James Brandt
@jamesbrandt.bsky.social
Managing editor @lpeblog.bsky.social. Freelance academic editor. Posting from the land of enchantment.
At this point, the easiest way to unify the Democrats would be a change in leadership.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 12:13 AM
At this point, the easiest way to unify the Democrats would be a change in leadership.
Reposted by James Brandt
Trump's tariffs are always described as chaotic. They aren't chaotic. They are part of a concerted attack on the rule of law.
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
Today, @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social explains how Trump's capricious tariffs and attacks on the IRS are the latest iteration of a long anti-tax, anti-democratic tradition.
The Long Anti-Tax Tradition of American Oligarchy
Throughout U.S. history, oligarchs have fettered the tax power of the state to ensure that the government would be too feeble to rein in their power. The Trump Administration'
lpeproject.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Trump's tariffs are always described as chaotic. They aren't chaotic. They are part of a concerted attack on the rule of law.
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
If you want to read about that at more length and with more penguins:
"Slaveholders also ensured that there was no effective bureaucracy for tax assessment. In Georgia, for example, property holders simply asserted the value of their estate and, by law, tax officials could not dispute the owner’s estimate."
Today, @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social explains how Trump's capricious tariffs and attacks on the IRS are the latest iteration of a long anti-tax, anti-democratic tradition.
The Long Anti-Tax Tradition of American Oligarchy
Throughout U.S. history, oligarchs have fettered the tax power of the state to ensure that the government would be too feeble to rein in their power. The Trump Administration'
lpeproject.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
"Slaveholders also ensured that there was no effective bureaucracy for tax assessment. In Georgia, for example, property holders simply asserted the value of their estate and, by law, tax officials could not dispute the owner’s estimate."
Reposted by James Brandt
New from me today! An article at @lpeblog.bsky.social, about Trump's tariffs, Magna Carta, and why opponents of democracy always try to undermine the tax system.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
New from me today! An article at @lpeblog.bsky.social, about Trump's tariffs, Magna Carta, and why opponents of democracy always try to undermine the tax system.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
lpeproject.org/blog/the-lon...
Also, I got to write this one sentence:
Reposted by James Brandt
Apparently, it is negotiable!
Health care isn’t negotiable.
We need to both reopen the government and work together to protect access to affordable health care by extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
We need to both reopen the government and work together to protect access to affordable health care by extending the ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
November 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Apparently, it is negotiable!
Reposted by James Brandt
The week in review: Matthew Dimick on antitrust and the logic of capitalism, and @gshans.bsky.social on protecting legal clinics from political interference.
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web, including new fellowships, reports, interviews, and articles 🧵👇
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web, including new fellowships, reports, interviews, and articles 🧵👇
Weekly Roundup: Nov 7
Matthew Dimick on antitrust and the logic of capitalism, and G.S. Hans on legal clinics under political attack. Plus, a cool new fellowship at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, Cea Weaver on the…
lpeproject.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
The week in review: Matthew Dimick on antitrust and the logic of capitalism, and @gshans.bsky.social on protecting legal clinics from political interference.
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web, including new fellowships, reports, interviews, and articles 🧵👇
Plus, the best of LPE from around the web, including new fellowships, reports, interviews, and articles 🧵👇
Reposted by James Brandt
Chuck Schumer's inability to say whether he voted for the Democratic nominee in a general election in his city is the final straw for @ryanlcooper.com.
prospect.org/2025/11/06/c...
prospect.org/2025/11/06/c...
Chuck Schumer Is Not Fit to Lead the Democratic Party - The American Prospect
The Senate leader doesn’t just betray his own party, he’s also terrible at leading it. In Trump’s second term, facing a full-on authoritarian attack on America’s democracy and constitutional structure...
prospect.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Chuck Schumer's inability to say whether he voted for the Democratic nominee in a general election in his city is the final straw for @ryanlcooper.com.
prospect.org/2025/11/06/c...
prospect.org/2025/11/06/c...
I have a new verse for Alanis Morissette.
