Walter Olson

Walter Olson

@walterolson.bsky.social

Writer on law etc.; Cato Institute. Election law, Maryland civic stuff, cooking. Blogged at Overlawyered back when. No kings, no tyrants.

28.5K followers1.3K following7.9K posts

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

Thomas Phillips, a notable figure in the Texas Republican establishment, backs an Alaska-style universal primary followed by #RCV general, easier ballot access for independent and third party candidates, and gerrymandering reform.

NYU Law Democracy Project@democracyproject.bsky.social

🚨Elections 2026: New by Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas Thomas R. Phillips — “Three Structural Reforms” We publish essays on potential threats to the 2026 election process & mechanisms to manage them Read here: democracyproject.org/posts/three-...

democracyproject.orgThree Structural ReformsA broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

Walter Olson reposted

Paul Graf
@paulginva.bsky.social

Utah is my adopted home state — the state in which I spent most of my working life — and one thing I learned early on was to never underestimate the power of the state's women particularly its Mormon women. If they're on your side, they'll move mountains for you, if they're on the other side,

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

Grit, determination, and personal courage: wish there were more Republicans like Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. (Bonus appearance by my Cato colleague Stephen Richer.)

Barton Gellman@bartongellman.bsky.social

“I’m actually not terribly concerned about being prosecuted,” Lt Gov Deidre Henderson told me. “It gives me a little bit of hope when they start escalating like this. Because they’re getting a little desperate. Their attempts aren’t working.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

newyorker.comThe State Officials Defending the Midterms from the PresidentDonald Trump has tried to purge voter rolls nationwide. Deidre Henderson, the Republican lieutenant governor of Utah, is among the chief election officers standing in his way.

Walter Olson reposted

Norm Eisen
@normeisen.bsky.social

BREAKING: 174 bipartisan former judges are calling on the 8th Circuit to toss DOJ’s misconduct complaint against the Minnesota judges DOJ wants them investigated & some barred from DHS cases, all for saying ICE violated 210 court orders @democracydefendersfund.org is proud to stand w/ them👇 -TN

Walter Olson reposted

Cato Institute
@cato.org

The Trump administration now holds equity stakes in 40 private companies. And politicians on both sides of the aisle are planning to build on the precedent. Cato's Tad DeHaven explains why this is a bipartisan threat to free enterprise. #CatoRFE https://ow.ly/ZBNI51015Gl

Walter Olson reposted

Nicholas Grossman
@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

Replying to @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

Hungary's recent election was less free and more unfair than the upcoming US midterms, and pro-democracy forces still won. Similar point about Serbia's election this weekend. In normal democracy terms, America is in bad shape. But in consolidated authoritarianism terms, we're looking pretty good.

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

And more on the California and Alaska disputes, this time from @justinlevitt.bsky.social: Congress never gave DOJ the power to sue in these cases, nor does the Constitution, and an attempt to craft some sort of implied public right of action will fail as well.

electionlawblog.orgThe Lack of Any Cause of Action Alone Should Doom DOJ's Lawsuits in Both Alaska and California: DOJ Needs Actual Statutory Authority to Sue #ELBJustin here. Rick has already described why the DOJ’s latest buckets of nonsense in both Alaska and California should fail based on the major questions doctrine, and in California based on timing issu...

Walter Olson reposted

Steve Vladeck
@stevevladeck.bsky.social

“The Department of Justice is putting its formidable thumb on next week’s elections in a way that seems clearly intended to call into question the legitimacy of any result that is especially unfavorable to Republicans—before those results have even come in.” Me on DOJ’s California and Alaska suits:

stevevladeck.com259. DOJ’s Preemptive Election InterferenceThe Trump administration's California and Alaska suits are losers. But it’ll be hard to remedy the distrust in election results they seem intended to sow.

Walter Olson reposted

Atticus Finch (of Georgia)
@atticus59914029.bsky.social

Let us hope this isn’t a glimpse of our near future.

The Associated Press@apnews.com

Flávio Bolsonaro calls for Brazil's election results to be "annulled" after a loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

bit.lyBolsonaro calls for Brazil election results to be ‘annulled’ after loss to LulaFlavio Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who bested him by nearly 4.4 million votes Sunday, following a chaotic delay in poll closing times ordered by a Supreme Court justice.

Walter Olson reposted

Cato Institute
@cato.org

The DOJ's lawsuit to prevent certification of Alaska's Senate winner "is abusive in its intentions and borders on frivolous in its arguments, and it is destined for defeat in the courts should it reach the merits," says Cato's Walter Olson. https://ow.ly/KeU65100LM6

Walter Olson reposted

Cathy Gellis
@cathygellis.bsky.social

(This actually isn't good, and Brazil has already had some extremely illiberal laws applying to Internet platforms. But there are probably some institutional judicial reforms that could help.)

