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.
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Trump underfunded the already seriously understaffed and highly problematic Immigration Judges (IJs). Immigration law is very complex and specialized. Doubt these temp judges know WTF they're doing. See our NSF funded research (ungated) on existing IJ problems. bclawreview.bc.edu/articles/10....
Call for papers for the best constitutional law conference every year is now out! Please circulate widely & consider sending us your paper/lightning round proposals. Tucson is incredible this time of the year, and we have amazing confirmed commentators already lined up 🌵🌵
The Trump administration argues that the removal power extends to top career executives, endangering civil service tenure protections, writes @nicholasbednar.bsky.social and Peyton Barker, in their primer on the senior executive service. Read it here: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-pr...
I moved from Nebraska to Minnesota as a kid and distinctly remember remarking to my parents that Nebraska's red squirrels were much smaller. I think you're on to something.
I saw a squirrel the size of an infant jump from a roof to a tree last night. I initially thought it was a raccoon. I really think we need to check the water.
Over at Lawfare, Peyton Baker (a stellar 2L @umnlawschool.bsky.social) and I have a primer on the Senior Executive Service and why court watchers should pay more attention to this personnel system. Peyton is writing an excellent note addressing these issues. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-pr...
I'm very happy to share that I will be hosting the *Second* Annual Democracy and Public Law Works-in-Progress Conference at the Michigan State University College of Law on April 3–4, 2026! Law scholars (current and aspiring), I'd love to host you! Application: msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
We should grab coffee/lunch/drink if you're going to be there in person!
ICYMI: A group of admin law scholars sent a letter to the House & Senate Appropriations Committees arguing why "pocket rescissions"—the idea that the president can propose rescissions of budget authority late in a fiscal year and then allow funds to expire while the proposal is pending—are illegal.
Some say George Washington was our first eigenvector president.
Crowd sourcing: I am trying to get some art for my office. I think I want Works Progress Admin. posters. I really want this one, but I haven't found a digital file of it that I could print. Does anyone know a good source for high res WPA posters? I checked NARA but didn't see this one.
The Trump administration continues its campaign to dismantle federal sector unions on an extremely dubious reading of the FLMRS’s national security provisions.
There's also this one which is pretty closely named.
There are apparently a number of novels with this name.
I will write this if it counts for my tenure profile.
TLDR: Senator and pacifist group kidnaps President because his mistress didn't want him to run for reelection. Pacifist group ends up killing a bunch of people. Senator dies after untruthfully blaming organized labor for the plot.
Fin.
The president arrives at the Summit. Lakin erroneously publishes a story that says the President is missing and the Summit has collapsed. The End.
Mike claims that it was a perfect plan because the Ironwood folks couldn't be charged with anything. According to Mike, the fact that the president came on his own accord makes them immune. THEY HELD THE PRESIDENT HOSTAGE AND MURDERED AT LEAST ONE SECRET SERVICE AGENT. THOSE ARE CRIMES.
There is a big cover up. Schwartz died in a fall. Brady died in an accidental fire. Senator Berglund died from suicide. THE PUBLIC WONT BE SUSPICIOUS THAT A BUNCH OF PEOPLE CLOSE TO THE PRESIDENT ALL DIED IN ONE DAY.
What about the bombing of the car? The book dismisses it with a reference to a radio reporting saying it was two right winged terrorists.
Our Scooby-Doo reveal: Who is "S"? It's SENATOR BERGLUND---the man who claimed it was probably union leaders who had captured the President. (I am certain there is no political commentary here about the demonization of unions. @charlottegarden.bsky.social)
A car is coming toward them. Mike doesn't have time to brake and hits it. Fred Wagner (a secret service agent I didn't bother to introduce you to) was driving. Fred warns them that they shot someone leaving the house and it isn't pretty. Mike says it's "S" and he needs to know who it is.
Let's finish the story. Mike, Christy, and the President have climbed into Radin's car. The President says that whatever Mike says goes. Christy shouts that the house is on fire; Nelson is still alive inside. The president tells Mike they can save Nelson. Mike says, "No! I'm sorry sir."
