Don Moynihan
@donmoyn.bsky.social
Policy Professor, Ford School, University of Michigan.
Irish immigrant. Administrative burdens guy.
Free newsletter, Can We Still Govern?: https://donmoynihan.substack.com
Irish immigrant. Administrative burdens guy.
Free newsletter, Can We Still Govern?: https://donmoynihan.substack.com
Pinned
When Volatile Work Schedules Meet SNAP Work Requirements
New policies put low income workers in jeopardy of losing vital supports
donmoynihan.substack.com
New at Can We Still Govern: @agpines.bsky.social & @lizananat.bsky.social explain how the work volatility of low income service employees will make it hard for them to satisfy new SNAP/Medicaid work requirements, even when they work lots of hours. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-volat...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-volat...
100 years from now, people will look at clips like this and be like "Really, that was the guy?"
January 6, 2026 at 6:43 PM
100 years from now, people will look at clips like this and be like "Really, that was the guy?"
Reposted by Don Moynihan
We will not end tech abuse until we end tech impunity. "At the end of the day, all law, in order to be effective, has actually got to mean something to the person who is potentially going to violate it, right? They have to be scared that they’re going to be punished in some way.”
A growing number of women and girls have been digitally “undressed” by X’s Grok as users prompt the chatbot to show subjects in lingerie, covered in liquid, with black eyes or fearful expressions.
X users tell Grok to undress women and girls in photos. It’s saying yes.
The site is filling with AI-generated nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children. Owner Elon Musk responded with a laughing emoji.
wapo.st
January 6, 2026 at 6:41 PM
We will not end tech abuse until we end tech impunity. "At the end of the day, all law, in order to be effective, has actually got to mean something to the person who is potentially going to violate it, right? They have to be scared that they’re going to be punished in some way.”
Reposted by Don Moynihan
January 6, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Don Moynihan
BREAKING: Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws, including the first U.S. ban on pill abortions.
Abortion stays legal in Wyoming as its top court strikes down laws, including first US pill ban
Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws including the nation’s first explicit ban on abortion pills.
bit.ly
January 6, 2026 at 5:01 PM
BREAKING: Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws, including the first U.S. ban on pill abortions.
I don't know if you need much evidence that Ackman has no principles but he led the charge to remove Claudine Gay from President of Harvard on *much* weaker evidence of academic misconduct. Then he threatened to pursue plagiarism accusations of anyone who pointed to his wife's alleged plagiarism.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has revealed that he’s helping Francesca Gino, the honesty researcher who was fired from Harvard for research misconduct. “We will provide whatever resources she needs to clear her name,” he wrote.
New from me: www.chronicle.com/article/an-i...
New from me: www.chronicle.com/article/an-i...
An Influential Billionaire Is Funding a Disgraced Scientist’s Fight Against Harvard
Bill Ackman said on X that he’s been backing Francesca Gino, the embattled honesty researcher, in her lawsuit against Harvard since June 2024.
www.chronicle.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:42 PM
I don't know if you need much evidence that Ackman has no principles but he led the charge to remove Claudine Gay from President of Harvard on *much* weaker evidence of academic misconduct. Then he threatened to pursue plagiarism accusations of anyone who pointed to his wife's alleged plagiarism.
Reposted by Don Moynihan
There we go. That there’s a headline.
Who’s who at X, the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter
A look inside Elon Musk’s big tent
www.ft.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:08 PM
There we go. That there’s a headline.
Trump: We are the 99%.
US justice department has released less than 1% of Epstein files, filing reveals www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US justice department has released less than 1% of Epstein files, filing reveals
Federal law required majority of documents to be released by 19 December, but only 125,575 pages have been published
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Trump: We are the 99%.
Washington Post Editorial Board: This is good.
Today ICE is allowed to resume using Medicaid data in deportation cases. The transfer of Medicaid data to ICE was unprecedented and put on hold. It's now back. We've uploaded the data sharing agreement here: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
Here is the Agreement Giving ICE Medicaid Patients' Data
On Tuesday, ICE was allowed to continue using Medicaid data in deportation cases.
www.404media.co
January 6, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Washington Post Editorial Board: This is good.
Reposted by Don Moynihan
It appears two ICE observers following ICE agents on 31st in south Minneapolis this morning were arrested. Activists say it appears the ICE observer vehicle was stopped or slid into something, and ICE agents used pepper spray and broke the car window, arresting the occupants.
January 6, 2026 at 3:16 PM
It appears two ICE observers following ICE agents on 31st in south Minneapolis this morning were arrested. Activists say it appears the ICE observer vehicle was stopped or slid into something, and ICE agents used pepper spray and broke the car window, arresting the occupants.
Reposted by Don Moynihan
Missed first vaccines make babies far more likely to miss measles shot, study finds www.statnews.com/2026/01/02/m... via @statnews.com @helenbranswell.bsky.social
Missed first vaccines make babies far more likely to miss measles shot, study finds
Babies who don’t get their first round of vaccines on time at 2 months of age are much less likely to get vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella by age 2, a new study finds.
www.statnews.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Missed first vaccines make babies far more likely to miss measles shot, study finds www.statnews.com/2026/01/02/m... via @statnews.com @helenbranswell.bsky.social
Reposted by Don Moynihan
I think a key part of this scheme is robbing as much money from blue states as possible in part to make Democrats who are electeds in these states less popular by creating budget crises there.
Fraud was the excuse: this is the real goal, revealed - reduce safety net funding, but only in blue states.
“Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado will be cut off from around $7 billion in funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance to households with children, according to two people familiar with the matter.”
Monstrously cruel.
Monstrously cruel.
