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PODCAST

The Briefing with Michael Waldman

Brennan Center for Justice

Every week, Brennan Center president Michael Waldman interviews the leaders, thinkers, and activists who are changing American democracy.

news politics

All Episodes

01:00:44

Troops in American Cities

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/11/17

Our military is trained to defeat enemies, not to police American citizens. President Trump’s troop deployments in Los Angeles, DC, Chicago, Portland, Memphis, and potentially other cities pose real threats to civil liberties and the rule of law. During the Constitutional Convention, James Madison warned, “The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.” Experts discuss the legality of Trump’s actions, the ongoing lawsuits to stop them, and ways to

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00:36:23

Keeping a Democracy (with Joyce Vance)

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/11/07

From everyday instances of corruption to an administration intent on undermining the Constitution, it can feel as though American democracy is in decline. Yet amid the attacks on the rule of law and strains on our system of checks and balances, there are ways that we can engage, participate, and work together to defend and uphold our democratic institutions. Listen as legal expert and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance discusses her new book, Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a

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01:00:53

The Power of the Purse

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/11/03

Congress has the power of the purse, not the president. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to decide how much the federal government spends and for what purposes. While presidents and Congress have always engaged in a push-and-pull over funding, President Trump has taken unprecedented steps to ignore this constitutional framework and impose his own spending priorities. Experts break down these efforts, the lawsuits challenging them, and the impact of these actions on Americans’ daily

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00:42:36

Justice Weaponized

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/10/28

President Trump has done away with the Justice Department’s historic independence, firing career prosecutors and using the department to pursue his political enemies. Former DOJ leaders under Republican and Democratic administrations break down what is happening inside the department and what can be done about its weaponization.Speakers:Peter Keisler, Former Acting Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Former Associate Attorney General Host: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan CenterRecorded on October 24,

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00:59:46

Paying for Power

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/10/16

We are living in a new era of corruption, one that combines personal self-dealing and vast funds pouring into the political process. Whether it’s the crypto industry dominating Congress, the world’s wealthiest man bankrolling the winning presidential campaign, regulatory decisions used to pressure businesses, or the government quashing the bribery investigation of a top official, public power and private gain are fusing into one. Experts lay out a plan to end the culture of

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00:43:09

Supreme Court Preview

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/10/07

This year’s Supreme Court term will be a historic one for the future of presidential power and our system of checks and balances. The Court has steadily chipped away at protections designed to make American democracy fairer, more inclusive, and more representative. In the 2025–26 term, the justices will hear a set of cases that could accelerate that troublesome trend and produce landmark decisions. One case implicates how the Voting Rights Act ensures fair representation in state legislatures. Yet

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00:52:30

The Campaign to Undermine the Midterms

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/09/25

The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections, and the president has virtually no role in the process. Yet President Trump ignored this fact and issued an executive order in March that aims to overhaul the nation’s election systems. His administration is dismantling a federal agency responsible for protecting election security. And it has targeted and threatened election officials and others who keep elections free and fair, while supporting those who undermine elections,

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00:47:13

The Next Phase of the Fight

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/09/09

Challenges to democracy intensified over the summer. The National Guard deployed in California. The Supreme Court ruled on presidential power using the shadow docket. In Texas, an egregious gerrymander has set off a partisan war nationally. Now the fall will mark the next phase of the fight for the Constitution. Will the rule of law hold? How will the 2026 election unfold?Brennan Center experts discuss some of the biggest news stories of the past three months and explore what will come next in the

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00:33:39

The Past, Present, and Future of the Voting Rights Act

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/08/26

In 1965, a nonviolent voting rights march in Alabama culminated in a brutal televised brutal attack by state police. The public outrage that followed prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act, a law meant to dismantle racially discriminatory barriers to voting. Since then, this landmark civil rights law has faced continued attacks. The Supreme Court has weakened its protections, most notably in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder. And just this summer, a lower court ruling in Turtle Mountain

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00:34:34

Outbreak Behind Bars

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/08/20

In his new book Outbreak Behind Bars: Spider Bites, Human Rights, and the Unseen Danger to Public Health, physician and epidemiologist Dr. Homer Venters reveals the grave reality of how infections and diseases spread in correctional facilities, which are often overcrowded and unsanitary. Detailing first-hand accounts of the spread of tuberculosis, MRSA, and other infections, he shines a light on the critical need to improve health care behind bars. Venters was the chief medical officer of the New