Mike Johnson: "I'll remind you that I'm a jealous guardian of Article I..... If I felt like the executive branch had overstepped its bounds on trade or on the tariffs or something. I would have stepped in. I mean, that's my job as the Speaker of the House."
Mike Johnson: "I'll remind you that I'm a jealous guardian of Article I..... If I felt like the executive branch had overstepped its bounds on trade or on the tariffs or something. I would have stepped in. I mean, that's my job as the Speaker of the House."
User Clip: Mike Johnson on Tariffs
Mike Johnson on Tariffs
www.c-span.org
November 6, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I have a new verse for Alanis Morissette.
Mike Johnson: "I'll remind you that I'm a jealous guardian of Article I..... If I felt like the executive branch had overstepped its bounds on trade or on the tariffs or something. I would have stepped in. I mean, that's my job as the Speaker of the House."
Mike Johnson: "I'll remind you that I'm a jealous guardian of Article I..... If I felt like the executive branch had overstepped its bounds on trade or on the tariffs or something. I would have stepped in. I mean, that's my job as the Speaker of the House."
Reposted by James Brandt
John Roberts now faces the ultimate heartbreak: deciding whether to keep polishing Donald Trump's boots or to continue his lifelong romance with America's corporate overlords.
November 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
John Roberts now faces the ultimate heartbreak: deciding whether to keep polishing Donald Trump's boots or to continue his lifelong romance with America's corporate overlords.
Reposted by James Brandt
Today for @lpeblog.bsky.social I have a short piece on clinical academic freedom and the challenges we face in vindicating our rights as clinical faculty amid political interference. This piece stems from an Essay I have forthcoming on the topic in 2026. lpeproject.org/blog/clinics...
Clinics Under Fire: Defending Legal Education from Political Interference
While legal clinics have long been vulnerable to pressure from outside forces, recent attacks by the federal government represent an alarming new level of interference. Protecting clinical work now…
lpeproject.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Today for @lpeblog.bsky.social I have a short piece on clinical academic freedom and the challenges we face in vindicating our rights as clinical faculty amid political interference. This piece stems from an Essay I have forthcoming on the topic in 2026. lpeproject.org/blog/clinics...
Reposted by James Brandt
And again, a pattern of putting out statements accusing people of serious Federal crimes and then releasing them hours or days or weeks later with no charges. And no retraction.
NEWS: Federal agents crashed with woman’s car, pointed guns at her, dragged her out by legs, tossed her in a minivan, held her and (eventually) let her go without charges. This as Chicagoans say the immigration blitz is out of control. (DHS blames her.)
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/03/c...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/03/c...
Chicago woman dragged out of her car after colliding with ICE demands accountability
The arrest of Dayanne Figueroa highlights growing concerns about the use of force against U.S. citizens and due process. She was released after a few hours without charges.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
And again, a pattern of putting out statements accusing people of serious Federal crimes and then releasing them hours or days or weeks later with no charges. And no retraction.
"antitrust refuses to see capital as something historical and social and therefore norm-based and changeable. As a result, antitrust chooses to fight capital with one hand tied behind its back, changing some of the constitutive rules of capitalism but not others."
Today, Matthew Dimick argues that while antitrust may promise to tame corporate power, it leaves untouched the deeper logic of capitalism that compels production for profit’s sake.
The latest in our mini-series on Marxism and Antitrust.
The latest in our mini-series on Marxism and Antitrust.
Marx, Antitrust, and the Logic of Capital
Antitrust may promise to tame corporate power, but it leaves untouched the deeper logic of capitalism that compels production for profit's sake. In this sense, antitrust is not voluntarist enough…
lpeproject.org
November 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
"antitrust refuses to see capital as something historical and social and therefore norm-based and changeable. As a result, antitrust chooses to fight capital with one hand tied behind its back, changing some of the constitutive rules of capitalism but not others."
Reposted by James Brandt
Week in review: @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social on the rise of OIRA 2.0, @noahzatz.bsky.social and Jerry Kang on retaliation lawsuits against DEI purges, and Veryl Pow and Mohini Mookim on prefigurative lawyering.
Plus, as always, the best of LPE from around the web!
Plus, as always, the best of LPE from around the web!
