Nick Bednar
@nicholasbednar.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Law; Affiliated Professor of Political Science at U. of Minnesota. AdLaw, Admin. Capacity, and the Federal Workforce. Contributing Editor for Lawfare; Nonresident Fellow at Brookings. Signal: Nbednar.46
Opinions are my own; Not UMN.
Opinions are my own; Not UMN.
Pinned
Civil Service
The federal government employs approximately 3 million individuals, making it the largest employer in the United States. Most of these employees enjoy tenure protections under the civil service law…
nbednar.com
By request, I updated my website with a list of all the essays and podcasts I have done on the civil service. I'll keep it updated as I write and speak.
nbednar.com/civil-servic...
nbednar.com/civil-servic...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
A new paper on the history of presidents bashing the people who work for them and the possible relationship with trust in government: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Presidential Bureaucrat Bashing: An Overview
The President of the United States has a unique platform for shaping public views. The same is true to a lesser degree for candidates for President.
papers.ssrn.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:42 PM
A new paper on the history of presidents bashing the people who work for them and the possible relationship with trust in government: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Plz join us for one or both of these interesting webinars--the first one is taking place already next week! For deets, see ads below. @narosenblum.bsky.social @nicholashandler.bsky.social @nicholasbednar.bsky.social @blakeprof.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Plz join us for one or both of these interesting webinars--the first one is taking place already next week! For deets, see ads below. @narosenblum.bsky.social @nicholashandler.bsky.social @nicholasbednar.bsky.social @blakeprof.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social
Sometimes I wonder if I am writing books or law review articles.
December 21, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Sometimes I wonder if I am writing books or law review articles.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
@georgetownccf.bsky.social is hiring! We are looking for a Research Fellow (JD or MA required) to work on a new project tracking the implementation of Medicaid work reporting requirements. This will be a two year position.
Details available here: ccf.georgetown.edu/about-us/jobs/
Details available here: ccf.georgetown.edu/about-us/jobs/
Jobs
CCF is Hiring! Research Fellow The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families is seeking a legal/policy analyst for a new project focusing on state implementation of new federally-mandated...
ccf.georgetown.edu
December 16, 2025 at 11:17 PM
@georgetownccf.bsky.social is hiring! We are looking for a Research Fellow (JD or MA required) to work on a new project tracking the implementation of Medicaid work reporting requirements. This will be a two year position.
Details available here: ccf.georgetown.edu/about-us/jobs/
Details available here: ccf.georgetown.edu/about-us/jobs/
Side note: Can we require law students to take a seminar on epistemology?
Sunstein posted an admirably frank essay yesterday on the Unitary Executive Theory:
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
The Unitary Executive
Notes on how people know things
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Side note: Can we require law students to take a seminar on epistemology?
Very honored that @lsolum.bsky.social has highlighted my article on Presidential Control of the Civil Service as the download of the week.
legaltheoryblog.com/2025/12/06/d...
legaltheoryblog.com/2025/12/06/d...
Explore Our Recent Posts for Fresh Insights and Updates
Stay updated with our recent posts covering the latest trends, insights, and tips. Discover valuable content that enhances your knowledge!
legaltheoryblog.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Very honored that @lsolum.bsky.social has highlighted my article on Presidential Control of the Civil Service as the download of the week.
legaltheoryblog.com/2025/12/06/d...
legaltheoryblog.com/2025/12/06/d...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Grateful for the Star Tribune coverage. Our message is simple: every neighborhood deserves to feel safe, and we’re ready to do the work.
#ShenForSafety
www.startribune.com/university-o...
#ShenForSafety
www.startribune.com/university-o...
University of Minnesota professor enters Hennepin County attorney race as ‘innovator’ candidate
Francis Shen has focused his career on researching the intersection of neuroscience and the law and wants to bring “21st century” prosecution to Hennepin County.
www.startribune.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Grateful for the Star Tribune coverage. Our message is simple: every neighborhood deserves to feel safe, and we’re ready to do the work.
#ShenForSafety
www.startribune.com/university-o...
