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
Jotwell Worklaw:
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
February 13, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Jotwell Worklaw:
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
Reposted by Nick Bednar
This a good piece. Among other things, the first part of Catherine's paper on the civil service is a very readable restatement of the conventional wisdom <positive> on the rise of the nonpartisan civil service. I taught from it this year and will do so again. 1/3
Jotwell Worklaw:
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
Joseph Slater, Defending Civil Service Rules from Existential Attacks, JOTWELL (February 13, 2026) (reviewing Catherine L. Fisk, Democracy and a Nonpartisan Civil Service, 67 Ariz. L. Rev. 629 (2025)), worklaw.jotwell.com/defending-ci....
February 13, 2026 at 4:48 PM
This a good piece. Among other things, the first part of Catherine's paper on the civil service is a very readable restatement of the conventional wisdom <positive> on the rise of the nonpartisan civil service. I taught from it this year and will do so again. 1/3
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Tracking Alleged Constitutional Violations in Court.
www.justsecurity.org/130745/minne...
www.justsecurity.org/130745/minne...
Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Alleged Constitutional Violations
The ACLU and partners sued over alleged racial profiling and unlawful arrests in Minnesota. Read sworn declarations and case details.
www.justsecurity.org
February 13, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Tracking Alleged Constitutional Violations in Court.
www.justsecurity.org/130745/minne...
www.justsecurity.org/130745/minne...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
February 13, 2026 at 12:14 AM
BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple.
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
"It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."
We (Minnesotans) will celebrate this day as the Great Thaw of 2026.
(Aptly, it's above freezing and the snow pack is melting.)
(Aptly, it's above freezing and the snow pack is melting.)
Homan in Minnesota: "I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue."
February 12, 2026 at 5:57 PM
We (Minnesotans) will celebrate this day as the Great Thaw of 2026.
(Aptly, it's above freezing and the snow pack is melting.)
(Aptly, it's above freezing and the snow pack is melting.)
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Homan in Minnesota: "I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue."
February 12, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Homan in Minnesota: "I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue."
Reposted by Nick Bednar
There’s a lot going on here, but the idea that the court appointment was an “extraordinary end-run on the Trump administration” is giving me a furrowed brow.
Todd Blanche says “You are fired, Donald Kinsella.”
Kinsella was just selected as the US Attorney for the Northern District of New York by the district’s judges, as permitted by statute.
Kinsella was just selected as the US Attorney for the Northern District of New York by the district’s judges, as permitted by statute.
February 12, 2026 at 3:50 AM
There’s a lot going on here, but the idea that the court appointment was an “extraordinary end-run on the Trump administration” is giving me a furrowed brow.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Scoop–CFPB just fired employee alexisgoldstein.bsky.social for allegedly disrupting &documenting a meeting a year ago between CFPB & DOGE www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
CFPB Fires Employee Over a Confrontation With DOGE a Year Ago
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fired an employee for disrupting and documenting a 2025 meeting between the agency and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to emails rev...
www.bloomberg.com
February 11, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Scoop–CFPB just fired employee alexisgoldstein.bsky.social for allegedly disrupting &documenting a meeting a year ago between CFPB & DOGE www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
She says she's being retaliated against after asking DOGE visitors who they were & if they'd completed training on handling info
Reposted by Nick Bednar
NEW: Don Lemon is set to be arraigned this week on charges tied to a protest at a church.
The case has raised press freedom concerns. But the constitutional provision most likely to derail the indictment isn’t the First Amendment—it’s the Commerce Clause.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
The case has raised press freedom concerns. But the constitutional provision most likely to derail the indictment isn’t the First Amendment—it’s the Commerce Clause.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
Minnesota FACE Off: A Deep Dive Into the St. Paul Church Protest Case
Unpacking the Don Lemon indictment, its factual allegations, the elements the government must prove to convict, and the potential defenses available to the accused.
www.lawfaremedia.org
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
NEW: Don Lemon is set to be arraigned this week on charges tied to a protest at a church.