Weekly Roundup: Oct 31
James Goodwin on the rise of OIRA 2.0, Noah Zatz and Jerry Kang on retaliation lawsuits against DEI purges, and Veryl Pow and Mohini Mookim on prefigurative lawyering. Plus…
lpeproject.org
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Week in review: @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social on the rise of OIRA 2.0, @noahzatz.bsky.social and Jerry Kang on retaliation lawsuits against DEI purges, and Veryl Pow and Mohini Mookim on prefigurative lawyering.
Plus, as always, the best of LPE from around the web!
Plus, as always, the best of LPE from around the web!
Reposted by James Brandt
"For all their faults and failures, no Weimar politician defending a capitalist democracy could conceivably have delivered themselves of the belief recently endorsed by Kamala Harris: 'I always believed that if push came to shove, the titans of industry would be the guardians of our democracy.'"
Today, David Abraham examines how various fractions of capital—both in our time and during Weimar Germany—chose to abandon democracy in favor of an uncertain future.
Capitalism and Democracy: Always, Weimar, and Now
In the current moment, it is not a crisis of capitalism that challenges democracy, but its triumph. For this reason, our political-economic situation is quite different from that of Weimar Germany…
lpeproject.org
October 21, 2025 at 2:28 PM
"For all their faults and failures, no Weimar politician defending a capitalist democracy could conceivably have delivered themselves of the belief recently endorsed by Kamala Harris: 'I always believed that if push came to shove, the titans of industry would be the guardians of our democracy.'"
Reposted by James Brandt
The firms that struck deals could back out of those deals at any time! there are no consequences to doing so!
Am I reading this correctly: the firms that opposed Trump's intimidation tactics have suffered no consequences, whereas the firms that struck deals gave away $900 million while jeopardizing any work with clients who have interests at odds with the government?
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
October 29, 2025 at 12:58 AM
The firms that struck deals could back out of those deals at any time! there are no consequences to doing so!
Am I reading this correctly: the firms that opposed Trump's intimidation tactics have suffered no consequences, whereas the firms that struck deals gave away $900 million while jeopardizing any work with clients who have interests at odds with the government?
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
October 29, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Am I reading this correctly: the firms that opposed Trump's intimidation tactics have suffered no consequences, whereas the firms that struck deals gave away $900 million while jeopardizing any work with clients who have interests at odds with the government?
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
There's a lesson in there somewhere.
Reposted by James Brandt
"The very existence of a contested baseline—that is, disagreement about the..extent of discrimination in the ..system—provides a vector of counter-attack, esp for individuals purged.. for their past DEI work, a group that includes a high concentration of Black women."
lpeproject.org/blog/can-dei...
lpeproject.org/blog/can-dei...
Can DEI Workers Strike Back?
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance. Title VII prohibits retaliation against employees who…
lpeproject.org
October 28, 2025 at 6:50 PM
"The very existence of a contested baseline—that is, disagreement about the..extent of discrimination in the ..system—provides a vector of counter-attack, esp for individuals purged.. for their past DEI work, a group that includes a high concentration of Black women."
lpeproject.org/blog/can-dei...
lpeproject.org/blog/can-dei...
Reposted by James Brandt
In case you weren't aware, the great Noah Zatz has migrated to bsky. And with Jerry Kang, he has a terrific post about using retaliation lawsuits to push back against Trump’s extortionate demands to end DEI. As they conclude, "this is a time for aggressive experimentation, not resignation."
"In sum, then, employees doing DEI work to help prevent discrimination are engaged in protected opposition conduct under Title VII. Therefore, inflicting 'adverse employment actions' upon them because of such work constitutes illegal retaliation under Title VII."
Can DEI Workers Strike Back?
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance. Title VII prohibits retaliation against employees who…
lpeproject.org
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
In case you weren't aware, the great Noah Zatz has migrated to bsky. And with Jerry Kang, he has a terrific post about using retaliation lawsuits to push back against Trump’s extortionate demands to end DEI. As they conclude, "this is a time for aggressive experimentation, not resignation."
