The Oath and The Office

Afleveringen

1. Report the News, Risk Deportation? Stanford Students Take On Trump

   22 oktober 2026 · 53 min

   Afspelen
   Can writing an article put you at risk of deportation? The Stanford Daily editor George Porteous joins Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang to explain how deportation fears are silencing student journalists—and why his newspaper took the Trump administration to court. After a major district-court victory, the administration is appealing. At stake: freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of noncitizens. Lees meer

   Plus: Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation fight, harassment of Rep. Ilhan Omar, the revolving door in the Trump administration, the golf-course controversy involving Judge Reyes, and the battle over Russian sanctions.

   Timestamps:
   00:11 – Intro
   01:43 – How Noncitizens’ First Amendment Rights are Under Attack
   06:28 – The Push to Denaturalize Representative Omar
   17:38 – Trump’s New Friend in Putin
   21:48 – Musk’s Impact on the Midterms
   23:30 – The DC Golf Course Controversy
   30:35 – One Student Paper Fought Back Against Trump (with George Porteous)

   Here is a link to The School Board Project: act.link/gi-schools

   Read George Porteous' essay here: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stanford-speech-student-press-ozturk-the-stanford-daily/

2. Impeach Trump? Rep. Al Green Makes the Case

   15 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 10 min

   Afspelen
   Congress has the power to impeach Trump. Will it use it? Lees meer

   John Fugelsang and Corey Brettschneider discuss the attack on Ilhan Omar, calls to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Elon Musk’s DOGE assault on USAID and Congress’s constitutional powers. Why should accountability stop with the president’s subordinates?

   Then Congressman Al Green joins the show to make his case for impeaching Trump. From Nixon to Trump, we examine Congress’s responsibility to confront presidential abuses—and the danger of treating any president as above the law.

   Support our sponsor today at https://FFRF.us/office

3. Jack Smith Fights Back—and Why the Midterms Matter (with Rep. Ted Lieu)

   8 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 15 min

   Afspelen
   Jack Smith turns the tables on his congressional questioners and doubles down on why he indicted Donald Trump. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the fiery hearing, the threats of prosecution against Smith, and what this battle over accountability reveals about the upcoming midterms. Plus: Can Democrats win in red states, and what would taking back Congress actually accomplish? Lees meer

   Then, Congressman Ted Lieu joins Corey to discuss his proposed AI “kill switch” legislation, the dangers of unchecked artificial intelligence, and federal efforts to stop the sale of presidential pardons.

   Learn more about our sponsor, Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/tenc/

   Timestamps:
   00:52 – Intro

   05:02 – Jack Smith is Grilled in the Senate
   23:32 – Which States We’re Watching in the Midterms
   46:07 – Congressman Lieu on AI Regulation
   55:31 – What Legislation Do We Need to Restrain the Pardon Power?
   01:01:16 – How Congress Can Keep Trump in Line

4. Deported to Torture? The Supreme Court Greenlights Trump

   1 oktober 2026 · 48 min

   Afspelen
   What if the government sends you to a country you've never known—where you fear persecution or torture—and you never get a real chance to challenge it? Lees meer

   The Supreme Court has allowed Trump's third-country deportations to continue while the case is pending. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang examine the human stakes, and what it means when the government acts first and the courts decide later.

   Also this week: taxpayer-funded ads pushing Trump's political message, the fight over a federal voter database, and the White House's ongoing restrictions on the press.

   Learn more about our sponsor, Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/tenc/

   00:51 – Third-Party Removals

   17:06 – Donald Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Ads
   31:41 – SCOTUS is Letting States Use the SAVE Databases

5. Trump’s White House Press Ban & Religious Coercion (with Mickey Dollens)

   24 september 2026 · 1 uur 11 min

   Afspelen
   Can a president shut out reporters because he doesn’t like their coverage? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang take on Donald Trump’s sudden ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. They explore the constitutional stakes of revoking press credentials, why press freedom protects the public as well as journalists, and whether federal courts will hold the line against a president determined to punish his critics. Lees meer

   Then, Oklahoma state representative and Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) official Mickey Dollens joins the conversation to examine the spreading threat of religious coercion and Christian nationalism, from coaches pressuring student athletes to pray to government sponsorship of prayer in statehouses. When does an invitation to participate become pressure to conform? And what happens to freedom of conscience when those in power expect you to share their faith?

   Two fights over the First Amendment, connected by one critical question: Can those in authority force the rest of us to fall in line?

   Support our sponsor today at https://FFRF.us/office

   Timestamps:
   01:13 – Trump Banned CNN, Politico, and MSNow from the White House
   12:07 – The Push to Impeach Pete Hegseth
   19:28 – An Update on the Kennedy Center Naming Debacle
   26:27 – Trump’s DC Arch
   33:37 – Prayer and School Sport with Mickey Dollens

6. Bonus Episode: Is Bipartisanship Still Possible? With Governors Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen

   22 september 2026 · 34 min

   Afspelen
   One Republican. One Democrat. Two former governors asking whether Americans can still find common ground.In this special bonus episode of The Oath and the Office, Corey Brettschneider welcomes former Tennessee governors Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen, hosts of You Might Be Right, for a conversation about political division, democratic principles, and the possibilities and limits of bipartisan cooperation. Lees meer

   What brought these two governors together? What can Americans accomplish across party lines? And where should compromise end when fundamental principles are at stake? We explore what it means to listen to political opponents, reconsider your own assumptions, and stand firm when democracy demands it.