The trio light a fire to get the attention of their captors. When Nelson comes into the room, Mike attacks and steals his gun. Radin and Mike exchange some fire. Then S arrives and kills Radin. S flees the house. Ending at Chapter 19. Page 160/180. Will finish tonight.
Mike wakes up with Christy and the President standing over him. The President reveals that Min died saving Mike's life. The President seems unbothered for someone who just lost his girlfriend. The President gives a monologue condemning the Ironwood Society as fascists. We still don't know "S."
Radin admits they killed Schwartz but claims they had nothing to do with bombing the president's car. Mike jumps at Radin. Radin fires the gun in his hand. The bullet seems to have hit Mike.
Mike accuses Radin of kidnapping the President. Radin says the President came willingly. He suggests the President will never admit to being held hostage because he went for purposes of having an affair with Min. The Professor died of natural causes---a heart condition. That's... Inconvenient.
Min tells Mike to leave, saying they have the same goal. She's here to help the president. Mike doesn't believe her. Min suggests that the president's top advisors have been infiltrated by the Ironwood Society. Then Radin walks in on Min and Mike talking!
Another man (Radin) has appeared and with...Christy! Mike appears to recognize Radin's voice as someone else---Klaus Dortchers. Mike sneaks around and confronts Min, asking where the president is. Min says he's in the backroom.
180. So we are getting toward the end.
Min Brady is involved because she doesn't want the president to be reelected. They keep saying they'll figure out what to do when "S" gets there.
Mike has broken into the basement of the house. He hears voices and one is certainly Min Brady. She's conversing with the man who answered the door (Nelson) about the plot and his sloppiness. It's revealed that the Ironwood Society is involved---a pacifist organization. Not so pacifist!
Mike opened the car. INSIDE: THE PROFESSOR IS DEAD!!!
Mike returns to the house after dark. He finds a black convertible with a familiar license plate. Engraved in the handle of the car is M. B. Min Brady---the Georgetown Lover!
The reason Mike knows is that he recognized the president's lighter on the table. He knows it's the right lighter because Mike bought him an engraved lighter for Christmas.
Mike and Christy stumble upon a house near the campground. An old man in the house tells them there is nothing there. Mike tells Christy he KNOWS the president is in that house.
Mike gets a bunch and decides to tour the campground Gefland mentioned. Mike thinks maybe it wasn't the FBI on the last last night. Searching the camp, Mike finds the president's boat!
Mike then goes to meet the Boy Scouts. Berglund stands in for the president. Two media people complain to Mike that it seems like Lakin knows something they don't. Then... The president's limosine carrying the body double explodes.
Lakin confronts Mike about the president's absence in the parking lot. At the same time, the President limo drives by with his body double inside. But Lakin recognizes the man as the body double---not the president.
Mike runs into an old friend Billy Gefland. Gefland lives in town and talks about how many boats were on the lake last night. Mike knows they were FBI boats but Billy thinks it's a lot of campers.
It's now morning. Mike and Christy go to the church where the president always goes. The president isn't there. Lakin and Roman are there and realize they have a big story. Mike avoids their gaze and apologizes to the minister for the president's absence.
The Senator and Mike go to bed. Mike can't sleep and decides to search the President's office. The key to the river gate is missing! That means the president must have left through the river gate rather than the main gate.
Congress has recently passed HR 2654 to put a "genuine hammerlock" on labor leaders. The president has yet to sign it. If he doesn't sign by Monday, it's a pocket veto. The Senator thinks the labor leaders are desperate to stop the president and they have kidnapped the president.
Senator Berglund has entered Mike's office looking for "the office bottle." (Wild time.) Berglund is working through theories. He suggests that maybe the Russians are to blame for the president's disappearance and calls it a "Communist plot." But he ultimately blames the unions and labor leaders.
It's 1AM. Roman the Red calls Mike to ask about the summit and whether there will be any surprises. Lakin apparently told Roman there would be surprises. Mike shoos Roman away.
