James Goodwin

@jamesgoodwin.bsky.social

12K followers 700 following 24K posts

I'm Policy Director at @progressivereform.bsky.social where I specialize in federal regulatory policy. When not analyzing federal regulatory policy, I enjoy silent film, soccer, and running.

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James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · Aug 18

Great framing of one the major challenges confronting the Left's broader reconstruction effort. The way I've been thinking about bridging the gap is by focusing on the problem of power disparities. I applied this framework to the issue of regulatory public participation. fas.org/publication/...

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

Incidentally, this may be a rare point of agreement between me and the Abundance movement.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

Anyway, when I call for ending cost-benefit analysis, it's as much about its deleterious effects on individual policies as it is about agency culture. When we're rebuilding the administrative state, we can't have agencies looking at the world through cost-benefit analysis glasses.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

Agencies became so fixated on avoiding unintended consequences they lost track of the intended ones. The result was self-censorship, fear of initiative and ambition, delays, and overall dysfunction. Some caution is obviously good. But there are probably better ways of promoting a healthy amount.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

I'm not an expert on organizational psychology, but my guess is that increasingly hegemonic status of cost-benefit analysis within most agencies fundamentally reshaped their internal culture. No doubt that was one of the points.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

"Another, contrasting challenge will be to avoid over-elaboration: Policymakers face incentives to try to anticipate and meet every possible objection to their activity." This is another one of my objections to cost-benefit analysis. www.theregreview.org/2026/09/17/g...

The Political Context of Rebuilding the Federal Regulatory Infrastructure | The Regulatory Review

Politics will inevitably shape how U.S. regulatory agencies can be restructured for better performance in the future.

www.theregreview.org

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 2h

"A federal statute is the best interpretation of the Constitution our system produces, not because Congress is infallible but because Congress’s interpretation is the one the people can democratically change."
What is so hard about that?
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/18/o...

The Constitution belongs to ‘We the People,’ not nine justices - The Boston Globe

The Supreme Court was never meant to have the last word on self-government.

www.bostonglobe.com

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

And AI isn't represented by unions subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

POLITICO Pro: Union wins decision against EPA’s discipline for dissent letter

An arbitrator ordered the agency to wipe employees’ records clean and award them back pay. EPA says it doesn’t have to follow the ruling.

subscriber.politicopro.com

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

Along each of these dimensions, AI is in fact worse than contractors.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

Unlike career civil service, AI can't swear an oath to the Constitution. It can't speak truth to power or blow the whistle. It's not subject to professional ethics. It doesn't have to look at itself in the mirror.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

We've only begun to grasp the threat to our democracy of outsourcing government functions. The make-or-buy analysis is woefully myopic in the government context. Instead of learning that lesson, though. We may start to make it worse by outsourcing to AI.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

One of the reasons Trump is doubling down on AI is it has become essential to his administration's campaign to weaponize the administrative state.
www.csmonitor.com/Environment/...

The EPA may deploy AI to regulate toxic chemicals. It’s not telling the public.

Federal law requires U.S. government agencies to disclose how they’re using AI tools in their work. But in the case of the EPA, this doesn’t appear to be…

www.csmonitor.com

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

If Project 2025 were written today, AI would probably be more prominent.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 3h

Anyway, another reason to not get too bogged down in the specifics of Project 2025 these days. That was published more than 3 years ago. The world looked very different than. The potential of AI hadn't been fully appreciated yet.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

Not that these guys actually care about saving money, AI is probably cheaper, too.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

AI also has the advantage of being susceptible to bias and sycophancy. And it does all this while being completely opaque. Making oversight and accountability nearly impossible.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

But what the Trump administration is learning is outsourcing these government functions to AI is even better. Let's face it, the people they would bring in are too incompetent to do a lot of this shit.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

So they needed to rebuild at least those parts of the administrative state. That's why Project 2025 called hiring in a bunch of sycophants. And there will still be some of that.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

DOGE and Project 2025 envisioned firing broad swaths of the career civil service as part of the plan to deconstruct the administrative state. But still there were plenty of stuff agencies do that industry does like. Such as quickly approving new chemicals and pesticides.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

One of the reasons Trump is doubling down on AI is it has become essential to his administration's campaign to weaponize the administrative state.
www.csmonitor.com/Environment/...

The EPA may deploy AI to regulate toxic chemicals. It’s not telling the public.

Federal law requires U.S. government agencies to disclose how they’re using AI tools in their work. But in the case of the EPA, this doesn’t appear to be…

www.csmonitor.com

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

Pretty much the only notable person who went to my high school. What a complete dweeb.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

Useful stuff? On Al Gore's internet?

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

bsky.app/profile/jose...

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 4h

he’s really losing it with the AI stuff

Donald J. Trump
@reaDonald Trump
Many people think that the words "Artificial Intelligence" are inaccurate, and very ineloquent, relative to Al, or Artificial Intelligence. A far more elegant and accurate description of this new phenomena would be Superior Intelligence (SI) or, Extreme Intelligence (El) or, Supreme Intelligence (SI). This is a Poll, and I would appreciate everybody voting! Which is the best name for this ever growing "Revolution?"
President DONALD J. TRUMP
Superior Intelligence (SI)
Extreme Intelligence (El)
Supreme Intelligence (SI)
O votes • 2 days remaining
O ReTruths
o Likes
9/19/26, 11:29 AM

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 4h

Functional stores with human customer service?

Reposted by Albert Weale, Alan Richardson, James Goodwin , and 1 more Albert Weale, Alan Richardson, James Goodwin, Aviel Roshwald

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 4h

he’s really losing it with the AI stuff

Reposted by James Goodwin

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 4h

Arguably Leonard Leo has been the most successful convertor of money to political outcomes in recent decades. He also is unethical and a bit corrupt, and seems to bet mostly on ideological allies and I doubt asks for metrics on ROI.
www.propublica.org/article/we-d...

We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority

The inside story of how Leonard Leo built a machine that remade the American legal system — and what he plans to do next.

www.propublica.org

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 5h

I mean like Minority Report? Bless their hearts.

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 5h

The problem with dystopian films from like 20 years ago is they all come across as too optimistic

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 5h

We all see his social media feed and his public statements to the press. Not exactly what anyone describe as "sober."

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 5h

@bencollins.bsky.social?

Michelangelo Signorile @msignorile.bsky.social · 7h

More sane-washing of Trump by unnamed advisors via an accommodating Wash Post.

“‘He definitely feels like some of his decisions have led to the dynamics where he’s unpopular and things aren’t looking great for the midterms,’ one of the people said.”

LOL.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump is sober about the midterm prospects for Republicans, advisers say

In private, President Trump has been hearing blunt news from advisers about the GOP's poor chances in the midterms and has accepted that some of the problem is of his making.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by James Goodwin

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 6h

Last night: The mighty White House Correspondents Association declares that it “stands in defense of our colleagues.”

This morning: Trump administration refuses entry to MS Now crew, confiscates their White House access badges.

The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a “ban on the free press.”

The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.

This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office.

The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs.

- Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA President

Reposted by Anna O. Law, James Goodwin, Brian Keegan

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 6h

Maybe Trump and Republicans can work out a compromise, count immigrants as three-fifths of a full person or something

Trump’s Census Proposal to Exclude Some Immigrants Could Cut Seats From Red States

A Trump administration proposal to block some immigrants from the 2030 census could shift congressional seats away from Republican states, a New York Times analysis found.

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