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Category Archives: Legal Research

2024/2025 End of Term Web Archive

Internet Archives Blog: “Every four years since 2004-before and after the U.S. presidential election-the Internet Archive works with libraries and research organizations to preserve U.S. government websites during administration changes. These “End of Term” (EOT) Web Archive projects have documented transitions and preserved the record of administrative changes over time. The ongoing 2024/2025 EOT crawl… Continue Reading

A Primer on Reductions in Force

LawFare – Trump seeks to reduce the size of the federal workforce using a complicated and arcane process. “…In an executive order titled “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative,” Trump outlined two additional mechanisms by which he will seek to reduce federal employment. The order is sweeping, and its definition of… Continue Reading

DOGE Was Just Rehearsing for Much-Larger-Scale Federal Layoffs

New York – The Intelligencer: “Federal employees and those who depend on the benefits and services they provide have been in shock from the moment the new Trump administration unleashed Elon Musk’s shadowy DOGE operatives to conduct guerrilla warfare on the “deep state.” Chaos and unpredictability have been the hallmarks of the DOGE reign of… Continue Reading

FCC’s Knives Are Out for First Amendment

Fairness & Accurately in Reporting (FAIR): Brendan Carr, newly appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, is waging a war on the news media, perhaps the most dangerous front in de jure President Donald Trump and de facto President Elon Musk’s quest to destroy freedom of the press and the First Amendment. Trump’s FCC has… Continue Reading

The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE

“The New York Times [no paywall] identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies. Few members have formal Washington experience. Many are software engineers. All seem to have a clear mandate: Shrink and disrupt the federal… Continue Reading

Building a Trump-Proof Tech Stack Without Big Tech

Joan Westenberg – Here’s What I’m Using [this is a long comprehensive read, and very useful especially for researchers, librarians, government, academics, journalists]: “…Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and other tech companies operating on American soil can talk a big game about their sovereignty, independence, and encryption. But talk may be all it is; there can… Continue Reading

Inside the Collapse at the NIH

The Atlantic [no paywall]: “…Without the ability to issue research grants, the NIH effectively had its gas line cut. The agency employs thousands of in-house scientists, but a good 80 to 85 percent of its $47 billion budget funds outside research. Each year, researchers across the country submit grant proposals that panels of experts scrutinize… Continue Reading

Your face could be in this database. How will it be used?

Thaddeus Johnson, a former police officer, is a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and teaches criminology at Georgia State University. Natasha Johnson is a faculty member at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State. No Paywall: “Imagine strolling down a crowded sidewalk when police officers stop a man. In… Continue Reading

OPM memo orders larger reduction in staff

FedScoop: “Federal agencies are directed to submit reductions in force and reorganization plans by March 13, setting the stage for more workforce terminations. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management sent Wednesday [February 25, 2025] tells agency heads that their plans to reduce the workforce and reorganize departments are required to comply with the… Continue Reading

Speak Up Before VA Health Care Is Gutted

Military.com: “While controversy swirls around last week’s mass firing of 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs’ employees, a far greater threat to veterans’ health care is going completely unnoticed. Powerful leaders in Congress have quietly unveiled their plan to gut VA-delivered care, wrapped in the misleadingly titled “Veterans’ ACCESS Act.” If veterans don’t act fast, they… Continue Reading

“We Are in a Constitutional Crisis”

Statement of Law Professors and Law Teachers – American Constitution Society: “The undersigned are professors and teachers of law, dedicated to the rule of law. We believe we are in a constitutional crisis. The President has signed a number of executive orders that are beyond his constitutional or statutory authority. The President cannot change who… Continue Reading