Stephen Pimpare
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stephenpimpare.bsky.social
Stephen Pimpare
@stephenpimpare.bsky.social

Poverty and US social welfare policy, hovering awkwardly between the fields of political science and social work.

Host, New Books in Public Policy: https://newbooksnetwork.com/hosts/profile/aba1b96c-5ec5-4ab6-940e-08f426f74a37 .. more

Political science 45%
Economics 18%

Reposted by Stephen Pimpare

DHS has a Fourth Amendment problem.

@hannahajames.bsky.social of the @brennancenter.org explains why the agency’s new policy allowing ICE to enter homes to conduct arrests is not only a break from past practice, it violates the Constitution.

www.justsecurity.org/130497/dhs-w...
DHS Warrantless Home Entry Memo’s Fourth Amendment Problem
A leaked ICE memo authorizes warrantless home raids, defying DHS policy and raising grave Fourth Amendment concerns.
www.justsecurity.org

Reposted by Stephen Pimpare

Two years may seem like a long closure for the Kennedy Center, but it’s gonna take time to replace all the union musicians with confederate ones.
In many of the first generation of modern concentration camp systems (near the turn of the twentieth century), the vast majority of deaths were caused by disease and malnutrition. Most of the victims were women and children.
It appears there is now a measles outbreak at the Dilley family detention facility. www.sacurrent.com/news/san-ant...
Source: Measles outbreak reported at ICE's Dilley family detention facility
DPS troopers stand guard in front of the Dilley detention center during a protest last weekend. After a week of public outcry over the Dilley, Texas South
www.sacurrent.com

"Richards most recently served as president of the Fortune Society, an organization that provides housing and re-entry services for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers. He has also served on the city’s Board of Correction.

gothamist.com/news/mamdani...
Mamdani names reformer Stanley Richards to steer chaotic Rikers complex
Exactly one month into his term, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed a formerly incarcerated person to manage the facility.
gothamist.com

Reposted by Stephen Pimpare

The Trumpists will continue to escalate. But in Minneapolis, we can see the limits of MAGA’s assault.

Trump’s authoritarian desires are limitless. But his ability to impose them on America is not.

My new piece for @zeit.de - and some thoughts, since it is in German (gift link):
US-Regierung: Wie der Widerstand gegen Maga eine Chance hat
Der Minneapolis-Moment offenbart die Schwächen der Trumpisten. Und er zeigt, wo der Widerstand gegen den US-Präsidenten in Zukunft erfolgreich ansetzen kann.
www.zeit.de

Reposted by Stephen Pimpare

BREAKING: A federal court permanently blocks two provisions of Trump’s anti-voting executive order seeking to impose new citizenship verification requirements to register to vote.

The judge said the Constitution assigns “no role at all to the President” to change federal election administration.
In major rebuke, federal judge blocks key parts of Trump’s anti-voting order
“Our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures,” the judge wrote.
www.democracydocket.com
Alarmingly relevant new paper out in @apsrjournal.bsky.social by Turku Isiksel and @tompepinsky.com. They take on the question of whether citizens of authoritarian states should vote in their often unfair elections, & find reason to do so.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This one is great, if a bit fussy, but you don’t have enough bananas! www.cookistry.com/2011/11/ulti...
Ultimate Banana Bread from Cook's Illustrated
A blog with original recipes, and a few food-related reviews.
www.cookistry.com
NEW: Republicans in Congress have unveiled a new bill that would impose the most extreme voting restrictions ever proposed at the federal level. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
New GOP anti-voting bill may be the most dangerous attack on voting rights ever
The MEGA Act represents one of the most catastrophic proposals for democracy in the United States.
www.democracydocket.com
"Federal troop deployments to U.S. cities cost a total of $496 million in 2025, CBO estimates. Continuing current deployments will cost $93 million a month; 1,000 Guard personnel deployed to a city will cost at least $18 million a month." www.cbo.gov/publication/...
I know. Big shock here, but I still wanted to put it all in one place. In my latest Substack, I compiled the evidence from multiple pilots focused on homeless people to show that over and over again, cash reduces homelessness and also even reduces drug use.

Universal basic income is the way to go.
We Gave Homeless People Cash. They Bought Housing Not Drugs.
The evidence from Vancouver to Denver is undeniable: When people in crisis receive money, substance use goes down, employment goes up, and homelessness ends.
open.substack.com

The people of Minneapolis are teaching us so much right now

Political science and public policy ain’t no picnics either. Sigh.

Campaign School for Social Workers (with up to 12 CEs). Register here: tinyurl.com/2026Campaign...
Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

"Even if the policy is unconstitutional, as it seems to be, a person who is illegally searched probably can't sue ICE for violating their constitutional rights. This will seem weird to a lot of people. And it is pretty weird, I think."
There is no pre-Trump world to which we can return. That has all been washed away.

And there is no near future that is not defined by him and the cataclysm of his rule.

My latest for @liberalcurrents.com

www.liberalcurrents.com/after-trump-...
After Trump, the Flood
On the ending of things and the need for post-diluvian politics.
www.liberalcurrents.com
"Can ICE Enter a Home To Make an Arrest With Only an Administrative Warrant?" a deep dive for the law nerds new from me, posted over at Volokh.
reason.com/volokh/2026/...
Can ICE Enter a Home To Make an Arrest With Only an Administrative Warrant?
The Associated Press reports: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says WASHINGTON (AP)…
reason.com

“Trump has managed in just one year to destroy the American order that was, and he has weakened America’s ability to protect its interests in the world that will be. If Americans thought defending the liberal world order was too expensive, wait . . . .” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
America vs. the World
President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Stephen Pimpare

PRINCE HENRY
How does the king?

GLOUCESTER
Exceeding ill.
i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals

"If you spend some time working inside the bureaucracy and you keep your eyes open, you can learn a lot about the points of leverage that leftist politicians and outside advocacy groups can press to their advantage. . ."

"Instead of retreating into facile cynicism about the safety net and regulatory state, people on the left should be trying to occupy the bureaucracy at the state, local, and, after the MAGA putschists are finally expelled from power, federal level" dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Left Needs Bureaucrats - Dissent Magazine
After MAGA, the left will need to be ready with a theory of how to rebuild the federal administrative state—not as it was before Trump, but as something better.
dissentmagazine.org
Despite all the John Roberts claims that the courts are in good shape and accusations of partisanship are unfair, the reality is that the public intuition that the courts have become more politicized under Trump are correct.

They have destroyed the old order. We can now decide what we want to build upon it. As Paine wrote almost exactly 250 years ago, “we can build the world anew.” What is the world we want to see?
It may not seem like it, but right now is a great time to think about the different world we want.
Look at the hundreds of people in that community in Minneapolis who ran TOWARDS the danger. Look at those who documented in their heads what happened so they could accurately recount it afterwards, look at those currently out protesting. Pay attention & do your part too.