#ShenForSafety
www.startribune.com/university-o...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Congratulations to @niaolainf.bsky.social, elected a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, for Trinity Term in 2027. Her research there will build on the policy work she has undertaken this past year with @unwomen.bsky.social and @prioresearch.bsky.social. z.umn.edu/axkf
December 8, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Congratulations to @niaolainf.bsky.social, elected a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, for Trinity Term in 2027. Her research there will build on the policy work she has undertaken this past year with @unwomen.bsky.social and @prioresearch.bsky.social. z.umn.edu/axkf
Reposted by Nick Bednar
(1) We have had agencies that are run by people the President cannot fire since the beginning, as @kexelchabot.bsky.social has documented in exacting detail. There is nothing anomalous about independent agencies.
(2) Presidents have sometimes *supported* agency independence. (1/4)
(2) Presidents have sometimes *supported* agency independence. (1/4)
December 8, 2025 at 5:36 PM
(1) We have had agencies that are run by people the President cannot fire since the beginning, as @kexelchabot.bsky.social has documented in exacting detail. There is nothing anomalous about independent agencies.
(2) Presidents have sometimes *supported* agency independence. (1/4)
(2) Presidents have sometimes *supported* agency independence. (1/4)
Caveat: I think removal protections are constitutional.
Severing removal protections is one thing. I can't think of a way to severe functions (assuming they are even categorizable) without rewriting the statute. The Court would intrude deeply on Art. I.
See: ndlawreview.org/wp-content/u...
Severing removal protections is one thing. I can't think of a way to severe functions (assuming they are even categorizable) without rewriting the statute. The Court would intrude deeply on Art. I.
See: ndlawreview.org/wp-content/u...
December 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Caveat: I think removal protections are constitutional.
Severing removal protections is one thing. I can't think of a way to severe functions (assuming they are even categorizable) without rewriting the statute. The Court would intrude deeply on Art. I.
See: ndlawreview.org/wp-content/u...
Severing removal protections is one thing. I can't think of a way to severe functions (assuming they are even categorizable) without rewriting the statute. The Court would intrude deeply on Art. I.
See: ndlawreview.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
New Paper 🚨:
In this thread I teased a new paper with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social that brings hard empirical evidence to bear on emerging critiques of public participation's role in administrative decisionmaking.
The paper is now public on @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
In this thread I teased a new paper with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social that brings hard empirical evidence to bear on emerging critiques of public participation's role in administrative decisionmaking.
The paper is now public on @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
December 6, 2025 at 7:51 PM
New Paper 🚨:
In this thread I teased a new paper with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social that brings hard empirical evidence to bear on emerging critiques of public participation's role in administrative decisionmaking.
The paper is now public on @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
In this thread I teased a new paper with @briandfeinstein.bsky.social that brings hard empirical evidence to bear on emerging critiques of public participation's role in administrative decisionmaking.
The paper is now public on @ssrn.bsky.social: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
To emphasize Steve's point: Fourth Circuit suggested that employees may be able to file in district court because the MSPB no longer functions as Congress intended due to (1) a lack of quorum (fixed as of October) and (2) the likelihood that removal protections would be found unconstitutional.
This is a big deal not just because of the ongoing efforts to kneecap immigration judges, but also the more general fight in many contexts over which challenges by federal employees to what the administration is doing can go to district courts vs. which must go to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
December 6, 2025 at 7:50 AM
To emphasize Steve's point: Fourth Circuit suggested that employees may be able to file in district court because the MSPB no longer functions as Congress intended due to (1) a lack of quorum (fixed as of October) and (2) the likelihood that removal protections would be found unconstitutional.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
This is a big deal not just because of the ongoing efforts to kneecap immigration judges, but also the more general fight in many contexts over which challenges by federal employees to what the administration is doing can go to district courts vs. which must go to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
December 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This is a big deal not just because of the ongoing efforts to kneecap immigration judges, but also the more general fight in many contexts over which challenges by federal employees to what the administration is doing can go to district courts vs. which must go to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
I have prepared my LegReg students for this moment.
December 6, 2025 at 7:23 AM
I have prepared my LegReg students for this moment.
Yes. Slap one of these signs everywhere. Teach the public about what government does.
December 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Yes. Slap one of these signs everywhere. Teach the public about what government does.
