The Oath and The Office

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, the subject and hero of the new film The Social Reckoning, joins Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang for an in-depth conversation about Facebook’s responsibility for January 6. How did its systems help fuel the attack? Could the company have prevented it? And how did that day shape her decision to blow the whistle? Corey also shares his reaction to the film and a story about Hillary Clinton at Brown University that raises questions about political belonging and why she lost to Trump.

Before that, Corey and John discuss the misogyny of Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump, and whether Obama’s “Cheesecake Factory” mockery offers an effective response to a politics where extremism has become mainstream. They also examine the Trump administration’s California election crackdown, including arrests over alleged voting-related offenses and an effort to block the counting of ballots from roughly 20,000 voters whose citizenship it disputes.

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.

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.

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

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.

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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?

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

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?

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

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.

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?

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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

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.

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.

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:

• 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

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Skye Perryman’s book: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times

Could the Supreme Court help Trump disrupt the 2026 election?

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

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.

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/

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

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.

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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

This week on The Oath and the Office, we follow four stories that raise one question: what happens when the restraints on presidential power start disappearing?

Donald Trump is being sued over a service offering paying customers early access to his Truth Social posts, including market-moving announcements, for as much as $100,000 a month. Is official presidential information becoming a private commodity?

Then Trump goes back to the Supreme Court after two lower court losses, asking the justices to revive his plan to impose new conditions on mail ballots ahead of the midterms. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down what the fight means for presidential power over elections.

We also look at ICE’s reported plan to spend millions on electric shock gloves and the Treasury Department’s decision to dismantle major beneficial ownership disclosure rules designed to expose anonymous shell companies, rules originally championed by Marco Rubio as a weapon against money laundering, trafficking, and terrorism.

From presidential self-enrichment to elections, immigration enforcement, and financial secrecy, the question is the same: who is left to constrain executive power?
1:50 – Paid Early Access to Trump’s Truth Social Posts
12:56 – The Death of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
19:30 – The Corporate Transparency Act
30:18 – Trump’s Supreme Court Appeal on Mail Voting
43:25 – ICE’s New Electric Shock Gloves

Trump already lost on birthright citizenship. Now he is testing the limits of constitutional law with two narrower executive orders. We explain the high-stakes game of chicken underway: can a president just keep pushing after the courts and the Constitution say no?
Plus, a rapid-fire breakdown of this week’s legal chaos:

• Vanity Plates: A bizarre but critical free speech fight.
• DOJ Takeover: Todd Blanche officially steps in as Attorney General after a bruising confirmation fight over Trump, DOJ independence, and a $1.8 billion slush fund.
• The $400 Million Ballroom: A court abruptly blocks Trump’s massive White House construction plan.
• Targeting Fauci: Senate Republicans vote to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt.

Timestamps:

2:41 - Trump Renews Attack on Birthright Citizenship
10:25 - Profanity, License Plates, and Free Speech
21:56 - Senate Confirms Todd Blanche as Attorney General
35:25 - Court Temporarily Halts Construction on Trump's Ballroom
41:26 - Senate Committee Holds Dr. Anthony Fauci in Contempt of Congress

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears to have secured the committee votes needed to advance his nomination. He cleared the path by agreeing to rescind Donald Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and narrow sweeping IRS audit protections for Trump and his family.

But does the deal truly kill the fund—or merely clear a political hurdle while leaving the door open for its return? Corey and John argue that walking back these dangerous policies does not erase Blanche’s complicity in advancing them, nor does it prove him fit to lead the Justice Department.

They also break down a consequential week for executive power and the nation’s democratic guardrails:

Elections: Trump’s escalating attempt to expand federal control over mail voting.

Press Freedom: Withdrawn Justice Department subpoenas that sought testimony and phone records from New York Times journalists.

Media Pressure: The FCC’s continuing pressure campaign against ABC.

Surveillance: Allegations that the Secret Service illegally tracked James Comey and his wife.

Intelligence: The Senate’s party-line confirmation of Jay Clayton to lead the intelligence community.

The checks on executive power are being tested in real time. Some are holding. Others may prove temporary.

Timestamps:
1:20 – Todd Blanche Confirmation Proceedings
18:03 – Trump Cheating in the Midterms
28:03 – Federal Agencies Aren’t Sticking to Their Purpose
28:56 – Jawboning and Media Censorship
47:39 – Why Everyone Should See “The Odyssey”
51:08 – Trump is a Threat to Democracy; the Courts Can Help
54:26 – Trump is Suffering in the Polls

What does Trump actually believe, and how does his worldview connect to the New Right? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang look beyond the latest outrages to the ideology linking them. Then New York Times columnist David French joins Corey to discuss the forces reshaping the American right.

Inside the episode:

David French on birthright citizenship, the postliberal right, and whether there is a path out of America’s democratic crisis.

The attack on the Smithsonian and the fight over who counts as truly American.

Trump’s ties to the manosphere and the grievance politics driving the New Right.

The pressure on New York Times journalists, the disappearance of a Whitney Cummings joke, and the fight to stop Penn Station from being renamed for Trump.

