David Froomkin
@dfroomkin.bsky.social
Assistant professor, University of Houston Law Center. I write about democracy and the separation of powers. ssrn.com/author=3062912
Pinned
David Froomkin
@dfroomkin.bsky.social
· Jul 29
politicalsciencenow.com
I am very honored that my dissertation has been selected by the American Political Science Association to receive the 2025 Leonard D. White Award for the best dissertation in the field of public administration. What a time to be thinking about why we should have a separation of powers!
Possibly the most horrifying explanation. If true, it means that Senate Dems are taking a big loss now in order to preserve their ability to take big losses in the future.
November 10, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Possibly the most horrifying explanation. If true, it means that Senate Dems are taking a big loss now in order to preserve their ability to take big losses in the future.
Reposted by David Froomkin
People are saying there's no upside to this deal. Wait a second. Isn't the end of Chuck Schumer's political career an upside?
November 10, 2025 at 1:55 AM
People are saying there's no upside to this deal. Wait a second. Isn't the end of Chuck Schumer's political career an upside?
Reposted by David Froomkin
reminder to any ambitious Dems waiting in the wings: announcing a primary challenge right now to a squishy Democrat who’s up in 2026, whether they voted tonight to shine Trump’s shoes or not, will almost instantaneously be awash in cash. fortune—and a primary challenge—favors the bold.
November 10, 2025 at 2:14 AM
reminder to any ambitious Dems waiting in the wings: announcing a primary challenge right now to a squishy Democrat who’s up in 2026, whether they voted tonight to shine Trump’s shoes or not, will almost instantaneously be awash in cash. fortune—and a primary challenge—favors the bold.
I don't understand what is even the conceivable upside of this deal. Is the collaboration the point?
November 10, 2025 at 12:51 AM
I don't understand what is even the conceivable upside of this deal. Is the collaboration the point?
Reposted by David Froomkin
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
The problem with urging triangulation as a political strategy is that it is myopic. If Democrats are relentlessly focused on chasing the median voter while Republicans are instead focused on moving the median voter further to the right, then there will be an inexorable rightward drift in politics.
My pitch to progressives would be that you need to think long and hard about how awful — racist, transphobic, a climate denier whatever else — you think I am and then assimilate the information that I’m a Clinton / Biden / Harris voter and Democrats need to win the votes of people way to my right!
November 4, 2025 at 8:35 PM
The problem with urging triangulation as a political strategy is that it is myopic. If Democrats are relentlessly focused on chasing the median voter while Republicans are instead focused on moving the median voter further to the right, then there will be an inexorable rightward drift in politics.
Reposted by David Froomkin
Not sure how many Cheney obits will mention this murderous legacy of his.
Post-9/11 wars have contributed to some 4.5 million deaths, report suggests
Researchers attempt to calculate the number of deaths attributable to the war on terrorism, across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Not sure how many Cheney obits will mention this murderous legacy of his.
One could say the same thing about practically every Republican interviewed on TV. Why bother interviewing any of them? That time could instead be spent informing viewers.
On this @60Minutes interview. Trump lies as he breathes. He lies every time he opens his mouth. We’ve never ever faced this before. And the media still has no fucking clue how to deal with it. It is pointless to interview him if you don’t fact check his lies. It’s just pointless.
November 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
One could say the same thing about practically every Republican interviewed on TV. Why bother interviewing any of them? That time could instead be spent informing viewers.
Reposted by David Froomkin
Look, this is what any attention-seeking news outlet would do if they were honest and not captured by ref-working
someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives
November 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Look, this is what any attention-seeking news outlet would do if they were honest and not captured by ref-working
Reposted by David Froomkin
Recently my brother in law explained what gerrymandering was to a coworker and they didn’t believe him because if that were really happening there would be riots in the street
This week I had someone tell me they're not worried about SNAP being cut off because "that's illegal, so it's impossible Trump could do that, so obviously it's just media sensationalism." Another person told me they weren't worried about ICE because "they can't detain you if you're legally here."
