Over the weekend, the Trump administration launched a military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolas Maduro. Such an aggressive use of war powers without congressional consent is alarming and in many ways unprecedented. Trump is declaring victory. Critics are decrying a breach of checks and balances. What are the implications of this unilateral abuse of military force, and what could happen next?

Listen as leading experts from the Brennan Center discuss what happened, break down the legal issues at play, and reveal what Congress can do right now to respond.

Speakers:

* Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director, Liberty and National Security Program, Brennan Center

* Katherine Yon Ebright, Counsel, Liberty and National Security Program, Brennan Center

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

Recorded on January 6, 2026.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

This year we saw extraordinary threats to American democracy: an executive power grab, attacks on the freedom to vote, and more. Yet we also saw a growing response, from court rulings to citizen alarm. What happened? And what can we expect next?

Speakers:

* Sean Morales-Doyle, Director, Voting Rights and Elections Program

* Wendy Weiser, Vice President, Democracy Program

* Daniel I. Weiner, Director, Elections and Government Program

* Katherine Yon Ebright, Counsel, Liberty and National Security Program

* Moderator: Michael Waldman, President and CEO

Recorded on December 16, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

For a generation, presidential races were blowouts. Every winner between 1980 and 1996 won by at least 37 Electoral College votes. These landslides relegated conspiracy theories about contested elections to the political fringes.

Then came 2000. The last polls showed a dead heat. On election night, the networks called it for Al Gore, then retracted their calls, then called it for George W. Bush, and retracted again.

Ultimately, five Supreme Court justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, put an end to the recount underway in Florida and effectively declared Bush the winner. The fractured opinions were a maze of disagreements, with the majority warning that the opinion should not be cited as precedent. Their reasoning flummoxed legal scholars — even those who agreed with the outcome.

Listen as experts involved in the case discuss how it changed the relationship between Americans and elections and between elections and the courts.

Speakers:

* David Boies, Founding Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner

* Benjamin Ginsberg, Volker Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution; National Counsel, Bush-Cheney Presidential Campaign

* Barbara Pariente, Justice (retired), Florida Supreme Court

* Wendy Weiser, Vice President, Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice

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

Recorded on December 9, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

Over the past several months, the Trump administration has undertaken a congressionally unauthorized military campaign against supposed “narco-terrorists” in international waters. One of the administration’s attacks in particular has roiled Washington — according to recent reporting, military officials ordered a follow-up strike that killed survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat. Since the revelation, Trump officials have scrambled to explain the legal justification and who was ultimately responsible.

Listen as Brennan Center expert Katherine Yon Ebright and Michael Waldman break down why these strikes are unlawful and discuss how Congress should respond.

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

Recorded on December 5, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

U.S. politics today can be defined by extreme dysfunction and polarization. But the founders accounted for a fractured society, and designed our government specifically to handle moments like these. Listen as conservative scholar Yuval Levin discusses his book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again, which argues that the U.S. constitutional system is designed to compel us to find common ground and act together — and that the key is for Congress to play its leading role.

Speakers:

* Yuval Levin, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute

* Host: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center

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

Recorded on November 21, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

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 prevent future abuses of military force.

Speakers:

* Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director, Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program

* William L. Enyart, Major General (ret.), U.S. Army; former U.S. representative (D-IL); former committee member, House Armed Services Committee

* Host: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center

Recorded on November 10, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

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 Democracy.

Speakers:

* Joyce Vance, Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at University of Alabama School of Law; Senior Fellow, Brennan Center

* Host: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center

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

Recorded on November 3, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

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 lives.

Speakers:

* Shalanda Young, Former Director, White House Office of Management and Budget; Distinguished Scholar in Residence, NYU School of Law; Doris Duke Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy

* Lauren Miller Karalunas, Counsel, Brennan Center Democracy Program

* Host, Michael Waldman, President and CEO, Brennan Center

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

Recorded on October 28, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

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 Center

Recorded on October 24, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com

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 kleptocracy.

Speakers:

* Jane Mayer, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

* Daniel I. Weiner, Director, Elections and Government Program, Brennan Center

* Host, Michael Waldman, President and CEO

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

Recorded on October 15, 2025.

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

The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com