Share this page!

Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
Twitter logo
19 Feb, 4 tweets, 2 min read
.@SenSherrodBrown, new chair of the subcommittee that oversees Social Security, calls on Biden to fire Andrew Saul and David Black, whom Trump installed at the Social Security Administration to destroy the agency and hobble its union.

Background here: slate.com/news-and-polit…
In light of the Supreme Court's decision in Seila Law v. CFPB, there is no real doubt that Biden can fire Saul and Black. It's unclear why he is waiting since both officials continue to implement awful Trump policies that undermine Social Security, especially disability benefits.
Meanwhile, Mark Calabria—the Trump-appointed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency—continues to dismantle the government’s conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, subverting the mission of the agency he leads. Biden hasn't fired him either. slate.com/news-and-polit…
So while Biden has ousted some very terrible Trump appointees, several are still leading major federal agencies, and progressives like Sherrod Brown are growing impatient with Trumpists' continued dismantlement of crucial federal programs. slate.com/news-and-polit…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Mark Joseph Stern

Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @mjs_DC

Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
12 Feb
Late last night, BARRETT joined Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor in blocking Willie Smith’s execution on religious freedom grounds, holding that the state may not deny Smith’s request to bring his pastor into the execution chamber. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
There is, however, a mystery here. Barrett, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer voted to block the execution. Thomas voted to allow the execution. So did Kavanaugh and Roberts (dissent below). Who cast the fifth core to block it? We literally do not know. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Although I'm confident that anyone acting in good faith understand this, my intent was to point out that justices are not required to note their votes in "shadow docket" decisions like this one, not to launch a conspiracy that Banquo's ghost cast the fifth vote.
Read 4 tweets
Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
6 Feb
Kagan's dissent last night may be the most scathing of her career. She accused her conservative colleagues of "armchair epidemiology" that may well exacerbate the pandemic and cost human lives. A justice does not level that charge lightly.
slate.com/news-and-polit… @Slate
Equally important:

•The conservatives ignored the heightened standard for emergency relief and issued a merits opinion late on Friday.

•They also radically altered free exercise doctrine, turbocharging exemptions on the basis of "religious liberty."
slate.com/news-and-polit…
Employment Division v. Smith is effectively dead. The five ultraconservative justices have established a new rule that if a law exempts ANY secular business or activity, it MUST exempt churches and religious exercise. This has huge ramifications for claims of "religious liberty."
Read 4 tweets
Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
6 Feb
Kagan:

"I fervently hope that the Court’s intervention will not worsen the Nation’s COVID crisis. But if this decision causes suffering, we will not pay. Our marble halls are now closed to the public, and our life tenure forever insulates us from responsibility for our errors."
Kagan, joined by Sotomayor and Breyer, dissented from the Supreme Court's order tonight lifting COVID restrictions on California churches. It is an extraordinary opinion.

"The Court injects uncertainty into an area where uncertainty has human costs."

supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Gorsuch comes out with another "I know more about COVID than public health officials" opinion, this time castigating California for letting "Hollywood" hold singing competitions while banning indoor church services. Also, COVID restrictions are a tyrannical partisan fraud.
Read 13 tweets
Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
5 Feb
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) appointed Kevin Clarkson (R) as state attorney general. Clarkson resigned due to a sexual misconduct scandal. Dunleavy appointed Ed Sniffen (R) to replace him.

Now Sniffen has resigned due to ... a sexual misconduct scandal. nytimes.com/2021/02/04/us/…
AG Clarkson (R) resigned after sending 558 text messages to a female state employee over 27 days. Many were romantic and sexual. Clarkson is married.

AG Sniffen (R) resigned because he had sex with a 17-year-old student on the mock trial team he coached. nytimes.com/2021/02/04/us/…
Let's review:

•18 Republican state attorneys general asked SCOTUS to overturn the election.
•A Republican state AG group helped organize Trump's Jan. 6 rally.
•Two consecutive Alaska AGs, both Republicans, have resigned within less than six months for sexual misconduct.
Read 4 tweets
Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
4 Feb
!!! Biden fired four of Trump’s awful appointees to @acusgov, an obscure but important agency with a lot of influence over the federal regulatory process. One of them, Roger Severino—Trump’s anti-LGBTQ warrior at HHS—is suing.

Complaint:
assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2047… h/t @ZoeTillman
These are the four people Biden kicked out of @acusgov. They’re all conservative activists, though Severino is the most notorious. He took radical steps to legalize anti-LGBTQ discrimination in health care at HHS, though the courts blocked his signature anti-LGBTQ rule.
Another Trump-appointed council member whom Biden fired from ACUS, Andrew Kloster, infamously tweeted that Asia Argento is “literally trying to suck the life force from men,” condemning her as the “classic satanic ideal.” (Of course Trump put him in the government.)
Read 9 tweets
Mark Joseph Stern Profile picture
3 Feb
Our new median justice, Brett Kavanaugh, casts the fifth vote with Roberts and the liberals in a 5–4 decision about the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974. First time we've seen this split. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
Barrett joins the Supreme Court's hard-core conservatives in her first 5–4 split, siding with Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch to say that the Railroad Retirement Board's refusal to reopen the prior denial of benefits is NOT subject to judicial review. supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf…
But Sotomayor—joined by Roberts, Kavanaugh, Breyer, and Kagan—won this round, holding that the Railroad Retirement Board's refusal to reopen the prior denial of benefits IS subject to judicial review. Let's chalk this up to a liberal victory; there won't be many more, maybe ever!
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @mjs_DC has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @mjs_DC!

Read all threads by @mjs_DC