We have learned from the Attorney General that Schwartz is dead. Doctor ruled that he had been sapped. Note: They started talking about assignation in the same paragraph. I thought this was a misspelling of assassination until I looked it up. The more you know.
Back at Camp Victory, Mike has missed a call from Min Brady. Brady is described as one of the best dressed women in the United States, a Vassar college graduate, and a political columnist. She is also the President's secret Georgetown lover *gasp*.
Mike's working theory is that the president was kidnapped by someone he knew. My working theory is that the President and the Professor are having a gay affair, Schwartz discovered them, and was attacked by the President.
Mike is shocked to see a Russian news agent called "Roman the Red" appear in the hotel. Mike and Christy are now driving somewhere. We learn that Schwartz was conscious for a brief moment when found and only said one word, "Why?"
They are at a hotel bar. The bartender claims they make all of their Scotch in house in...(checks notes) Maryland.
We return. Lakin is mad that Mike is hiding something from him. Mike tries to claim that the ambulance is for the housekeeper, who Mike claims is an alcoholic. (At this point we get the only reference to the General Services Administration in all of fiction). Lakin ain't buying it.
As I was writing it, I thought to myself, "I could teach a course on the President in Fiction."
While driving into town, an ambulance passed Mike and Lakin. Lakin is now suspicious. This gets us to Chapter 6 (50/175). Starting to drift off but I will continue this thread later.
On his way to meet Lakin, Mike learned that Schwartz was found and is seriously injured. Lakin wants to know more about the summit. He refuses to meet with aides about the summit, but admits that his quest for info has failed. Mike is going to give him a ride into town when he takes Christy out.
They have called in the FBI, the CIA, a Colonel, and a random Senator. It's been an hour. To make matters worse, Kim Lakin has just arrived.
The author likes to allude to various "facts" about presidents but they don't seem particularly well researched. For example, the author claims Coolidge had no hobbies. But Coolidge was rather well known for extended retreats in the wilderness to go fishing.
Temporally, it has been revealed that this president is the third after JFK.
Mike has gone into the President's room to look for Schwartz. But *gasp* the President is missing! Mike is in a full blown panic. Ed---another Secret Service agent---is now worried.
Mike is waiting for the unexpected arrival of Kim Larkin. Kim is a hot shot reporter with thousands of readers and good at digging up dirt. Mike has gone outside to alert Schwartz---a Secret Service agent---but Schwartz is missing. Mike is concerned.
Anyway, this Russian summit is a *big* deal but the White House knows that it will accomplish nothing. They do not anticipate that it will result in any sort of agreement.
Clarification: Mike is actually a press assistant. Christy is a secretary. The Press Secretary (Mike's boss) is giving Mike flack for "romancing" too many "babes" in the secretarial pool. Mike says, "I like to spread my charms as far as they will go." Note: I'm not a big fan of Mike.
Currently, the President is on a trip to Camp Victory with Professor Messner---the President's closet advisor and gin rummy partner. Mike is one of the few staffers with the President.
Mike has now come across a threatening note on pink stationary from someone who claims to know that the President's marriage is finished and he has a lady friend in Georgetown. Mike is shaking.
Our main character appears to be "Mike"---a WH communications staffer---who is having some sort of romance with Christy---another staffer. This romance is used to discuss a widespread rumor that the President is cheating on his wife. It's unclear whether this rumor is true.
Chapter 1 opens with a Senator being angry that the President has not briefed Congress about a pending summit with the Russians on Monday.
@charlottegarden.bsky.social asked someone to summarize this book. I am a notorious insomniac. So follow along as I read it until I fall asleep... (Note: I am not saying anything about the current situation or whether such a situation even exists. I am just a sleepless presidency scholar).
HAPPENING NOW: Hello from the media room in DC district court, where Judge Jia Cobb is set to hear argument on Lisa Cook's motion for a temporary restraining order to block her removal from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. I'm here for @lawfaremedia.org. Follow along ⬇️🧵
If you need some pre-Labor Day weekend reading on pocket rescissions (and who doesn't), I have the list for you! You can start with GAO itself, which cuts to the chase with "Are pocket rescissions legal? No." www.gao.gov/blog/what-po...
