DecodeDC

For years, individual Senators have enjoyed wide sway in blocking judicial nominees who come from their home states. But that may soon change, as Republicans in the Senate try to transform the judiciary under President Trump. Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post explains all the ways this could show up in Americans’ every day lives.

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Law professor Keith Whittington says the term “constitutional crisis” gets thrown around way too much. He’s studied the topic, and he tells Jimmy we’re nowhere near one right now.

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Before David Barron was a federal judge, he was a lawyer helping President Obama wage war. He sheds light on the uneasy relationship between Presidents and Congress when it comes to military might, and reflects on his own role in a controversial drone strike.

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So how is Donald Trump is doing on his six promises to clean up corruption and limit special interests in Washington? And — maybe more importantly — what would happen if you really did pull the plug on the swamp of Washington? Our guests for this episode are Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post and Lee Drutman of New America.

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America’s crumbling and obsolete infrastructure is a $2 trillion problem. Everyone agrees it needs a fix. So why can’t politicians make it happen? It’s a failure of leadership, says Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter. She explains why, and we visit the Brent Spence Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky, a poster child for American political dysfunction over our roads and bridges.

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If you feel like we're getting more polarized every day, you're right. According to a report by the Cook Political Report, the political divide in America is growing--and as Amy Walter tells us, Trump might be just the type of guy who can change that.

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Is the U.S. border with the Mexico really an open border? Is all the talk of building a wall for real, or is it just a metaphorical wall? And who’s really crossing illegally? We separate fact from fiction with the help of Maria Hinojosa of Latino USA. Plus, Maria explains how cows can complicate things.

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Russians are using your own media echo chamber to undermine your confidence in democracy. So says Clint Watts, a former FBI agent who recently testified before Congress. We speak with him about why Russia is doing this, and why they’ve been more successful spreading their message on the right than on the left.

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Since the election of Donald Trump, immigrants and their lawyers have been preparing for the worst. In part 2 of our series on the role some local police play in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, we spend time with the immigrant community in Frederick County Maryland, one place that’s been helping the feds since 2008. Minor offenders who were allowed to remain under the Obama administration are getting their papers together, avoiding the police and getting ready to be deported after living for years in the US.

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Negin Farsad is fighting stereotypes one joke at a time. A self-described social justice comedian, Farsad jokes about Islamophobia, race and bigotry - trying to make people laugh and talk about identity.
“People can conceptually hate another group of people…people can conceptually hate Muslims” she tells Jimmy. “But when someone is put in front of their face its hard to hold onto that bigotry..” Negin says that the election of Donald Trump has made her work so much harder. She says she has to take on all the same fights, “but now I have to do it with a lead jacket on.”

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