7. Did the Supreme Court Just Save the Election? With Skye Perryman

   17 september 2026 · 1 uur 10 min

   Afspelen
   Can Trump use the Postal Service to control how Americans vote by mail? And when does a campaign promise cross the line into an attempted bribe? Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman joins Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang to discuss the Supreme Court’s order keeping Trump’s Postal Service restrictions on mail voting blocked ahead of the midterms. She also provides an update on her organization’s challenge to Trump’s slush fund and discusses her new book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times. Before the interview, Corey and John break down the news: Lees meer

   The Postal Ruling: What the Supreme Court’s decision means for voters this November.

   Pardons & Bribes: Trump’s promise of $5,000 checks if Republicans keep Congress and the big business of pardon lobbying. Does calling the pardon power “plenary” excuse corrupt use?

   AI & Autocracy: Mike Johnson’s hands-off approach to AI safety, and what Hungary’s fight against corruption can teach us about defeating authoritarianism.

   Timestamps:
   7:18 – The $5,000 Dividend

   14:32 – Trump is Selling Pardons
   23:52 – The Call to Slow AI Progress
   32:37 – An AFD Victory in Germany: What Does This Mean for Us?
   40:14 – The Courts Kept Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Interference At Bay (With Skye Perryman)
   51:11 – Democracy Forward’s Suit Against Trump’s Slush Fund & A Peek Into Skye’s New Book

   Support our sponsor today at https://FFRF.us/office

   Skye Perryman’s book: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times

8. Will the Court Help Trump Steal the 2026 Election?

   10 september 2026 · 1 uur 1 min

   Afspelen
   Could the Supreme Court help Trump disrupt the 2026 election? Lees meer

   In this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang examine a new fight over mail ballots and postal rules that could create chaos, disenfranchise lawful voters, and give the administration new leverage over the election process.

   We also look at why the Supreme Court’s shadow docket matters so much here, what happens when major election rules are decided without full briefing or argument, and why the Court’s own effort to restrict access to its historical records matters for democratic accountability.Plus, we examine a separate legal strategy that could threaten the tax exempt status of major institutions.

   Subscribe to The Oath and The Office for weekly analysis of Trump, presidential power, the Supreme Court, democracy, and the Constitution.

   Timestamps:
   0:30 – SCOTUS Will Decide if Trump’s Mail-In Voting Restrictions are Constitututional
   28:00 – Why Are Supreme Court Records Sealed for Decades?
   38:07 – House Democrats’ Push to Expand the Court
   45:40 – The Treasury Wants to Revoke Tax-Exempt Status For Anti-Racist Universities

   56:36 – Why These Conversations Give Us Hope

9. Trump’s Mafia Presidency, with Barbara McQuade

   3 september 2026 · 1 uur 3 min

   Afspelen
   Trump’s abuses of power keep colliding with the law. But even when courts recognize the danger, procedural barriers can prevent them from stopping it. Lees meer

   Corey and John examine how standing doctrine blocked a challenge to Trump’s ballroom project, despite an unusual dissent from Chief Justice John Roberts. They also discuss a major free speech victory at Stanford that, like the Khalil case, was weakened by procedural limits. Next, they turn to Trump’s effort to seize control of the Postal Service and refuse delivery of valid mail ballots, using the unitary executive theory to threaten voting rights.

   Then, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade joins the show to explain why Trump governs less like a president and more like a mafia boss. Drawing from her new book, "The Fix", she connects Trump’s mob style campaign against dissent to the attack on the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Justice Department’s subpoenas targeting New York Times journalists, and the administration’s attempt to undermine voting by mail.

   Barbara McQuade’s new book, The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government: https://www.barbaramcquade.com/

10. The Christian Nationalism Behind January 6, with Rep. Jared Huffman

    27 augustus 2026 · 37 min

    Afspelen
    Why did the January 6 Committee underplay the role of Christian nationalism in its final report? Lees meer

    Rep. Jared Huffman, the only openly nonbelieving member of Congress, joins Corey Brettschneider for a deep dive into the Christian nationalist movement threatening American democracy. Drawing from his new book, No Prophets, Huffman breaks down the specific factions that make up this movement, how they are capturing political power, what they want, and what comes next. We also examine the central role Christian nationalism played in January 6 and why that crucial part of the story was largely left out of the Committee’s final report.

    Support our sponsor today at https://FFRF.us/office

    You can find Rep. Jared Huffman’s new book, No Prophets, here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324130499

    3:43 – Religious Nationalism & January 6th
    11:40 – Who Are the Christian Nationalists?
    18:18 – Where Christian Nationalism Appears in Congress
    24:43 – The Policy Implications of Theocratic Movements
    29:42 – Why Congressman Huffman Still Has Hope

Alle 91 afleveringen →