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00:54:34

The Rise of the Imperial Presidency

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/08/12

The executive branch has amassed tremendous power, challenging the constitutional balance among branches of government. This year alone, the president has ignored the laws passed by Congress to fire leaders of independent agencies without cause, freeze the spending of appropriated funds, and deploy the military as a domestic police force.Supporters of vast presidential power have a name for this: the unitary executive. It’s the idea that the Constitution gives the president full personal control

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00:47:32

The Trouble Between Trump and the States on Education...

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/07/29

President Trump has ordered cuts to the Department of Education and federal education funding. The brunt of these cuts will likely fall on low-income communities. The president is also demanding changes to school services and curricula, including the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. State courts and constitutions stand in the president’s way. States are required by their constitutions to provide a public education, and many must meet certain standards, teach certain

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00:50:45

The Constitutional Obligation to Justice

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/07/22

The end of the 20th century saw the rise of mass incarceration as well as originalism, the idea that judges must interpret the Constitution according to its supposed original intent. In a new book, Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration, legal scholar Rachel Barkow highlights the conflict between the two. Using six Supreme Court cases, she shows how mass incarceration is at odds with the Constitution’s text and original meaning. In this

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00:53:08

The Supreme Court Term In Review

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/07/15

This term, the Supreme Court addressed some of the biggest challenges in its history, with a president determined to break through the constitutional limits of executive power and the Court’s own public approval near all-time lows. Did the justices stand up for the Constitution on the biggest issue facing the country, the extraordinary executive power grab? Against this backdrop, the justices handed down rulings in key cases affecting millions of people’s lives, including access to health care,

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00:53:48

The Guarantee of Birthright Citizenship

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/06/18

On the first day of his second term, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to strip U.S. citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants. The order directly conflicts with the plain language of the 14th Amendment, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” And it defies more than a century of case law. The executive order was met with

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00:48:31

Presidential Power in the First 100 Days

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/05/05

In the first 100 days of his second term, President Trump issued more than 100 executive orders aimed at changing policy through executive authority alone. But has this flurry of orders led to meaningful change? Despite Trump’s sweeping executive actions — ranging from imposing global tariffs and targeting major law firms to declaring an emergency at the southern border and attempting to end birthright citizenship — judges appointed from both parties are pushing back. Already, 46 challenges to

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00:51:55

The Risks of Government by AI

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/04/14

On the day President Trump took office, he revoked the Biden administration’s executive order that imposed guardrails on the development and use of artificial intelligence technology. Since then, Vice President JD Vance and DOGE have pushed to integrate AI into critical government functions. But government use of AI raises important questions about data privacy and democratic integrity. Will the adoption of AI truly benefit Americans? How can we trust this process given the unprecedented role of

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00:50:40

Presidents Don’t Control Our Elections

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/04/04

President Trump’s new executive order could disenfranchise millions of American citizens, undermine data security, and decertify voting systems across the country. It would give DOGE access to voter records in every state and decertify every voting machine in the United States, costing states hundreds of millions of dollars. Coupled with the SAVE Act, a voter suppression bill that would require every American to provide a document like a passport or birth certificate to register or re-register to

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52:50

A Presidential Lawbreaking Spree

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/03/04

In the first few weeks of his second term, Donald Trump has engaged in a display of unprecedented executive power, in most cases without legal authority. This lawbreaking spree has extended to his unelected patron, Elon Musk. Courts across the nation have responded, demanding that the new administration comply with federal statutes and proving that the Constitution still matters. Everyone has to follow the law — even presidents. While no one can be totally sure what will happen next during these

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51:49

Do the Police Care About White Supremacist Violence?

The Briefing with Michael Waldman ·

2025/02/20

Law enforcement has long overlooked the dangers of white supremacy and far-right violence both in the community and within its ranks. The January 6 insurrection made this problem much harder to deny. In a new book, Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within, Mike German draws on research and his experiences as an FBI undercover agent infiltrating white supremacist groups to reveal law enforcement’s alarmingly permissive approach to domestic extremism. Listen to a recording of a conversation with

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