The case has raised press freedom concerns. But the constitutional provision most likely to derail the indictment isn’t the First Amendment—it’s the Commerce Clause.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
The case has raised press freedom concerns. But the constitutional provision most likely to derail the indictment isn’t the First Amendment—it’s the Commerce Clause.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
The person photographed here who is in their bathrobe filming armed, masked federal agents in St. Paul is MPR News journalist @samstroozas.bsky.social @mprnews.org . She is an incredible journalist and person. We do not deserve her.
A high-speed car chase involving a federal agent in St. Paul ended with a multi-vehicle crash and injuries to the fleeing driver, who was taken away in an ambulance. bit.ly/4kvJo0M
📸: Leila Navidi
📸: Leila Navidi
February 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM
The person photographed here who is in their bathrobe filming armed, masked federal agents in St. Paul is MPR News journalist @samstroozas.bsky.social @mprnews.org . She is an incredible journalist and person. We do not deserve her.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Does an enterprising class-action lawyer want to take this on, on the basis that the NCUA lacks a quorum and is legally unable to approve this extension?
February 9, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Does an enterprising class-action lawyer want to take this on, on the basis that the NCUA lacks a quorum and is legally unable to approve this extension?
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Some Army civilians say they worked during the shutdown and were later told to report that they did not. Our exclusive details what happened and why it matters. Reporting by Eric Katz and Thomas Novelly buff.ly/KjomxZZ #shutdown
Some Army civilians worked during the shutdown—and were told to say they didn’t
What started as confusion became a coverup, employees and emails say.
www.govexec.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Some Army civilians say they worked during the shutdown and were later told to report that they did not. Our exclusive details what happened and why it matters. Reporting by Eric Katz and Thomas Novelly buff.ly/KjomxZZ #shutdown
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
‘He’s not the same’: Father of Liam Conejo Ramos says 5-year-old continues to suffer
Some people thought they say the 5-year-old during the Super Bowl halftime show. But Liam is still in hiding with his family, after he and his father were detained and then released from a Texas deten...
www.mprnews.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Super Bowl viewers Sunday speculated that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos appeared in the halftime show. In fact, he has been in hiding with his family.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
“He can’t sleep well at night. He wakes up three or four times a night screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” Liam's father Adrian Conejo Arias, said.
OPM proposes regulations to strip MSPB of jurisdiction over RIFs and suitability determinations. The result would be that no impartial body could ever hear a RIF.
February 10, 2026 at 1:15 AM
OPM proposes regulations to strip MSPB of jurisdiction over RIFs and suitability determinations. The result would be that no impartial body could ever hear a RIF.
@protectdemocracy.org has launched a really cool Civil Service Archive that tracks documents related to changes of the civil service since January 2025.
civilservicearchive.org
civilservicearchive.org
The Civil Service Archive
Tracking changes affecting the shape and operation of federal government agencies under the second Trump administration.
civilservicearchive.org
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
@protectdemocracy.org has launched a really cool Civil Service Archive that tracks documents related to changes of the civil service since January 2025.
civilservicearchive.org
civilservicearchive.org
Reposted by Nick Bednar
This paper has placed with Columbia. Its little sibling article is still up for grabs for the enterprising law journal! They are deeply intertwined and recast the history of American admin law.
February 9, 2026 at 5:09 PM
This paper has placed with Columbia. Its little sibling article is still up for grabs for the enterprising law journal! They are deeply intertwined and recast the history of American admin law.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Very excited that @gelbach.bsky.social & I will be publishing "Bruen's Tenth Amendment Problem" in the @uchilrev.bsky.social!
Our central arg is that Bruen's erasure of unexercised powers violates the 10th Am's preservation of existing State power. Comments welcome!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Our central arg is that Bruen's erasure of unexercised powers violates the 10th Am's preservation of existing State power. Comments welcome!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
February 9, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Very excited that @gelbach.bsky.social & I will be publishing "Bruen's Tenth Amendment Problem" in the @uchilrev.bsky.social!
