Matt Bruenig, People's Policy Project Journalist Profile

Articles

Will Trump’s Attorney General Override the NLRB?

1 week ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

On April 3, 2025, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), an anti-union trade association, sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter urging her to invalidate fifteen National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cases that were decided during the Biden administration. It is common for the NLRB to reverse some of its precedent whenever control of the presidency changes from one party to the other.
Will Trump’s Attorney General Override the NLRB?

1 week ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

On April 3, 2025, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), an anti-union trade association, sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter urging her to invalidate fifteen National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cases that were decided during the Biden administration. It is common for the NLRB to reverse some of its precedent whenever control of the presidency changes from one party to the other.
The Fertility Question

1 week ago | mattbruenig.com | Matt Bruenig

Societies have grappled with concerns over low or declining fertility since as far back as Ancient Rome. More recently, these concerns have been discussed most intensely in places like Japan, which has had sub-replacement fertility since the 1970s, South Korea, which has the lowest fertility in the world, and in parts of Europe where fertility has been declining since 2010.
Young Men Are Not Lazily Opting Out of Work

1 week ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

The message has apparently gone out among conservatives to start focusing on out-of-work young men in order to make cuts to Medicaid (Allysia Finley, Mike Johnson), with the idea being that if we make it so that these men cannot see the doctor when they get sick, this will cause them to become employed. On its face, this seems implausible. After all, man cannot live on doctor visits alone.
I Have Filed Another Unfair Labor Practice Charge Against Bryan Johnson

3 weeks ago | nlrbedge.com | Matt Bruenig

On March 21, Kirsten Grind published a piece at the New York Times about Bryan Johnson’s use of confidentiality rules to restrict what his current and former employees can say about Johnson and the companies he runs. Three of my clients participated in the story and thereby concertedly publicized their working conditions in a way that is protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).
What the “Abundance Agenda” Leaves Out

1 month ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

I spent the last few days digesting Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson and then reading twelve recent pieces commenting on the book, with the goal of getting a handle on this particular area of discourse and trying to determine what exactly to make of it all. The main policy argument of Abundance is that the administrative burdens placed on construction are too high. This argument is familiar to anyone who has followed debates about housing policy over the last decade.
Bryan Johnson's Misrepresentations About Taryn Southern

1 month ago | nlrbedge.com | Matt Bruenig

The New York Times published a piece today about the way that Bryan Johnson uses confidentiality agreements to prevent workers from speaking out about his employment and other practices.
How Many Americans Really Live Paycheck to Paycheck?

1 month ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

Bernie Sanders is a big fan of citing troubling economic statistics. One of the figures that he features in his rotation is that 60 percent of Americans live “paycheck to paycheck.” This number consistently irritates certain wonks and so I’ve decided to do a deep dive into the controversy to see what I can make of it. In short, I’ve found that the phrase “paycheck to paycheck” is not consistently defined and that efforts to debunk the claim rely upon data that don’t convincingly do so.
How Many Americans Really Live Paycheck to Paycheck?

1 month ago | jacobin.com | Matt Bruenig

Bernie Sanders is a big fan of citing troubling economic statistics. One of the figures that he features in his rotation is that 60 percent of Americans live “paycheck to paycheck.” This number consistently irritates certain wonks and so I’ve decided to do a deep dive into the controversy to see what I can make of it. In short, I’ve found that the phrase “paycheck to paycheck” is not consistently defined and that efforts to debunk the claim rely upon data that don’t convincingly do so.
NLRB Resumes Issuing Decisions After Return of Member Gwynne Wilcox

1 month ago | nlrbedge.com | Matt Bruenig

As detailed in my Timeline of Notable NLRB Events During Trump's Second Term, President Trump fired Board Member Gwynne Wilcox on January 28. On March 6, the DC District Court ruled that the termination violated the NLRA’s requirement that Board members not be fired for any reason other than neglect of duty or malfeasance and reinstated Wilcox to her former position.