Rep. Scott Perry (PA) proposed an amendment to eliminate the Peace Corps entire $410.5 million budget(!!) Tell your rep to vote against amendment #137 on HR8595 rn!
Christine Farley
@christinefarley.bsky.social
Law professor in DC. IP, tech law, contracts, art law, & advertising law. wcl.american.edu/faculty/farley
My favorite member of Congress, @raskin.house.gov, is absolutely correct that the USPTO can't apply for a mark an behalf on another entity. It can't apply "pro tempore." And Rep. Raskin's questioning of Director Squires revealed the USPTO hasn't any bona fide intent to use BOARD OF PEACE as a mark.
Bloomberg Law
news.bloomberglaw.com
Want to know what exactly Trump is doing to our national landmarks & what legal constraints exist? I highly recommend this video from our 90 minute webinar with experts on the various laws and processes, updates on the litigation and destruction, & some great photos! www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUxG...
Washington's Cultural Landscape: The White House, Kennedy Center, and Building Memorials
YouTube video by pijipvideo
youtube.com
Always a gift when Alex Roberts is in the audience!
alex roberts @lexlanham.bsky.social · 5mo agomargo bagley & christine haight farley: "when procedure becomes policy: the hidden substantive effects of the design law treaty" is international design law a thing? WIPO has adopted two new treaties, so it might be a thing now! GRATK & RDLT
Beautiful day in DC for a peaceful protest against tyranny
“In a few weeks’ time—when we turn to our regular docket—we will decide cases of far less import with far more process and reflection.” If I have reason to refer to any case this term I will introduce it with this quote from Kagan’s dissent in yesterday’s emergency stay in DOS v. AIDS Vaccine
bit of good news to report: Pam Bondi's brother lost the election to be President of the DC Bar in a landslide. Brad Bondi got only 3,490 votes (who are these people?) while Diane Seltzer (@whatajlp.bsky.social) earned 34,982 votes! Congratulations Diane!
Lee: Would say it would be “illegal DEI” for a lesson plan on the Tulsa race massacre? McMahon: I’d have to get back to you Lee: Do you know what the Tulsa race massacre is? McMahon: I’d like to look into it more and get back to you on it.
President Trump’s just-released budget would eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corporation, putting at risk essential legal protections for veterans, seniors and children across the country. Learn what’s at stake and how you can help protect access to justice: www.lsc.gov/act #LSCMatters
BREAKING: Texas Republicans just passed a major book banning bill. They say it’s about protecting kids from “filth.” But when I questioned the bill author, he admitted that it could ban classics like Romeo and Juliet, Catcher in the Rye, and Lonesome Dove.
The government is surveilling US senators and the phone companies are illegally failing to report it www.politico.com/live-updates...
Phone companies failed to warn senators about surveillance, Wyden says
Government surveillance of lawmakers, though legal, raises concerns that members of Congress cannot effectively legislate when they are being spied on.
politico.com
Around D.C., the new going rate is well-known: $5 million for a one-on-one dinner with Trump, but gov-affairs execs have “no clue where the money is eventually going,” one said. Another told me it’s “outer-borough Mafia sh*t.” My new piece is out @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Donald Trump’s Politics of Plunder
The greed of the new Administration has galvanized America’s aspiring oligarchs—and their opponents.
newyorker.com
After breaking into the US Institute of Peace (USIP) Monday, DOGE members immediately got to work taking down signs to erase the independent agency. Photos taken yesterday shared directly with me:
Trump pardon attorney taking “hard look” at defendants convicted of plotting to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. The effort to rewrite history and normalize political violence continues. www.detroitnews.com/story/news/p...
U.S. Justice Department pardon lawyer pledges 'hard look' at plot to kidnap Michigan governor
The U.S. Justice Department’s new pardon attorney says he is going to take a “hard look” at two men who are in prison for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
detroitnews.com
The Hungarian government is about to pass a law that will allow it to destroy the tiny online outlets that represent the last vestiges of independent Hungarian press 444.hu/2025/05/22/v...
Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on free press does not only affect Hungary. It affects all of Europe
The so-called “Transparency Law”, currently pending approval, significantly undermines freedom of expression in Hungary — and its impacts are unlikely stop at the country’s borders.
444.hu
Not just student data. DOJ apparently requested any email or text where faculty or staff discussed the Trump DEI EOs -- something that would target lots of pure political speech.
Timothy McBride@mcbridetd.bsky.social · last yr.Trump Seeks Excessive Student Data in Pressure Campaign to Control Harvard www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/u...
hypo: EO says “soldiers will be quartered in private homes.” Courts uniformly find 3rd Am violation & gov’t never appeals. W/o nationwide injunction any non plaintiff might still get quartered soldiers until everyone sues?
Quote skeet with a picture of the airplane you'll accept as bribe
Anil Kalhan@akalhan.bsky.social · last yr.Quote skeet with a picture of the airplane you'll accept as bribe
Three U.S. citizens, ages 2, 4 and 7, swiftly deported from Louisiana www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Three U.S. citizens, ages 2, 4 and 7, swiftly deported from Louisiana
The cases have renewed concerns that the Trump administration’s expedited deportations are violating the rights of both citizens and noncitizens.
washingtonpost.com
NEW: DeSantis directed the University of Florida to cancel a nearly-complete search for its next dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — because the governor believed the finalists were not in alignment with the state's opposition to DEI
U. of Florida Calls Off Dean Search After DeSantis Intervenes
A spokesperson said the governor’s office stepped in after a right-wing group posted videos of the finalists on social media and claimed they were “radical progressives with disdain for Florida’s DEI ...
chronicle.com
In Alcon Entm't v. Tesla, producers of Blade Runner 2049 sued Musk for copyright & trademark infringement for his AI-generated cybercab promotions. This quote made it into the district court's tentative ruling:
Scoop: DOGE officials met with leadership at the National Gallery of Art this week to discuss the museum's legal status www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
DOGE Visits National Gallery of Art to Discuss Museum’s Legal Status
The move is the latest from Elon Musk’s unofficial cost-cutting agency to exert influence beyond traditional federal agencies.
bloomberg.com
1st: are there no adults in the GA GOP? 2nd: tax payer dollars can pay people to doctor photos for a joke, but not cure cancer?
Mike Nellis@mikenellis.bsky.social · last yr.Trump’s approval on immigration is negative for the first time in basically ever, and this is how these clowns are responding. They’re desperate.
Everyone needs to understand what Elon and DOGE are building, an AI driven panopticon that will know everything about you and will be used to ensure compliance with their fascist agenda. They are creating a unified database of everything the federal government has on every single American. 🧵1/