Matt Henry 🥄
@matthenry.fyi
Tech, law, philosophy, and abolition. Web optimist. I build design systems for governments. This is (obviously?) a personal account. he/him
Pinned
Matt Henry 🥄
@matthenry.fyi
· Nov 17
Ok, quick intro post:
Hi 👋. I'm a technologist working to improve the public's experience of US government digital services. Before that, I used to be a public defender and worked in criminal justice reform.
I like using tech for good and dislike tech that promotes inequality and immiseration.
Hi 👋. I'm a technologist working to improve the public's experience of US government digital services. Before that, I used to be a public defender and worked in criminal justice reform.
I like using tech for good and dislike tech that promotes inequality and immiseration.
Reposted by Matt Henry 🥄
From 18F alum @matthenry.fyi: "If [sites like America By Design] are any indication of what was coming down the pike as the future of government websites, it's a bad sign for the people who have to build and maintain those sites, it's a bad sign for USWDS, and it's a bad sign for you as a user ... "
That’s a wrap on my federal service. I wrote about my time in gov, and how it ended. matthenry.fyi/posts/moving... 1/
Mischief & Craft - Moving On
Thoughts at the end of a really bad, horrible, no good year.
matthenry.fyi
November 18, 2025 at 8:38 PM
From 18F alum @matthenry.fyi: "If [sites like America By Design] are any indication of what was coming down the pike as the future of government websites, it's a bad sign for the people who have to build and maintain those sites, it's a bad sign for USWDS, and it's a bad sign for you as a user ... "
“Think I’m bluffin’? Why don’t you ask the last guy who tried to argue that crime is a violation of the law and the state, rather’n a violation of people and relationships.”
"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."
Not Sure How They Deal With Criminals In Your Town, But ’Round Here We Use A Restorative Justice Process
Well, well, well. What have we got here? Another city slicker who thinks he can waltz into my town and start causin’ all sorts of trouble. I’d be careful if I was you, fella. Because however they do t...
theonion.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:17 AM
“Think I’m bluffin’? Why don’t you ask the last guy who tried to argue that crime is a violation of the law and the state, rather’n a violation of people and relationships.”
Reposted by Matt Henry 🥄
"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."
Not Sure How They Deal With Criminals In Your Town, But ’Round Here We Use A Restorative Justice Process
Well, well, well. What have we got here? Another city slicker who thinks he can waltz into my town and start causin’ all sorts of trouble. I’d be careful if I was you, fella. Because however they do t...
theonion.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM
"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."
X-Men ‘97 (2024)
It brings me no joy to announce that Remy "Gambit" LeBeau lost his greatest battle today to a 2005 Toyota Corolla
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
X-Men ‘97 (2024)
Reposted by Matt Henry 🥄
That’s a wrap on my federal service. I wrote about my time in gov, and how it ended. matthenry.fyi/posts/moving... 1/
Mischief & Craft - Moving On
Thoughts at the end of a really bad, horrible, no good year.
matthenry.fyi
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
That’s a wrap on my federal service. I wrote about my time in gov, and how it ended. matthenry.fyi/posts/moving... 1/
That’s a wrap on my federal service. I wrote about my time in gov, and how it ended. matthenry.fyi/posts/moving... 1/
Mischief & Craft - Moving On
Thoughts at the end of a really bad, horrible, no good year.
matthenry.fyi
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
That’s a wrap on my federal service. I wrote about my time in gov, and how it ended. matthenry.fyi/posts/moving... 1/
I love seeing this. MD‘s and NJ‘s systems are both definitely based on USWDS. Not captured here, but there are municipal systems based on it too.
Cool to see this state-level design system tracker by @beeckcenter.bsky.social. Contrary to the beliefs of some—design is so much more than branding and beauty. And it looks like at least MD and NJ are using USWDS as a base (and maybe soon CO).
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
State-Level Design System Tracker - Digital Government Hub
This publication explores how centralized design systems help state governments deliver more consistent, accessible, and people-centered digital services, supported by a new tracker mapping design sys...
digitalgovernmenthub.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I love seeing this. MD‘s and NJ‘s systems are both definitely based on USWDS. Not captured here, but there are municipal systems based on it too.
Reposted by Matt Henry 🥄
Cool to see this state-level design system tracker by @beeckcenter.bsky.social. Contrary to the beliefs of some—design is so much more than branding and beauty. And it looks like at least MD and NJ are using USWDS as a base (and maybe soon CO).
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
State-Level Design System Tracker - Digital Government Hub
This publication explores how centralized design systems help state governments deliver more consistent, accessible, and people-centered digital services, supported by a new tracker mapping design sys...
digitalgovernmenthub.org
November 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Cool to see this state-level design system tracker by @beeckcenter.bsky.social. Contrary to the beliefs of some—design is so much more than branding and beauty. And it looks like at least MD and NJ are using USWDS as a base (and maybe soon CO).
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
digitalgovernmenthub.org/publications...
I don’t get why judges are asking prosecutors for a memo about this. Isn’t that what clerks are for?
Federal judges can compel lawyers to represent defendants without pay, California prosecutors advise
Federal judges can compel lawyers to represent defendants without pay, California prosecutors advise
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have provided judges a memo advising that they have the power to compel any of the hundreds of members of their federal court's bar to represent indigent defendants without pay amid a funding shortfall that has led to a shortage of private attorneys available to take on new cases.
reut.rs
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I don’t get why judges are asking prosecutors for a memo about this. Isn’t that what clerks are for?
