Are We Facing a Constitutional Crisis?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is the United States in the talked-about and feared constitutional crisis? President Trump and his administration are increasingly ignoring federal court rulings on issues like immigration and funding. Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer calls the president’s defiance “a new step into presidential lawlessness.” We talk with Serwer and Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern about what this means for the balance of power in Washington and for democracy. Guests: Adam Serwer, staff writer, The Atlantic Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, president, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; previously a justice on the California Supreme Court Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer, Slate Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego,
0:07.4	recently voted the number one destination spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine.
0:12.8	Summer retreat packages of three, four, or seven nights including hiking, water classes, mindfulness,
0:19.9	spa therapies, and culinary adventures with
0:22.8	farm-fresh ingredients. Learn more at Rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:27.3	Greetings, Boomtown.
0:28.8	The Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming!
0:31.0	Xfinity combines the power of Internet and mobile.
0:34.2	So we've all got lightning fast speeds at home and on the go!
0:37.6	Learn more at Xfinity.com.
0:39.7	Restrictions apply.
0:40.4	Xfinity Internet required.
0:41.4	Actual speeds vary.
0:43.7	From KQVD in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.
1:03.4	Coming up on forum, is the U.S. and the talked about and feared constitutional crisis?
1:08.3	President Trump and his administration are increasingly ignoring federal court rulings on issues like immigration and funding,
1:14.6	raising questions about what the courts can force a president to do.
1:18.6	The Atlantic's Adam Serwer calls Trump's actions and defiance of court orders a new step into presidential lawlessness.
1:25.6	We talk with Serwer and with Slate's Mark Joseph Stern about the collision between the branches
1:31.8	and the stakes for our constitutional democracy.
1:35.7	Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:47.9	If there was any doubt about whether President Trump and his administration were defying the Supreme Court and its ruling to facilitate the return of a man it admitted, it deported mistakenly,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.