Timestamps:

• 02:06 – White House Correspondents' Dinner
• 09:34 – Tate Brothers Arrested
• 16:22 – Trump, the Smithsonian, and American History
• 22:28 – Attacks on Free Speech: NYT & Kennedy Center
• 31:43 – Interview: David French Joins
• 41:20 – The New Right and Vichy France
• 52:56 – The Future of MAGA After Trump

Threatening the broadcast licenses of news networks is a direct assault on the free press. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang tear down Trump’s extraordinary primetime speech and explain why standard media fact-checking is no longer enough to protect democracy. They also break down Todd Blanche’s attorney general confirmation hearing and a judge’s condemnation of Trump’s IRS self-dealing.

Then, Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman joins Corey to expose the administration’s hidden $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund. Blanche told senators the fund was dead, but Perryman explains why the receipts say otherwise—and why this controversy could derail his confirmation.

What we cover in this episode:
• Media Extortion: The legal reality behind threats to network broadcast licenses.
• The $1.8 Billion Loophole: Why the admin's secret fund might still be alive.
• IRS Self-Dealing: A federal judge’s blistering condemnation of administrative overreach.
• ICE Misconduct: Why state prosecutors must step in when the feds refuse to act.

Timestamps:
1:54 – Trump’s Election Interference Speech
16:53 – Todd Blanche Confirmation Proceedings
22:05 – Federal Judge on the Trump–IRS Agreement
31:51 – FBI to Stop Investigating Confrontations Involving ICE
38:48 – Interview with Skye Perryman

Trump’s Justice Department subpoenaed New York Times reporters after they exposed security problems with the Qatari jet Trump accepted for use as Air Force One. The prosecutor who issued those subpoenas, Jay Clayton, is now Trump’s nominee to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang trace the line from the “bribe plane” to a broader attack on democratic accountability, including another fatal ICE shooting in Maine and the White House pressure campaign against the Smithsonian.

Then Senator Ron Wyden joins the show to explain how Section 702 allows the FBI to search Americans’ private communications without a warrant, why putting those searches in the hands of political operatives such as Dan Bongino is so dangerous, and how the bipartisan JAWBONE Act would let those targeted by government coercion fight back in court.

The interview was recorded as the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which Wyden serves, prepared to begin Clayton’s confirmation hearing. Wyden and Corey discuss whether Clayton’s decision to subpoena journalists should disqualify him from overseeing the nation’s intelligence agencies.

The through line is unchecked executive power: targeting journalists, coercing speech, and searching Americans without a warrant.

Trump’s latest financial disclosure points to something far bigger than another ethics scandal: a presidency being used as a vehicle for private financial gain. From crypto windfalls and foreign-linked deals to branding revenue, settlements, and the continued monetization of political power, the numbers raise a constitutional question hiding in plain sight: what happens when the Emoluments Clauses are not enough?

Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the corruption story behind Trump’s reported $2.2 billion haul, why the Constitution contains two Emoluments Clauses, and why those protections remain dangerously underdeveloped because Congress has never clearly codified them into modern criminal law. Corey argues that using public office for private gain must be treated as a central abuse of presidential power — and that making anti-corruption reform a campaign issue is essential to restoring the rule of law.

Then they turn to the FBI’s reported new push into Georgia 2020 election matters, the Supreme Court’s major ruling on transgender athletes, the Supreme Court’s refusal to disturb the E. Jean Carroll verdict, and the extraordinary NPR correction involving Justice Alito.

This is not just a story about Trump’s money. It is a story about whether American law is prepared to stop a president from turning the office itself into a profit machine — and why Congress must finally make that abuse unmistakably illegal.

The Supreme Court dealt Trump a major defeat by rejecting his effort to end birthright citizenship. It also refused to let him fire the head of the Federal Reserve. But in the same week, the Court handed him sweeping new authority by allowing presidents to remove commissioners at independent agencies.

We break down what these landmark decisions mean, along with the Court’s ruling on Temporary Protected Status, its latest campaign finance decision expanding the influence of wealthy donors, the legal fight over mail voting, and the latest developments in the E. Jean Carroll case.

Then, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance joins us to explain why the birthright citizenship ruling matters so much, what comes next for campaign finance and mail voting, and how these cases are reshaping American democracy.

Katie Phang joins The Oath and the Office to discuss her legal fight to force Trump’s DOJ to release the Epstein files. This is not about money. It is about whether Trump’s DOJ can defy the law and keep records from the public.

Phang explains how she is using the Epstein Files Transparency Act, her role as a journalist, and statutory interpretation to challenge DOJ secrecy. We get into the harm Epstein caused, why transparency matters, and what it means when a citizen uses the law to fight for democracy.

But first, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down three alarming stories about presidential power: Trump tying FISA surveillance renewal and a national intelligence confirmation to his SAVE Act voter bill, Gavin Newsom’s claim that Trump’s DOJ is investigating him and his wife, and Pete Hegseth’s alleged loyalty tests in military promotions.

This episode is about secrecy, retaliation, loyalty, and the fight to make law matter again.

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