Rafa Sales Ross@rafiews.com

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

What Trump wants out of judges: "By then, Donoso Stevens said, another supervisor had already ordered her to reverse four rulings at the direction of unidentified 'higher-ups,' a violation of judicial authority she once considered inconceivable. The interference, she said, had only escalated since."

Frank Amari @frankamari.bsky.social

Trump’s DOJ told a judge how to rule. Then it pulled her from court. Karen Donoso Stevens offers a rare firsthand look at the administration's campaign to transform the immigration court system. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...

washingtonpost.comTrump’s DOJ told a judge how to rule. Then it pulled her from court.Karen Donoso Stevens offers a rare firsthand look at the administration’s campaign to rewrite the rules of the immigration court system.
Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

Let's face it, Trump wants to be able to handle other kinds of judges this way too. But this story is about immigration judges, who are administrative adjudicators and not a part of the Article III judiciary.

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

List of suspected noncitizens DOJ sent California and L.A. was ridiculously sloppy, an "unsubstantiated jumble." An official says the Trump crew's demands appear "largely performative." It's meant to lay the groundwork for accusing California of fraud, followed by... what, exactly?

nytimes.comCalifornia Says D.O.J. System for Identifying Noncitizens Is SloppyState and local officials said that they received thousands of names lacking key identifying information, and that many of the names were paired with addresses over which they had no jurisdiction.
Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

Update on DOJ letters menacing counties: "In Mendocino County, a rugged stretch on the north coast, the registrar said the list she received was completely wrong. “It’s not our voters that were listed,” said Katrina Bartolomie, the Mendocino clerk-recorder. “It’s from another county.”

nytimes.comJustice Dept. Demands That California Counties Help Identify Noncitizen VotersElection officials across the state received letters from the agency saying if they fail to comply, they “risk significant federal scrutiny.”

Walter Olson reposted

Scott Lincicome
@scottlincicome.bsky.social

Trade policy?? LOL. Of course.

Jeff Stein@jeffstein.bsky.social

Scoop: White House lawyers are weighing preemptive mass pardons for junior staff, sources says Under discussion: Pardoning everyone involved in deportation, war, or trade policy www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/w...

washingtonsun.comWhite House Is Weighing Mass Pardons for Junior StaffConservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.

Walter Olson reposted

Jon Collins
@jcollins.bsky.social

Replying to @atrupar.com

I was just looking at these Census stats. Workforce participation among Somali-American adults in Minnesota is actually higher than the rest of the population.

Walter Olson reposted

Holly Brewer
@earlymodjustice.bsky.social

Replying to @earlymodjustice.bsky.social

The pardon power is turning out to be as bad as some members of the Constitutional Convention worried it might be. If you read the Virginia ratifying convention debates— This *!* is why George Mason (a member of the CC) refused to sign the Constitution.

Walter Olson reposted

Holly Brewer
@earlymodjustice.bsky.social

“Several conservative organizations …— including the Heritage Foundation and American Moment — have pressed White House counsel to either prepare pardons or put in place funding for the legal fees necessary to defend junior staffers from criminal and congressional probes or potential lawsuits.”

washingtonsun.comWhite House Is Weighing Mass Pardons for Junior StaffConservative groups influential with the Trump administration have pressed for the preemptive acts of clemency.
Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

ProPublica: "A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it," and turn over the findings to the White House.

View full thread
Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

"The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference. “'My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,' one of the former officials said. 'This goes against everything CISA represents.'"

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

And this is good: "The CISA employees repeatedly told the political appointees that their request was impossible, in part because the agents capable of pulling off such an operation had just been laid off by Elon Musk’s [DOGE initiative]. The appointees eventually stopped pressing CISA."

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

ProPublica: "A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it," and turn over the findings to the White House.

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

"The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials. CISA typically worked to thwart hackers. Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices."

propublica.orgTrump Appointees Asked a Federal Cybersecurity Agency to Secretly Acquire a Voting Machine — and Hack ItThough not acted on, the request shows how the Trump administration has tried to use the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for its own ends while draining it of resources to help its mi...
Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

If you're in Maryland, please vote AGAINST Question 3 and say no to the legislature's districting power grab. Not many years ago we were notorious for having the nation's worst House gerrymander. Let's not go back.

Walter Olson
@walterolson.bsky.social

If the girl’s family lived in one of six other circuits, they could recover from their local government under Section 1983. "But because they live in the Seventh Circuit, they cannot." Cato, joined by other groups, files amicus brief asking SCOTUS to reverse Betts v. Boone County [Matthew Cavedon]

cato.orgBetts v. Boone County Brief: Coroner Trophy-Skull Case Merits Supreme Court ReviewCato, assisted by the University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and joined by the Due Process Institute, Public Accountability, and the Rutherford Institute, filed an amicus...