The Oath and The Office

Can a president commit war crimes? Can a defense secretary? And what would it take to hold either one accountable?

Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang open with the Supreme Court showdown over Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship. After Trump became the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer faced tough questioning from several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who delivered the line of the day: “It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.” Corey and John break down why the administration’s argument looked weak, why Wong Kim Ark remains the key precedent, and what the hearing may signal about the fate of Trump’s effort to gut birthright citizenship.

They also discuss the latest chaos inside Trump’s Justice Department after Pam Bondi was pushed out as attorney general and replaced, for now, by Todd Blanche, another Trump loyalist. From there, they turn to the Supreme Court’s move that could wipe away Steve Bannon’s contempt conviction, and what it says about accountability in Trump’s Washington.

Then Corey and John are joined by Lawrence Douglas of Amherst College, professor of law, jurisprudence, and social thought, and author of "The Criminal State", for a chilling conversation about whether Trump is committing war crimes, whether Pete Hegseth could face exposure as a war criminal, and how leaders who authorize brutality can be held to account. They explore the continuing relevance of Nuremberg, the legal meaning of crimes carried out by the state, and whether American institutions still have the power to confront criminality at the top. This is a sober, urgent discussion about impunity, presidential violence, and the future of the rule of law

Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship is only part of the story. The bigger danger is a decades-long effort to free the presidency from constitutional limits.

Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin by breaking down Trump’s latest argument against birthright citizenship, why it misreads the Constitution, and what is really at stake in the legal fight.

Then David Sirota joins to trace the deeper roots of Trump’s power grab: the conservative blueprints that helped lay the groundwork for Project 2025, the lessons of Nixon and Reagan, and the long campaign to expand executive power.

In this episode:
Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship
why the constitutional case against it fails
the antecedents of Project 2025
Nixon, Reagan, and the growth of presidential power
why the No Kings protests matter
what reforms could restore real limits on the presidency

This episode is about more than one policy fight. It’s about how the presidency was reshaped, and whether American democracy can still impose meaningful limits on executive power.

Trump’s reaction to Robert Mueller’s death was grotesque. But the deeper question is what Congress failed to do when Mueller was alive: why didn’t it impeach Trump based on the Mueller report? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang revisit Mueller’s findings, the Nixon parallel, and the constitutional failure that still shapes Trump’s presidency.

Then: a major Supreme Court voting-rights case out of Mississippi, ICE at airports as a new front in Trump’s immigration crackdown, and a federal judge’s ruling against Pentagon restrictions on defense reporters.

Plus, a listener from the U.K. asks a question many Americans are asking too: could Trump really defy the Constitution and try for a third term?

This week’s episode connects the week’s biggest legal and political stories into one urgent question: how many constitutional guardrails are still holding?

Learn more about the ACLU and its upcoming Supreme Court case at aclu.org/barbara.

Is the SAVE Act really about election security — or is it a new blueprint for voter suppression?

On this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the latest fight over the SAVE Act, why its proof-of-citizenship requirement could make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to register and vote, and what this battle reveals about the future of democracy.

Then Stacey Abrams joins the show to explain what the bill would do, why it is so dangerous, and how the broader attack on voting rights fits into the Trump-era push to undermine democratic institutions.

Also in this episode: Gregory Bovino is out, Judge Boasberg pushes back against politically charged legal tactics, and Trump lashes out at the courts yet again.

This is a conversation about voter suppression, constitutional democracy, and who gets to decide the future of the country.

Learn more about the ACLU and its upcoming Supreme Court case at aclu.org/barbara.

Trump’s shifting war aims are a warning sign of the imperial presidency. We examine how changing justifications for war weaken democratic accountability, whether Congress can still use the power of the purse to stop an illegal war, how the Anthropic story reflects resistance to expanding executive power, why the growing influence of billionaires in American elections is making constitutional democracy even more fragile, and why Kristi Noem’s exit at Homeland Security was a rare reminder of how congressional oversight is supposed to work—even if her replacement may not be better.

This episode is sponsored by Princeton University Press. Learn more about Mark Peterson’s new book, The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History:

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