The Briefing with Michael Waldman

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 curricula, and provide student services. In cases where these state obligations conflict with the administration’s orders, both state and federal judges may be called on to decide whether state law provides a bulwark against harmful federal policies. This conversation among experts explores how the Trump administration’s actions have affected schools, how schools are responding, and how court fights over education policy may play out. 

Speakers:

• John B. King Jr., Former U.S. Secretary of Education; Chancellor of the State University of New York

• Aaron Saiger, Professor of Law, Fordham University

• Martha Dalton, Journalist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• Moderator: Alicia Bannon, Director, Brennan Center Judiciary Program; Editor in Chief, State Court Report

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Recorded on July 15, 2025, and produced in partnership with State Court Report.

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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 event, Barkow and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who spent eight years overseeing federal prosecutions in Manhattan, discuss what the cases in Justice Abandoned teach us about today’s Supreme Court, including the long-term ramifications of sacrificing the liberty guaranteed by the Constitution in the name of public safety.

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Speakers:

• Rachel Barkow, Charles Seligson Professor of Law, Faculty Director of Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, NYU School of Law

• Preet Bharara, Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York; Partner, WilmerHale

• Moderator: Hernandez Stroud, Senior Fellow, Brennan Center Justice Program

  
  

Recorded on June 05, 2025.

In Justice Abandoned, Rachel Barkow exposes how the Supreme Court’s embrace of originalism helped erode constitutional protections and fuel mass incarceration — a must-read for anyone who cares about our Constitution and criminal justice reform. You can find the book here.

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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, education, and political representation and the power of federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions. 

Whether you follow the Court closely or are looking to understand its role in our system of checks and balances, this discussion will provide essential context for how the Court is working today. 

Speakers:

• Joyce Vance, Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law, University of Alabama School of Law; Senior Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice

• Cecillia Wang, National Legal Director, ACLU

• Kim Wehle, Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law

• Moderator: Alicia Bannon, Director, Brennan Center Judiciary Program and Kohlberg Center on the U.S. Supreme Court

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Recorded on July 09, 2025.

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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 a wave of court rulings blocking its enforcement, and the Supreme Court has already heard arguments on the issue. What historical currents led to the ratification of the amendment’s Citizenship Clause? How did courts interpret its guarantees in the decades following? And how do today’s attacks on birthright citizenship relate to historical attempts to deny citizenship to people born and living in the United States?

Speakers:

• Kate Masur, Professor of History, Northwestern University
• Martha Jones, Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University
• Erika Lee, Bae Family Professor of History, Radcliffe Alumnae Professor, Harvard University
• Thomas Wolf, Director of Democracy Initiatives, Founder of Historians Council on the Constitution, Brennan Center
• Moderator: Kareem Crayton, Vice President for Washington, DC, Brennan Center

Recorded on June 11, 2025.

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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 executive orders are pending in court, with no clear victories for the administration in any of them. 

Listen to a recording of a conversation with our experts as they discuss what these three months have made clear about this administration’s priorities, how the courts are responding, and what might lie ahead.

Speakers: 

• Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program

• Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center

• Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

• Andrew Rudalevige, Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College

• And moderator Kareem Crayton, the Brennan Center’s Vice President for Washington DC

  
  

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Recorded on April 30, 2025.

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://brennancenter.org/briefing

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 tech billionaires in the new administration? And what might come next? 

Listen to the recording of a conversation with a leading technology journalist, former government AI leaders, and Brennan Center experts as they discuss the potential consequences and future of AI in the federal government.  

Speakers: 

• Vittoria Elliott, Platforms and Power Reporter, Wired
• Faiza Patel, Senior Director, Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program
• Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Professor of Data Science and Computer Science, Brown University
• Moderator: Kareem Crayton, Vice President of Washington, DC, Brennan Center

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Recorded on April 2, 2025.
Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

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 vote, these measures could block millions of eligible American citizens from voting and upend voter registration.

Listen to a recording of a conversation with our experts as they break down the executive order, the SAVE Act, and what we all must do to protect our elections. 

Speakers: 

• Lawrence Norden, Vice President, Brennan Center Elections and Government Program

• Sean Morales-Doyle, Director, Brennan Center Voting Rights and Elections Program

• Wendy Weiser, Vice President, Brennan Center Democracy Program

• Moderator: Michael Waldman, President and CEO, Brennan Center

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Recorded on April 1, 2025.

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://brennancenter.org/briefing

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 extraordinary times, Brennan Center experts can tell you what should happen next, according to U.S. law.

Listen to a recording of a conversation with our lawyers and policy advocates about what’s happening to U.S. democracy and how you can play your part in defending the rule of law. 

Speakers: 

• Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director, Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program
• Sean Morales-Doyle, Director, Brennan Center Voting Rights Program
• Daniel Weiner, Director, Brennan Center Elections and Government Program
• Barton Gellman, Senior Adviser, Brennan Center
• Moderator: Michael Waldman, President and CEO, Brennan Center

If you enjoy this program, please give us a boost by liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please give it a 5-star rating. 

Recorded on February 24, 2025.

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

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 German and Natalie Tennant, Kanawha County commissioner and former West Virginia secretary of state, about these threats and what it will take for law enforcement to appropriately tackle far-right violence.

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Recorded on January 28, 2025.

Check out Mike German’s new book here: Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within (bookshop.org)

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

President Trump began his second term with a slew of executive orders regarding the TikTok ban, birthright citizenship, and border enforcement, among other things. While his actions cover a wide range of topics, there is a common theme: the unprecedented broadening of presidential authority.

In a new analysis published in Just Security, Dean Emeritus of NYU Law Trevor Morrison analyzes how Trump's claim to an expansive executive power violates statutes and the Constitution. 

Listen to a conversation with Morrision and Brennan Center Fellow Wilfred Codrington III as they break down Trump’s opening executive orders and what they reveal about his theory of presidential power.

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Recorded on January 31, 2025.

Check out Trevor Morrison’s analysis in Just Security here: https://www.justsecurity.org/106969/trump-dictatorial-theory-presidential-power-executive-orders/

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing