This is Fresh Air.

I'm Dave Davies.

Political power in the United States is in some respects widely diffused.

Among the two houses of Congress, the President and countless federal agencies,

and hundreds of state and local governments across the country.

But my guest, Michael Waldman, says the actions of a tiny handful of government officials

in the United States over the past year and a half have impacted our lives on a scale rare in modern democracies.

Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU Law School,

and his new book is about the transformational change brought by the conservative supermajority,

which now dominates the U.S. Supreme Court.

He argues that the conservatives, including three appointees of Donald Trump,

have defied longstanding precedents and rendered far-reaching and troubling decisions on gun control,

reproductive rights, environmental regulations, and voting rights, with more to come.

He examines the doctrine of constitutional originalism, which conservatives have embraced,

and considers prospects for change in the court.

Michael Waldman is a constitutional lawyer and writer who's led the Brennan Center since 2005.

He served in the administration of President Bill Clinton as a special assistant for policy

coordination and then as director of speech writing. In 2021, he served on the presidential

commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, which examined potential reforms.

He's the author of several previous books. His latest is the supermajority,

how the Supreme Court divided America. Michael Waldman, welcome back to Fresh Air.

It's great to be with you.

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