A century to build the expert civil service, a few months to burn it down for generations
NEW: More than 199,000 federal workers have left their jobs or have been forced out by the Trump admin since Jan. 2025, per a new report. That’s nearly 10% of the entire federal civilian workforce. “We’re seeing the arson of our government." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Sometime in February, I left my office, walked a mile to a grocery store, and ate an entire cheesecake. It's a universal coping strategy.
Today the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc in an important immigration case. Mike Kagan and I had filed an amicus brief urging rehearing. The panel opinion had made a mess of Loper Bright. We did get three judges dissenting, and Judge Bumatay kindly gives our brief a shoutout in his dissent:
You cannot have a rule-bound administrative state without a rule-bound personnel system, exhibit 10 million.
Yeah. There are a handful of agencies that administer their own separate surveys.
VA "leaders will not conduct their annual employee surveys this year, stating that they are confident that the majority of the workforce is happy with the direction of the department." Great but your confidence doesn't satisfy VA's legal obligations. www.federaltimes.com/veterans/202...
I hope we avoid an overcorrection. There is no president that I want to see in a robe.
In just seven short months, the legal infrastructure of the USG has come under such comprehensive attack that the rule of law has disappeared inside the government. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
From @orinkerr.bsky.social, highly recommended for my 1L students, although my 2Ls and 3Ls might also glean insights given the benefit of hindsight.
I filled out the survey. They want you to say that if it costs the government $10-$20 per return you would be less likely to use it. To which I say: (a) It won't cost $10-$20 per return; that's crazy talk; and (b) I would still be more likely to use it. You should be too, especially on the survey
After pushing 26,000 employees out, the Internal Revenue Service is scrambling to find enough personnel to carry out its duties.
Seriously. No author likes those "[Journal] has made a decision concerning your manuscript" emails. But what we hate more is when you reject our pieces (or, what is the same thing, fill up your volume without making a formal decision on our pieces) without even telling us.
The world waits for Yale Law Review to take up the cause of empirical studies of administrative capacity.
NEW VIDEO: "So You're About To Start Law School: An Incoming Law Student's Guide to the First Month" My tips, especially for those first-gen students who don't know a lot of lawyers. Hope students find it useful. youtube.com/watch?v=Ayl3...
"No, this is not about reform. It is about retribution. It is about breaking people and breaking institutions by sowing fear and mistrust throughout our government." A Letter to America’s Discarded Public Servants You all deserved better. By William J. Burns
The criticisms here of the effects on law students are right, but miss the most important piece: hiring on first semester grades hurts first-gen students, students who don't have lawyers in the family, students who take a little longer to adjust to law school, etc. 1/ www.law.com/2025/08/18/h...
Looks like @vrsingh.bsky.social has just joined Bluesky! She's written some fascinating stuff about tax and national security. But my recommendation (unsurprisingly) is her work on space piracy! ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol47/is... Follow!
I just posted Ipse Dixit #827, featuring @billchilds.bsky.social of Bowman and Brooks & Mitchell Hamline Law discussing his new "amusement park law" casebook "Recreation & Risk" from Carolina Academic Press. shows.acast.com/ipse-dixit/e...
This seems awesome.
I'm very excited that this article is now forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review's symposium issue on The APA at 80!
Congratulations Judge!
I try.
It's both a supply and demand problem. You need a supply of expert and experienced individuals willing to serve. You also need elected officials who have sufficient incentives to build. The public wants things to work, but they struggle to trace policy failures to the government in the first place.
Co-signed. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Actually, if you're trying to avoid confounding the relationship between the treatment and the outcome variable, it's important to independently sort both variables in descending order. I find this produces the strongest and most reliable effects as evidenced by a small p-value.
Corporate and business law people: Come work with me! We're especially taking a look at laterals this year.
But how will the editors know that my article is a "big deal"!