trump Tells Republicans to ‘Kill’ Reporter Shield Bill Passed Unanimously by House.” Democracy is not possible without a free press. Authoritarian attacks on the “enemies of the people” begin with seemingly innocuous changes that fall… Continue reading

Washington Post: Trump is breaking norms in Washington with glee. Not only is the transition team refusing to subject various appointees to FBI background checks, but the team is fencing executive departments out of the transition process. “In calls… Continue reading

WaPo: The soon-to-be president, who vowed to shake up Washington, this week tapped several highly unconventional candidates for his Cabinet, pressured Senate leadership candidates to back his plans for recess appointments, and is pushing lawmakers to back policy… Continue reading

WaPo: President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to turn the Constitution’s appointment process for Cabinet officers on its head. If what I’m hearing on the conservative legal grapevine is correct, he might resort to a cockamamie scheme that would require House … Continue reading

WaPo: Now, with less than two weeks until Election Day, some of Trump’s most senior former advisers are warning Americans to take his militaristic impulses seriously. His longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, told the New York Times that he… Continue reading

Must-read NYT oped from Levitsky & Ziblatt: The U.S. establishment is sleepwalking toward a crisis. An openly antidemocratic figure stands at least a 50-50 chance of winning the presidency. The Supreme Court and the Republican Party have abdicated their gatekeeping… Continue reading

NYT: Few top officials spent more time behind closed doors in the White House with President Donald J. Trump than John F. Kelly, the former Marine general who was his longest-serving chief of staff. With Election Day looming, Mr.… Continue reading