• DEMOCRACY WATCHUSPS Plays a 'Puzzle Game' With the Right to Vote

    By Molly Roberts

    Months away from elections, a federal judge worries President Trump’s mail-in voting executive order could cause disenfranchisement.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHElection Experts See Few Legal Options for Trump to Meddle with Polling Places

    By Jennifer Shutt

    President Donald Trump has so far declined to rule out sending the National Guard or federal law enforcement officers to polling locations throughout the country, and a few months ago casually and briefly mentioned canceling the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Any such actions would lie outside the bounds of presidential power and the law, according to experts.

  • ICETrump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

    By Megan Rose and Andy Mannix

    A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that Trump officials quashed those plans.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHWhy the Rushed Postal Service Plan for Mail-in Voting has States in a Panic

    By Jacob Fischler

    President Donald Trump’s executive order placing new restrictions on mail-in voting would assign state officials a Herculean task to reach compliance before the crucial midterm elections.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHAn Ideologically Driven Plan to Target Nonprofits?

    By Walter Olson

    Looks like someone has leaked details to the New York Post about a plan led by appointees of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to go after the tax exemptions of major nonprofits perceived as being at ideological odds with the Trump administration. 
     

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHOfficial: USPS Version of Trump Plan Could Paralyze Mail Balloting

    By Walter Olson

    An official with the USPS alleges that the service, despite a temporary restraining order blocking a key provision of President Trump’s executive order on mail voting, has moved forward anyway with a “risky and haphazard” implementation of the order that “could lead to a ‘catastrophic failure’ in the mail ballot system ahead of this year’s midterm elections.”

  • EXTREMISMReport Finds Widespread Antisemitism in U.S. Teachers Unions

    A new report documents alarming levels of anti-Jewish conduct, hostile rhetoric, and institutional failure that Jewish K-12 employees have experienced in teachers unions across the country.The report exposes a systemic pattern of exclusion that is driving Jewish educators to self-censor and many fear backlash for vocalizing concerns.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHCan the Midterms Be 'Stolen' On Jan. 3? It's Complicated.

    By Molly Roberts

    President Trump’s demands in 2020 that Vice President Pence do “the right thing” have prompted speculation that he or his allies will attempt a similar gambit in 2026. Jan. 3 is the day the old Congress ends and the new one begins: Only the swearing-in process still stands between the winners and their seats. This vulnerability lately has filled some commentators and activists with fear. Panic about a ‘rogue clerk’ is likely unwarranted—but it’s worth paying attention.

  • DEMOCRAC WATCHJudge Reinstates Pause on Trump Order Limiting Mail Ballots

    By Jacob Fischler

    A federal judge late Thursday froze for two weeks a Trump administration regulation to restrict mail voting, calling the U.S. Postal Service rule a violation of states’ power to administer elections. “The USPS’s interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote,” the U.S. District Judge said.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHRetooling to Help Democracy Revive

    By Peter Dizikes

    Deindustrialization didn’t only hurt some workers — this economic realignment has had deep civic consequences: A stranded working class has become more alienated from the institutions and ideas traditionally buttressing democracy. In a new book, Daron Acemoglu says that the shrinking of the coalition supporting democracy, and the cultural politics following suit, pose a challenge to democracy that can only be effectively addressed by finding ways to expand the democracy-supporting coalition.

  • ISLAM & THE WESTSharia, Freedom, and the American Way of Life: A Response to Daniel Brubaker

    By Mustafa Akyol

    Sharia alarmists see the illiberal elements in Islamic law as a reason to outlaw all of it — in fact, they call for outlawing not just Islamic law, but more categorically “today’s Islam,” as incompatible with American liberty. But this reasoning could be turned against nearly any group. Reformist arguments have not yet won the day in Islam, but they are being seriously discussed among Muslims around the world. If they eventually do prevail, it will be in part because more Muslims come to see freedom as a noble and genuine ideal worth embracing. And that, in turn, will be possible only if freedom is understood to mean not only freedom from Islam, but freedom of Islam as well.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHRelax. The Supreme Court’s Election Order Isn’t What the Internet Says It Is.

    By Stephen Richer

    The president does not have the authority to unilaterally change election law. That’s still true. The Supreme Court’s order from yesterday does not change that analysis. Instead, it simply asks, “Did the plaintiffs sue too quickly?” The majority answered yes—and they make a compelling argument.

  • GUNSThe Justice Department Lets 90-Year-Old Regulations on Silencers Fade Away

    By Chip Brownlee

    The Trump administration let a judge block longstanding registration requirements on silencers and short-barreled guns like sawed-off shotguns. But the new legal landscape is murky.

  • DEMOCRACYU WATCHRight-Leaning Canadians Are Losing Trust in Canada’s Electoral Process: Study

    The notable drop of trust in the electoral process among right-leaning Canadians has been driven by false allegations of election fraud in the United States which have circulated extensively online. Individuals who receive political information from alternative-right media tend to have lower trust in election integrity than do those who rely more on legacy media.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHNo more “Hypothetical Situations”: States Move to Fortify Elections Against Trump

    By Kevin Hardy

    Locals are preparing for chaos at the polls this November, as President Donald Trump casts doubt on election integrity and pushes for more federal involvement in local voting. Trump may seek to interfere with the midterms, helped by the fact that Trump-supporting election deniers now hold power in at least 25 state and local governments.