Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Trump Has a Plan for the Midterms, SCOTUS May Help

On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick checks in with Protect Democracy co-founder Ian Bassin about the United States’ speedy retreat from democracy, and how lawyers seeking to protect the constitution are adapting their strategies for Trump 2.0. While Trump’s second term is following an authoritarian playbook, some courts are acting as speed bumps, while others (we’re looking at you, SCOTUS), are increasingly pickled in right-wing brine. The velocity of America’s descent into illiberalism is startling and dangerous, but Bassin argues it is also potentially self-defeating, thanks to Trump’s historic unpopularity that is growing faster than his ability to consolidate power. The two discuss Protect Democracy’s shift from a litigation-heavy strategy to combining court fights with coalition-building, and Ian outlines threats to the 2026 elections—“deceive, disrupt, deny”—including efforts like the SAVE Act and why the President’s decision to deploy ICE to stand around in airports around the country is a clear effort to normalize their presence at polling places in November. But he also stresses that overwhelming participation and public organizing are the ultimate backstops if election results are contested.

Suggested reading: protectdemocracy.org/executive-override/

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(4797)

What Next - Michael Jackson: Too Big to Fail

The biopic “Michael” solves the third-act problem of Michael Jackson’s life by simply ending before the 1993 lawsuit that alleged child sex abuse, and before his appearance and behavior took a drastic...

27 Apr 25min

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - How Mark Zuckerberg Finds Your Perfect Pair of Shoes

The era of ads following you around the internet via cookies might be coming to an end. What’s replacing it?Guest: Sara Fisher, Axios' media correspondent, and media analyst at CNN.Want more What Next...

26 Apr 22min

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - MAGA Media Law 101

As journalists, a-listers, and some of the most vociferous critics of journalism from the Trump administration gather for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Dahlia Lithwick tackles the president...

25 Apr 1h 3min

Slate Money - The Legacy of “Tim Apple”

This week: Tim Cook announced he was stepping down as Apple’s CEO after 15 years. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, unpack his unique legacy as the leader of the very beloved, very visib...

25 Apr 45min

What Next - SchadenFriday: Cabinet Crashouts

The Trump administration is, let’s say, experiencing a bit of turnover this spring. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out and Kash Patel has reached the “embroiled in scandal and suing the pre...

24 Apr 6min

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - MAGA's A.I. Schism

Is artificial intelligence a blessing to all humanity, or a demon sent to lead us astray from God’s path? MAGA is choosing between two extremes.Guest: Kiera Butler, national correspondent for Mother J...

24 Apr 25min

Political Gabfest - Trump and the Iranians Deserve Each Other

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's need for a face-saving exit amid his economically disastrous standoff with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, how Kash Patel's de...

23 Apr 1h

What Next - Congress’s Purge Era

Representatives Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, and now Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick are out; Virginia is redistricting and Republicans are bracing for a tsunami of a blue wave in the fall midterms. What’...

23 Apr 28min