January 6, 2026 at 3:42 PM
I think a key part of this scheme is robbing as much money from blue states as possible in part to make Democrats who are electeds in these states less popular by creating budget crises there.
Fraud was the excuse: this is the real goal, revealed - reduce safety net funding, but only in blue states.
“Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado will be cut off from around $7 billion in funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance to households with children, according to two people familiar with the matter.”
Monstrously cruel.
Monstrously cruel.
Health Dept. to Freeze $10 Billion in Funding to 5 Democratic States
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Fraud was the excuse: this is the real goal, revealed - reduce safety net funding, but only in blue states.
This is the type of stuff that does not get you shunned in Silicon Valley, but held up as some bold visionary
Curtis Yarvin has written a very long screed in defense of his post in which he said, “Hitler spoke the truth.”
A sampling of select portions is below and includes, in reference to Jewish people, the words:
“The only way to tell is the name and the nose.”
A sampling of select portions is below and includes, in reference to Jewish people, the words:
“The only way to tell is the name and the nose.”
January 6, 2026 at 2:48 PM
This is the type of stuff that does not get you shunned in Silicon Valley, but held up as some bold visionary
Five years ago, if you were to say that the people sacking the Capitol would be pardoned and celebrated, it would have been hard to believe. So too, if you were to predict that the person in who encouraged it would return to office. But we have a culture of impunity. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
January 6, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Five years ago, if you were to say that the people sacking the Capitol would be pardoned and celebrated, it would have been hard to believe. So too, if you were to predict that the person in who encouraged it would return to office. But we have a culture of impunity. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
Reposted by Don Moynihan
Bari Weiss's Free Press website ran this screed by Matt Taibbi defending his lawsuit against a book author.
But the Free Press apparently never reached out to the author. Even though Weiss spiked that 60 Minutes piece for not reaching out to enough Trump officials www.thefp.com/p/matt-taibb...
But the Free Press apparently never reached out to the author. Even though Weiss spiked that 60 Minutes piece for not reaching out to enough Trump officials www.thefp.com/p/matt-taibb...
Matt Taibbi: To Protect Free Speech, I’m Suing the Man Who Defamed Me
There’s a difference between censorship, which prevents speech, and seeking restitution for a harmful lie already in print. That's why I'm suing the man who defamed me, writes Matt Taibbi.
www.thefp.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Bari Weiss's Free Press website ran this screed by Matt Taibbi defending his lawsuit against a book author.
But the Free Press apparently never reached out to the author. Even though Weiss spiked that 60 Minutes piece for not reaching out to enough Trump officials www.thefp.com/p/matt-taibb...
But the Free Press apparently never reached out to the author. Even though Weiss spiked that 60 Minutes piece for not reaching out to enough Trump officials www.thefp.com/p/matt-taibb...
Reposted by Don Moynihan
Reposted by Don Moynihan
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
Reposted by Don Moynihan
It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason
January 6, 2026 at 12:35 AM
It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason
"The real question is: by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis for having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?"
See colonialism is bad, kids. Except if the US is the engaged in the colonialism.
See colonialism is bad, kids. Except if the US is the engaged in the colonialism.
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
January 6, 2026 at 2:01 AM
"The real question is: by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis for having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?"
See colonialism is bad, kids. Except if the US is the engaged in the colonialism.
See colonialism is bad, kids. Except if the US is the engaged in the colonialism.
Big, big deal!
The district court injunction that prevented NIH from capping indirects at 15% was upheld today on appeal!
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
Trump administration cannot slash NIH research funding, court rules
District Judge Angel Kelley last year blocked the cuts, and on Monday the appeals court agreed.
www.reuters.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Big, big deal!
I do sort of wonder if Miller has accumulated so much power inside the White House because he always willing to yell over others with the most bombastic take and there is zero benefit in being seen as the voice of reason in front of Trump
MILLER: The US is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We're a superpower. It's absurd we'd allow a nation in our backyard to become a supplier of resources to our adversaries
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
January 6, 2026 at 1:42 AM
I do sort of wonder if Miller has accumulated so much power inside the White House because he always willing to yell over others with the most bombastic take and there is zero benefit in being seen as the voice of reason in front of Trump
Why...is the barbed wire being strewn across the mouth of the guy suing his critics?
They are so addicted to the "I'm being silenced" trope that they stick with it even when they are doing the silencing
They are so addicted to the "I'm being silenced" trope that they stick with it even when they are doing the silencing
January 6, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Why...is the barbed wire being strewn across the mouth of the guy suing his critics?
They are so addicted to the "I'm being silenced" trope that they stick with it even when they are doing the silencing
They are so addicted to the "I'm being silenced" trope that they stick with it even when they are doing the silencing
Around 2.28 he says tells Tapper: "You are approaching this from the wrong frame, this neoliberal frame that the United States job is to go around the world and demand immediate elections be held everywhere."
Man, I know neoliberalism has been defined in all sorts of ways, but thats truly a new one.
Man, I know neoliberalism has been defined in all sorts of ways, but thats truly a new one.
MILLER: The US is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We're a superpower. It's absurd we'd allow a nation in our backyard to become a supplier of resources to our adversaries
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want?
M: *yells*
January 6, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Around 2.28 he says tells Tapper: "You are approaching this from the wrong frame, this neoliberal frame that the United States job is to go around the world and demand immediate elections be held everywhere."
Man, I know neoliberalism has been defined in all sorts of ways, but thats truly a new one.
Man, I know neoliberalism has been defined in all sorts of ways, but thats truly a new one.
So many good lines in this episode
January 6, 2026 at 1:24 AM
So many good lines in this episode
Reposted by Don Moynihan