November 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Recently my brother in law explained what gerrymandering was to a coworker and they didn’t believe him because if that were really happening there would be riots in the street
What is happening is the consequence of failing to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. People cannot comprehend that someone who has done such awful things would not be in prison, so to reduce cognitive dissonance they infer that Trump cannot be as bad as Democrats say.
This week I had someone tell me they're not worried about SNAP being cut off because "that's illegal, so it's impossible Trump could do that, so obviously it's just media sensationalism." Another person told me they weren't worried about ICE because "they can't detain you if you're legally here."
November 2, 2025 at 3:43 PM
What is happening is the consequence of failing to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. People cannot comprehend that someone who has done such awful things would not be in prison, so to reduce cognitive dissonance they infer that Trump cannot be as bad as Democrats say.
Reposted by David Froomkin
I use Claude (an AI) to scan my posts for spelling and grammar errors. On the most recent post (about the East Wing, link below), I got a really amazing addendum.
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
October 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I use Claude (an AI) to scan my posts for spelling and grammar errors. On the most recent post (about the East Wing, link below), I got a really amazing addendum.
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
www.pbump.net/o/yes-most-a...
This is probably the single biggest problem with our constitutional design—worse even than the odious Senate and Electoral College.
Call me crazy but I really just don't think a president should be able to veto Congressional judgments that he's abusing his powers
US SENATE VOTES 51-47 TO OVERTURN TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ GLOBAL TARIFFS — FOUR REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMOCRATS; MOVE IS MOSTLY SYMBOLIC AS WHITE HOUSE LIKELY TO VETO
October 30, 2025 at 7:00 PM
This is probably the single biggest problem with our constitutional design—worse even than the odious Senate and Electoral College.
Reposted by David Froomkin
It should go without saying that these mass internment camps will be much, much more expensive to operate than just giving the homeless free or subsidized housing would be.
Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.
Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:
Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:
In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
It should go without saying that these mass internment camps will be much, much more expensive to operate than just giving the homeless free or subsidized housing would be.
I'll be teaching criminal law again next semester, and I've been thinking about the complicated sociology of crime in the US. OT1H, voters cite crime as a preeminent issue. OTOH, true crime is popular entertainment. OT1H we stigmatize people who commit crimes. OTOH, the President is a felon.
October 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I'll be teaching criminal law again next semester, and I've been thinking about the complicated sociology of crime in the US. OT1H, voters cite crime as a preeminent issue. OTOH, true crime is popular entertainment. OT1H we stigmatize people who commit crimes. OTOH, the President is a felon.
Most TV news is just nonstop stories about violent crime. No wonder we have a systematically misinformed electorate.
"A critical mass of people who decided the election were bamboozled by America’s horrendously broken information environment, and don’t like the results of their own choices." prospect.org/2025/10/29/v...
Voters Did Not Understand the Stakes in 2024 - The American Prospect
A large majority of American voters are greatly dissatisfied with the state of things, most especially the economy. It turns out that median voters were catastrophically misled about the stakes of the...
prospect.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Most TV news is just nonstop stories about violent crime. No wonder we have a systematically misinformed electorate.
Strengthening Congress is absolutely the right project, but we have to confront the structural challenges. Congress has the most substantial powers of any branch, but it also faces the greatest hurdles to exercising those powers because of the profusion of veto players in the legislative process.
consider this part one of what will be an ongoing series making the case for an imperial congress (gift link)
Opinion | The Empty Promises of Trump’s Imperial Presidency
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Strengthening Congress is absolutely the right project, but we have to confront the structural challenges. Congress has the most substantial powers of any branch, but it also faces the greatest hurdles to exercising those powers because of the profusion of veto players in the legislative process.
As the authors acknowledge, this report is focused on the low-hanging fruit of reforms to the regulatory process. But the most vital reforms will concern election law and the legislative process. For election law, there is already a blueprint in the For the People Act. Fixing Congress is harder.
