Profile banner
Profile picture

Michael Waldman

@mawaldman.bsky.social

President & CEO, @BrennanCenter. Author, The Supermajority, The Fight to Vote, etc. etc. Ex-speechwriter.

created November 8, 2024

11,955 followers 833 following 29 posts

view profile on Bluesky

Posts

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

Remember that an EO is not reality. Courts blocked his last effort to seize control of elections. But it’s an alarming escalation of the campaign to undermine the 2026 election. 3/3

18/8/2025, 4:10:56 PM | 101 16 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

He’s taking Vladimir Putin’s advice - Trump proudly cited Putin as backing his voting stance given Putin’s interest in “honest elections.” 2/3

18/8/2025, 4:10:56 PM | 82 15 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3

18/8/2025, 4:10:56 PM | 709 159 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

Americans deserve fair congressional district maps no matter what state they live in. Congress can make that a reality if it chooses to.

8/8/2025, 3:09:08 PM | 247 102 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) reposted

Must listen to @brennancenter.org president Michael Waldman youtu.be/CeuDK6z1Ewo?...

8/8/2025, 5:39:17 PM | 411 168 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

So as we watch with outrage let’s remember: all this makes the hard-nosed case, stronger than ever, for action to ensure real representation and a fair political process for all. 6/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 32 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

Congress can and must act. The Freedom to Vote Act banned mid-decade redistricting and barred partisan gerrymanders. It would stop what's happening today – cold. The John Lewis VRAA would restore protection against discriminatory maps. They came achingly close to enactment in 2022. 5/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 37 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

Now, the Supreme Court blew it - in Rucho and LULAC v. Perry, it walked away from policing gerrymandering & protecting voters. 4/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 27 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

It’s no surprise that Democrats in other states would respond as they have. But a partisan arms race on its own cannot be the ultimate solution. The answer must be effective national standards that apply to Red states and Blue states alike. 3/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 32 8 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

What Texas is doing is particularly egregious. Mid-decade (long after the census), explicitly to gain five Republican seats, at the expense of voters of color, on orders from the president. It’s a power grab, outrageous. 2/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 32 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6

7/8/2025, 4:43:03 PM | 195 56 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

An important new analysis: we’re now seeing a strategy unfold to undermine the 2026 election. It’s unprecedented and often illegal. And it will be a big and growing story for the next year and a half. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

3/8/2025, 1:42:33 PM | 81 55 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

This is a summer of brute force and performative cruelty. Now the new budget includes an astonishing increase in the size of ICE - making it the largest federal law enforcement agency by far. There's a better way. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

9/7/2025, 4:39:49 AM | 25 10 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties. And it comes amid ICE’s resistance to congressional oversight. bit.ly/4eF7rYs

8/7/2025, 9:07:01 PM | 76 32 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Proud to sign this… www.weholdtruths.com

4/7/2025, 3:47:36 PM | 10 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

3/7/2025, 8:10:16 PM | 44 14 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Bill Moyers lived a life committed to American democracy. At LBJ's side for civil rights (and Vietnam), he became a pioneering journalistic crusader on money and politics and voting. At @brennancenter.org we were honored to hear him over the years. In 2013 he spoke to our community:

26/6/2025, 10:35:04 PM | 72 25 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Trump "always chickens out." Will the Supreme Court chicken out? www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

3/6/2025, 11:59:44 PM | 11 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Does a President have the power to impose sweeping tariffs. No! That's our argument in a friend of the court brief we filed this week in a case brought by the conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance. We're proud to do it. The Constitution is clear and the law is unambiguous.

15/5/2025, 12:14:08 AM | 79 27 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Yes, Presidents do have to uphold the Constitution. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

4/5/2025, 5:25:01 PM | 115 27 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Fan fiction? Hardly. An important piece by my colleague Grady Short -- Canada's election is unfolding with a very different campaign finance system (no billionaires funded Super PACs, etc. etc. etc. etc.), robust public financing, and so on.

24/4/2025, 4:35:50 AM | 64 19 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

With the sweeping worldwide tariffs — and their myriad exceptions and complications — the new imperial presidency meets the new billionaire politics.

19/4/2025, 12:53:58 PM | 106 34 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie (@audrelawdamercy.bsky.social) reposted

"They walked the full length of the train and questioned every single passenger about their citizenship status"

19/4/2025, 2:21:02 AM | 120 50 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

The problem of tariffs goes beyond stock market decline. They open the door to lobbying, favoritism, and graft.