Our central arg is that Bruen's erasure of unexercised powers violates the 10th Am's preservation of existing State power. Comments welcome!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Our central arg is that Bruen's erasure of unexercised powers violates the 10th Am's preservation of existing State power. Comments welcome!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Ready for some feminist community in these anti-feminist times? On March 7 at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis, join me and Marlene Johnson, Minnesota’s first female Lieutenant Governor, in conversation about our new books. #WeTheMen @bighillbooks
www.bighillbooks.com/events/neoz1...
www.bighillbooks.com/events/neoz1...
Rise to the Challenge & We the Men — Big Hill Books
Women. Politics. The law. We’ve got it all covered when Minnesota’s first female Lieutenant Governor Marlene Johnson and University of Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday discuss their books and share...
www.bighillbooks.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Ready for some feminist community in these anti-feminist times? On March 7 at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis, join me and Marlene Johnson, Minnesota’s first female Lieutenant Governor, in conversation about our new books. #WeTheMen @bighillbooks
www.bighillbooks.com/events/neoz1...
www.bighillbooks.com/events/neoz1...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Reposted by Nick Bednar
👀 What if I told you there was a hidden art gallery scattered across the country?
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
The disappearing art gallery in your post office
The U.S. Postal Service is home to thousands of historic works of art in post offices nationwide. Hundreds have been lost, sold or destroyed.
wapo.st
February 8, 2026 at 2:08 PM
👀 What if I told you there was a hidden art gallery scattered across the country?
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?
What if I told you that I found them?
A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):
I have been writing a essay about the hemorrhaging of government employees in Minnesota since 4:00am but I am now informed it is time to sit on the couch.
February 8, 2026 at 1:53 PM
I have been writing a essay about the hemorrhaging of government employees in Minnesota since 4:00am but I am now informed it is time to sit on the couch.
OPM's new data platform for federal personnel data is much more accessible than it was previously. I also appreciate that they are releasing monthly data instead of quarterly data. They changed identifiers, which is a bit of a headache for ongoing projects using this data.
data.opm.gov
data.opm.gov
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
data.opm.gov
February 8, 2026 at 12:57 PM
OPM's new data platform for federal personnel data is much more accessible than it was previously. I also appreciate that they are releasing monthly data instead of quarterly data. They changed identifiers, which is a bit of a headache for ongoing projects using this data.
data.opm.gov
data.opm.gov
Not many federal attorneys---and certainly no leadership---left in Minneapolis. I suspect a contempt order is imminent. Without middle managers, however, that contempt order may go pretty far up the chain.
The top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota has left the agency, the same week an ICE attorney was removed after telling a district judge that “this job sucks” and that the Trump administration is “overwhelmed” with immigration cases.
ICE chief counsel in Minnesota retires amid growing number of immigration cases | CNN Politics
The top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota has left the agency, the same week an ICE attorney was removed after telling a district judge that “this job sucks” and that the Tru...
www.cnn.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Not many federal attorneys---and certainly no leadership---left in Minneapolis. I suspect a contempt order is imminent. Without middle managers, however, that contempt order may go pretty far up the chain.
Reposted by Nick Bednar
The Washington Post—for which I wrote editorials for nearly a decade—has closed its Kyiv bureau.
@lawfaremedia.org has not—and we will not.
We now employ more people in Kyiv than the Washington Post.
Let me tell you about what we have done in Ukraine over the past year and why we are not leaving
@lawfaremedia.org has not—and we will not.
We now employ more people in Kyiv than the Washington Post.
Let me tell you about what we have done in Ukraine over the past year and why we are not leaving
February 6, 2026 at 6:55 PM
The Washington Post—for which I wrote editorials for nearly a decade—has closed its Kyiv bureau.
@lawfaremedia.org has not—and we will not.
We now employ more people in Kyiv than the Washington Post.
Let me tell you about what we have done in Ukraine over the past year and why we are not leaving
@lawfaremedia.org has not—and we will not.
We now employ more people in Kyiv than the Washington Post.
Let me tell you about what we have done in Ukraine over the past year and why we are not leaving