Michael Waldman

Congress' failure to do its job is the big story in US politics. Gap opens for exec abuse and SCOTUS overreach. The Constitution tells presidents to “give to the Congress” info on the State of the Union. Congress, what's the state of your union? ###

Will he threaten war with Iran? Congress must approve. Presumably he won’t call on Congress to pass tariffs – they would run screaming from the chamber.

He has only one big legislative push: Expect him to yell about elections. He will call for SAVE Act, which would block tens of millions from voting. He wants “talking filibuster,” but Ds are ready to take to the floor and fight it. Presumably he aims to cloud trust in election.

Presidents use SOTUs to press for legislation. Clinton (my boss) would unveil new policies. GW Bush launched run-up to Iraq war. Trump today has almost no legislative goals. He wants to govern illegally, by exec action, even with Congress controlled by his party. What will he do?

His public approval has collapsed. SCOTUS blocked his key economic policy. Citizens are appalled by his attack on an American city. And he addresses a Congress after trying & failing to arrest 6 lawmakers for protected speech.

Pres Trump gives SOTU tomorrow. I was chief WH speechwriter on 4 of these. Usually “Teleprompter Trump” is oddly normal. This year more fraught than usual. He gives the speech emphatically as a lame duck – but a weird kind of lame duck, one still trying to grab power.

Remember that an EO is not reality. Courts blocked his last effort to seize control of elections. But it’s an alarming escalation of the campaign to undermine the 2026 election. 3/3

He’s taking Vladimir Putin’s advice - Trump proudly cited Putin as backing his voting stance given Putin’s interest in “honest elections.” 2/3

Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3

Americans deserve fair congressional district maps no matter what state they live in. Congress can make that a reality if it chooses to.

YouTube video by Fast Politics w/ Molly Jong-Fast Trump's Plan To Shut Down Midterm Elections w/ Michael Waldman

Must listen to @brennancenter.org president Michael Waldman

youtu.be/CeuDK6z1Ewo?...

So as we watch with outrage let’s remember: all this makes the hard-nosed case, stronger than ever, for action to ensure real representation and a fair political process for all. 6/6

Congress can and must act. The Freedom to Vote Act banned mid-decade redistricting and barred partisan gerrymanders. It would stop what's happening today – cold. The John Lewis VRAA would restore protection against discriminatory maps. They came achingly close to enactment in 2022. 5/6

Now, the Supreme Court blew it - in Rucho and LULAC v. Perry, it walked away from policing gerrymandering & protecting voters. 4/6

It’s no surprise that Democrats in other states would respond as they have.

But a partisan arms race on its own cannot be the ultimate solution.

The answer must be effective national standards that apply to Red states and Blue states alike. 3/6

What Texas is doing is particularly egregious. Mid-decade (long after the census), explicitly to gain five Republican seats, at the expense of voters of color, on orders from the president. It’s a power grab, outrageous. 2/6

Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6

The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Undermine the Next Election The executive branch is interfering in U.S. elections in unprecedented ways.

An important new analysis: we’re now seeing a strategy unfold to undermine the 2026 election. It’s unprecedented and often illegal. And it will be a big and growing story for the next year and a half. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Not the Fix Our Immigration System Needs The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties — and it comes amid ICE’s resistance to lawful congressional oversight.

This is a summer of brute force and performative cruelty. Now the new budget includes an astonishing increase in the size of ICE - making it the largest federal law enforcement agency by far. There's a better way. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Not the Fix Our Immigration System Needs The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties — and it comes amid ICE’s resistance to lawful congressional oversight.

The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties. And it comes amid ICE’s resistance to congressional oversight.
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We Hold These Truths

Proud to sign this… www.weholdtruths.com

Why the 4th of July Matters In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality.

In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

The Great American Class War In his speech at the Brennan Center's 2013 Legacy Awards Dinner, award-winning journalist Bill Moyers outlines the "unfinished work" that remains to be done in America's systems of democracy and justi...

Bill Moyers lived a life committed to American democracy. At LBJ's side for civil rights (and Vietnam), he became a pioneering journalistic crusader on money and politics and voting. At @brennancenter.org we were honored to hear him over the years. In 2013 he spoke to our community:

Will Courts Keep Checking the President? The Supreme Court shouldn’t back down.

Trump "always chickens out." Will the Supreme Court chicken out? www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Amicus Brief in Emily Ley Paper et al., v. Trump On May 12, 2025, the Brennan Center for Justice filed an amicus brief in Emily Ley Paper et al., v. Trump, opposing the government's motion to transfer the case to the United States Court of Internati...

Does a President have the power to impose sweeping tariffs. No! That's our argument in a friend of the court brief we filed this week in a case brought by the conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance. We're proud to do it. The Constitution is clear and the law is unambiguous.

Trump says ‘I don’t know’ when asked if he’s required to uphold Constitution The president also downplayed fears of a recession and spoke of potential successors when his four-year term ends in an NBC interview.

Yes, Presidents do have to uphold the Constitution. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Fan fiction? Hardly. An important piece by my colleague Grady Short -- Canada's election is unfolding with a very different campaign finance system (no billionaires funded Super PACs, etc. etc. etc. etc.), robust public financing, and so on.

A Second Gilded Age Tariffs and favoritism are signs of a poisoned political era.

With the sweeping worldwide tariffs — and their myriad exceptions and complications — the new imperial presidency meets the new billionaire politics.

"They walked the full length of the train and questioned every single passenger about their citizenship status"

A Second Gilded Age Tariffs and favoritism are signs of a poisoned political era.

The problem of tariffs goes beyond stock market decline. They open the door to lobbying, favoritism, and graft.