YES! HA HA HA YES!
TRANSITION CO-CHAIR LINA KHAN!?!?!??!
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
YES! HA HA HA YES!
This isn't a surprise, but it's really. fucking. sad. DF was a high water mark in using technology to improve the public's experience of government. In a just world, there would be a huge team getting ready right now to expand it to even more filers.
👀 Scoop: IRS Direct File, the free government-backed program that let you file your taxes for free, is dead.
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax-prep giants
The tax agency has quietly built its own prototype system for filing tax returns digitally and free of charge, according to current and former officials.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:03 PM
This isn't a surprise, but it's really. fucking. sad. DF was a high water mark in using technology to improve the public's experience of government. In a just world, there would be a huge team getting ready right now to expand it to even more filers.
*French hacker voice* Je suis entré
November 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
*French hacker voice* Je suis entré
Reposted by Matt Henry 🥄
Timely (grim) new NBER working paper: Households screened out of SNAP "suffer tangible downstream economic consequences. Specifically, we find that process-related denials increase debt and delinquencies, and decrease credit scores."
www.nber.org/papers/w34434
www.nber.org/papers/w34434
November 3, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Timely (grim) new NBER working paper: Households screened out of SNAP "suffer tangible downstream economic consequences. Specifically, we find that process-related denials increase debt and delinquencies, and decrease credit scores."
www.nber.org/papers/w34434
www.nber.org/papers/w34434
They wouldn't but by god they should
Johnson: "If they had no filibuster, they would pack the SCOTUS. You'd go from 9 to 17 or however many liberals they could pack. You would make DC & Puerto Rico into states, which would give 4 additional Democrat senators & make us a permanent minority. You'd see massive restrictions of 2A rights"
November 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
They wouldn't but by god they should
Tesla drivers remain undefeated for garbage behavior in the school dropoff queue
November 3, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Tesla drivers remain undefeated for garbage behavior in the school dropoff queue
To be clear, this would be illegal even if he wasn‘t a citizen. SCOTUS seems fine with Kavanaugh stops, but they haven’t yet signed off on Kavanaugh shootings www.calonews.com/featured-top...
ICE shoots U.S. citizen in Ontario, California
Carlos Jimenez, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, was on his way to work at a food bank when he was shot by ICE officers in what a DHS spokesperson calls “defensive
www.calonews.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:38 PM
To be clear, this would be illegal even if he wasn‘t a citizen. SCOTUS seems fine with Kavanaugh stops, but they haven’t yet signed off on Kavanaugh shootings www.calonews.com/featured-top...
Having heard what it took for @nerdy.dev to get a new role (and what many of my former fed friends are still going through), I feel so lucky that my own search was merely exhausting and not the literal nightmare so many are experiencing. It's so bad out there.
October 31, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Having heard what it took for @nerdy.dev to get a new role (and what many of my former fed friends are still going through), I feel so lucky that my own search was merely exhausting and not the literal nightmare so many are experiencing. It's so bad out there.
gm to this bird who hung out on my barbell between sets
October 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
gm to this bird who hung out on my barbell between sets
Well well well. Look at number two on this list of people who suck.
October 29, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Well well well. Look at number two on this list of people who suck.
Everyone is focused on the fact that it's not an IQ test, but what about the fact that he went out there and said that a test meant to see if check for dementia was "very hard"?
Trump: AOC is low IQ. If you give her an IQ test, have her pass like the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. Those are very hard…
The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe..
The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe..
October 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Everyone is focused on the fact that it's not an IQ test, but what about the fact that he went out there and said that a test meant to see if check for dementia was "very hard"?
The same care being put into the Epstein Ballroom that went into the drawer I can’t open all the way unless I open the oven first.
He’s designing the ballroom with AI isn’t he www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
October 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The same care being put into the Epstein Ballroom that went into the drawer I can’t open all the way unless I open the oven first.
There are so few things in law school that really prepare students for legal practice (sorry, lawprofs 😅). Mock trials/trial advocacy classes where you get to watch real people deliberate over a case you put together is a huge one. This totally squanders that valuable experience.
October 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
There are so few things in law school that really prepare students for legal practice (sorry, lawprofs 😅). Mock trials/trial advocacy classes where you get to watch real people deliberate over a case you put together is a huge one. This totally squanders that valuable experience.
🎵 I heard there was a sacred thread
A SovCit for its return had pled
But you aren’t in the proper venue
Are you 🎶
A SovCit for its return had pled
But you aren’t in the proper venue
Are you 🎶
October 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
🎵 I heard there was a sacred thread
A SovCit for its return had pled
But you aren’t in the proper venue
Are you 🎶
A SovCit for its return had pled
But you aren’t in the proper venue
Are you 🎶
There are so many overreaches that I care about more than a damn building, but this gives me literal chest-tightening anxiety. I’m genuinely surprised by my own reaction to it, but it’s a very salient reminder of how they will truly do whatever they feel like.
Breaking News: President Trump is having the White House’s entire East Wing demolished to make way for his $200 million ballroom. The project is far more extensive than he initially let on.
Trump Will Demolish Entire White House East Wing for Ballroom: Live Updates
nyti.ms
October 22, 2025 at 9:56 PM
There are so many overreaches that I care about more than a damn building, but this gives me literal chest-tightening anxiety. I’m genuinely surprised by my own reaction to it, but it’s a very salient reminder of how they will truly do whatever they feel like.