In shameless self-promotion, see my recent article on this first point. Who implements law, how they are appointed, and how they are removed shapes the skills, expertise, and normative values brought to execution. Congress decides what is necessary and proper.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
December 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In shameless self-promotion, see my recent article on this first point. Who implements law, how they are appointed, and how they are removed shapes the skills, expertise, and normative values brought to execution. Congress decides what is necessary and proper.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Nick Bednar
(1) New essay and blog post up that are coauthored with the great @jedshug.bsky.social We bring together a decade of scholarship to argue that the quasi-judicial category is both consistent w/ original public meaning and synonymous with a deeper Anglo-American “history and tradition.”
Quasi-Judicial: A History and Tradition
<div>
<p><span>In the process of bulldozing the unitary executive theory, scholars have made several seemingly unrelated discoveries. First, "judicial&quo
papers.ssrn.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:10 PM
(1) New essay and blog post up that are coauthored with the great @jedshug.bsky.social We bring together a decade of scholarship to argue that the quasi-judicial category is both consistent w/ original public meaning and synonymous with a deeper Anglo-American “history and tradition.”
Reposted by Nick Bednar
JUST IN: A 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit rules that Trump may remove members of the NLRB or MSPB regardless of laws meant to shield them from removal without cause.
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
JUST IN: A 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit rules that Trump may remove members of the NLRB or MSPB regardless of laws meant to shield them from removal without cause.
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Majority: Rao (Trump), Katsas (Trump)
Dissent: Pan (Biden)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
I listened to Hole's "Awful" a lot this year, and I am sure it has nothing to do with the state of the world.
December 5, 2025 at 3:11 AM
I listened to Hole's "Awful" a lot this year, and I am sure it has nothing to do with the state of the world.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
SCOOP—In August, nearly 200 current/former FEMA staffers published the Katrina Declaration, a whistleblower letter detailing all the dangers posed by current leadership.
All current employees were put on indefinite leave, and now I've learned one has been fired in violation of federal protections:
All current employees were put on indefinite leave, and now I've learned one has been fired in violation of federal protections:
FEMA employee terminated for signing whistleblower letter
It appears to be a major violation of federal whistleblower protections and constitutional rights.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 26, 2025 at 7:58 PM
SCOOP—In August, nearly 200 current/former FEMA staffers published the Katrina Declaration, a whistleblower letter detailing all the dangers posed by current leadership.
All current employees were put on indefinite leave, and now I've learned one has been fired in violation of federal protections:
All current employees were put on indefinite leave, and now I've learned one has been fired in violation of federal protections:
Reposted by Nick Bednar
NEW (and CURIOUS) at SCOTUS: Court defers Trump administration's emergency plea to fire the Register of Copyrights pending upcoming decisions in two related cases that haven't been argued yet
November 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
NEW (and CURIOUS) at SCOTUS: Court defers Trump administration's emergency plea to fire the Register of Copyrights pending upcoming decisions in two related cases that haven't been argued yet
Reposted by Nick Bednar
If the executive can unilaterally shift all functioning out of an congressionally established agency, then what is left of Congress’ lawmaking?
Why should Congress authorize executive agencies to do anything at all, ever?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Why should Congress authorize executive agencies to do anything at all, ever?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
School Groups Sue to Stop Dismantling of the Education Department
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
If the executive can unilaterally shift all functioning out of an congressionally established agency, then what is left of Congress’ lawmaking?
Why should Congress authorize executive agencies to do anything at all, ever?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Why should Congress authorize executive agencies to do anything at all, ever?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
I was reminded recently of Judge Posner's 2003 book review of "Wild Bill," the biography of Justice William O. Douglas. The book review is no longer posted at the New Republic or
@uchicagolaw.bsky.social's website, but you can get it via the Wayback Machine:
web.archive.org/web/20030302...
@uchicagolaw.bsky.social's website, but you can get it via the Wayback Machine:
web.archive.org/web/20030302...
In the News
web.archive.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I was reminded recently of Judge Posner's 2003 book review of "Wild Bill," the biography of Justice William O. Douglas. The book review is no longer posted at the New Republic or
@uchicagolaw.bsky.social's website, but you can get it via the Wayback Machine:
web.archive.org/web/20030302...
@uchicagolaw.bsky.social's website, but you can get it via the Wayback Machine:
web.archive.org/web/20030302...