SCOOP --> Major new Bidenworld autopsy just dropped: 45 former Biden officials candidly assess their mistakes and failings in new Roosevelt Institute report. They lay out the beginnings of a Project 2029 agenda to reverse authoritarian tide.
Details in my new piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2023...
Details in my new piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2023...
Why Is Trump Autocracy Rising? These Dems Have an Unnerving Answer.
A new Biden administration autopsy, based on internal assessments from many government insiders, has crystal clear lessons for the future.
newrepublic.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:44 PM
As the authors acknowledge, this report is focused on the low-hanging fruit of reforms to the regulatory process. But the most vital reforms will concern election law and the legislative process. For election law, there is already a blueprint in the For the People Act. Fixing Congress is harder.
Republicans' Project 2025: bring elections under fascist control, bring economy under fascist control, gut regulatory capacity, make US society much whiter
Democrats' Project 2029: somewhat reduce red tape in the regulatory process
Full Roosevelt report here: rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...
Democrats' Project 2029: somewhat reduce red tape in the regulatory process
Full Roosevelt report here: rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...
Why Is Trump Autocracy Rising? These Dems Have an Unnerving Answer.
A new Biden administration autopsy, based on internal assessments from many government insiders, has crystal clear lessons for the future.
newrepublic.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Republicans' Project 2025: bring elections under fascist control, bring economy under fascist control, gut regulatory capacity, make US society much whiter
Democrats' Project 2029: somewhat reduce red tape in the regulatory process
Full Roosevelt report here: rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...
Democrats' Project 2029: somewhat reduce red tape in the regulatory process
Full Roosevelt report here: rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...
"Après moi, le déluge"
Trump says his ballroom might cost more than $300 million but adds, "you know we're building the arc. Maybe we use it for the arc. We raised a lot of money for the ballroom, so maybe we'll put -- the arc is going to be incredible for Washington DC, so maybe we use it for the arc."
October 25, 2025 at 4:47 PM
"Après moi, le déluge"
Reposted by David Froomkin
Another justification to tax billionaires out of existence is that there shouldn't be people who are in a position to fund a private army.
The DOD accepted an anonymous $130 million gift from a wealthy donor to help pay military salaries during the government shutdown.
The department would not release any additional details about the unusual move.
The department would not release any additional details about the unusual move.
DOD accepts anonymous $130M donation to partially cover troop pay
White House and military officials will not say who the donor is or whether the gift has been properly vetted.
www.politico.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Another justification to tax billionaires out of existence is that there shouldn't be people who are in a position to fund a private army.
A consistent problem? With progressive stewardship?? Of American cities???
October 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
A consistent problem? With progressive stewardship?? Of American cities???
It makes perfect sense that ordinary people should value democracy more than elites. Democracy is a tool for empowering ordinary people collectively to counterbalance the disproportionate power of elites.
ordinary americans are filming ice agents and trying to save their neighbors. for all the hemming and hawing during 2024 about how democracy was an elite concern, the elites gave up far more quickly than average people.
October 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM
It makes perfect sense that ordinary people should value democracy more than elites. Democracy is a tool for empowering ordinary people collectively to counterbalance the disproportionate power of elites.
Reposted by David Froomkin
I stood outside the White House for a few hours this week interviewing tourists. Four of them hadn’t heard about the East Wing demo until I asked.
It's easy to forget that people who aren't on Bluesky often don't know anything about events that receive a lot of attention here. Yesterday I caught up with a friend who hadn't heard anything about the demolition of a third of the White House.
October 24, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I stood outside the White House for a few hours this week interviewing tourists. Four of them hadn’t heard about the East Wing demo until I asked.
It's easy to forget that people who aren't on Bluesky often don't know anything about events that receive a lot of attention here. Yesterday I caught up with a friend who hadn't heard anything about the demolition of a third of the White House.
October 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
It's easy to forget that people who aren't on Bluesky often don't know anything about events that receive a lot of attention here. Yesterday I caught up with a friend who hadn't heard anything about the demolition of a third of the White House.