Reposted by James Brandt
"In sum, then, employees doing DEI work to help prevent discrimination are engaged in protected opposition conduct under Title VII. Therefore, inflicting 'adverse employment actions' upon them because of such work constitutes illegal retaliation under Title VII."
Can DEI Workers Strike Back?
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance. Title VII prohibits retaliation against employees who…
lpeproject.org
October 28, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"In sum, then, employees doing DEI work to help prevent discrimination are engaged in protected opposition conduct under Title VII. Therefore, inflicting 'adverse employment actions' upon them because of such work constitutes illegal retaliation under Title VII."
"The Administration’s extraordinary abuses of power against our core institutions have triggered widespread cowardice dressed up as pragmatic survival... But if fear is the primal driver, we must activate countervailing fears wherever we can, to raise the expected costs of anticipatory capitulation"
Today, Jerry Kang and @noahzatz.bsky.social argue that even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the civil rights law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance.
Can DEI Workers Strike Back?
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance. Title VII prohibits retaliation against employees who…
lpeproject.org
October 28, 2025 at 3:52 PM
"The Administration’s extraordinary abuses of power against our core institutions have triggered widespread cowardice dressed up as pragmatic survival... But if fear is the primal driver, we must activate countervailing fears wherever we can, to raise the expected costs of anticipatory capitulation"
Reposted by James Brandt
Today, Jerry Kang and @noahzatz.bsky.social argue that even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the civil rights law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance.
Can DEI Workers Strike Back?
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance. Title VII prohibits retaliation against employees who…
lpeproject.org
October 28, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Today, Jerry Kang and @noahzatz.bsky.social argue that even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle DEI in the name of “merit,” the civil rights law it distorts still harbors possibilities for resistance.
Reposted by James Brandt
ICYMI
Check out my latest for @lpeblog.bsky.social: I trace the rise of a new form of politicized regulatory relief emanating from the White House, how it departs from centralized regulatory review at OIRA, and what it means for the political economy of the modern presidency lpeproject.org/blog/the-ris...
The Rise of OIRA 2.0
The Trump Administration's use of individualized, firm-level waivers and exemptions marks a new frontier in presidential control of the administrative state. This strategy allows the administration to...
lpeproject.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:09 PM
ICYMI
To be fair, the Trump Administration is known for following the letter of the law when it comes to using congressionally appropriated funds. Real sticklers about that kind of thing.
Mike Johnson on SNAP funding: "I got a summary of the whole legal analysis and it certainly looks legitimate to me. The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now."
October 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
To be fair, the Trump Administration is known for following the letter of the law when it comes to using congressionally appropriated funds. Real sticklers about that kind of thing.
"conservatives are encountering a problem that has long been well understood by those on the Left: The rulemaking process is incredibly slow... OIRA 2.0 thus offers conservatives a convenient pathway for achieving almost immediately the functional equivalent of a full regulatory repeal."
Check out my latest for @lpeblog.bsky.social: I trace the rise of a new form of politicized regulatory relief emanating from the White House, how it departs from centralized regulatory review at OIRA, and what it means for the political economy of the modern presidency lpeproject.org/blog/the-ris...
The Rise of OIRA 2.0
The Trump Administration's use of individualized, firm-level waivers and exemptions marks a new frontier in presidential control of the administrative state. This strategy allows the administration to...
lpeproject.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"conservatives are encountering a problem that has long been well understood by those on the Left: The rulemaking process is incredibly slow... OIRA 2.0 thus offers conservatives a convenient pathway for achieving almost immediately the functional equivalent of a full regulatory repeal."
Reposted by James Brandt
Today, @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social explains how the Trump Administration’s use of individualized, firm-level waivers and exemptions marks a new frontier in presidential control of the administrative state — turning deregulation into a tool for distributing political favors.
The Rise of OIRA 2.0
The Trump Administration's use of individualized, firm-level waivers and exemptions marks a new frontier in presidential control of the administrative state. This strategy allows the administration to...
lpeproject.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Today, @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social explains how the Trump Administration’s use of individualized, firm-level waivers and exemptions marks a new frontier in presidential control of the administrative state — turning deregulation into a tool for distributing political favors.