17/4/2025, 5:53:46 PM | 136 44 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) reposted

So many national emergencies to declare. So little time. 😔 @axios.com www.axios.com/newsletters/...

image
18/4/2025, 11:38:52 AM | 1188 325 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

www.axios.com/2025/04/18/t...

18/4/2025, 10:53:16 AM | 7 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Larry Norden (@larrynorden.bsky.social) reposted

The 2020 election was secure thanks in part to the critical work of CISA. Chris Krebs, appointed by President Trump to head that agency, did his job and told the truth about the election. /1

9/4/2025, 10:03:39 PM | 150 42 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) reposted

Note to editors and producers: If an executive order demands action that is illegal or outside of the president’s authority, then you should not describe it as ordering something. You should say it seeks to achieve some outcome and then note it is illegal or beyond the power of the president.

28/3/2025, 5:20:43 AM | 19728 5700 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

abcnews.go.com/Politics/vid...

26/3/2025, 5:17:47 PM | 18 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture AYMAN on MSNBC (@ayman.msnbc.com) reposted

"I think people a few months ago were checked out. A month ago, they were stunned and depressed. I think people are getting angry." @mawaldman.bsky.social on the growing public backlash against Trump and Elon Musk's cuts to the government.

3/3/2025, 1:04:59 AM | 227 55 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture 60 Minutes (@60minutes.bsky.social) reposted

President Trump says his administration is cleaning up a Justice Department corrupted by politics. https://cbsn.ws/3QRoCLr

24/2/2025, 12:18:32 AM | 808 278 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

That actually looked like The Clash circa 1977.

21/2/2025, 8:57:18 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social) reply parent

Where is George W. Bush? This is his proudest accomplishment.

7/2/2025, 2:53:36 AM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Tonight Donald Trump tried to fire the Democratic chair of the Federal Election Commission - the agency (weak as it is) charged with policing Elon Musk's unprecedented campaign spending on Trump's behalf. Wrong.

7/2/2025, 12:54:37 AM | 156 43 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Katrina T. Lamia (@katrinathelamia.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

I'll look that up later. Prolly good for a decent laugh

21/1/2025, 11:24:46 AM | 1 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

21/1/2025, 2:43:37 AM | 96 35 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Rachel Levinson-Waldman (@rlevinsonwaldman.bsky.social) reposted

For everything you ever wanted to know about the Alien Enemies Act but were afraid to ask, my @brennancenter.bsky.social colleague Katherine Yon Ebright’s brilliant explainer is a must read. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/pol...

20/1/2025, 5:58:36 PM | 36 27 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Cecile Richards was a great leader for freedom and a generous colleague who inspired so many. May her memory be a blessing.

20/1/2025, 4:25:33 PM | 32 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Norm Eisen (@normeisen.bsky.social) reposted

Too many in mainstream & new media aren’t standing up to Trump’s assault on democracy—we will Today, @jenrubin.bsky.social & I launch @contrariannews.bsky.social: bold, independent, pro-democracy journalism Join us in the fight 👇 contrarian.substack.com

13/1/2025, 1:59:13 PM | 4975 1174 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

On birthright citizenship, no president can end it "on day one" or any other day. It's in the Constitution - the 14th amendment. Indeed it was one of the key goals of that "new birth of freedom" - formerly enslaved people had parents who were not citizens. Media, please take note!

8/12/2024, 10:02:52 PM | 67 24 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Pinky Weitzman (@pinkyweitzman.bsky.social) reposted

Citizens United, tech bro edition. amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

Chart showing GOP megadonors
8/12/2024, 2:10:01 PM | 82 52 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Reform is an idea whose time has come. Widely supported across the political soectrum. Fox poll showed 79% support. (@brennancenter supports a statutory approach.) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

7/12/2024, 5:21:32 PM | 275 59 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

@lizwish.bsky.social hi!

16/11/2024, 10:21:45 PM | 4 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mr. G (@bville108.bsky.social) reposted

image
15/11/2024, 1:02:55 PM | 54852 7389 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

This is like Caligula appointing his horse proconsul, except his horse wasn't an election denier, under investigation for trafficking, or pushed via a recess appointment. And also the horse never happened - this just did.

14/11/2024, 12:29:26 AM | 13 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) reposted

Follow the Brennan Center experts to keep up with the work that we are doing to protect and strengthen U.S. democracy.

12/11/2024, 5:11:34 PM | 56 22 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Waldman (@mawaldman.bsky.social)

Hello, BlueSky community!

11/11/2024, 6:16:44 PM | 15 1 | View on Bluesky | view