Will Courts be a Check and Balance on Donald Trump?

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump’s executive orders are testing the limits of presidential power, but they are not going unchallenged. An avalanche of litigation has been filed opposing efforts to end birthright citizenship, stop federal funding, and dismantle critical government agencies. Will the courts be able to meet this moment? We’ll hear from legal experts about how a judicial system and Supreme Court shaped by Trump may – or may not — act as a check and balance on the president. Guests: Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent, Slate; host, Amicus podcast; author, "Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America" Jamal Greene, professor of law, Columbia University Law School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a health resort with 85 years of wellness experience,
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0:22.7	vegetables daily. Learn more at Ranchoer Tuerta.com. Support for forum comes from Broadway
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1:08.7	From KQED.
1:28.9	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Grace Wan in Fermina Kim.
1:32.8	Donald Trump came into his second administration organized.
1:38.1	With a slew of executive orders and actions, he's attempted to end birthright citizenship,
1:44.0	dismantle critical agencies like USAID, and strip programs of critical federal funding. Will the opposition be able to throw
1:46.4	sand in the gears of this well-oiled onslaught on democracy? And how will the courts help? We'll hear
1:52.9	from legal experts. That's all coming up next after this news. Welcome to Forum. Welcome to Forum. I'm Grace Juan in Formina Kim. Since Donald Trump began issuing a slew of executive orders, lawyers of all stripes. State Attorney Generals, Nonprofit Council, professors, and more have attempted to slow down his onslaught on democratic norms by going to court. During Trump's first administration, the courts stood as a backstop on his constitutional
2:35.2	attacks like with the Muslim ban. But with a Supreme Court that has shown a willingness to
2:40.0	examine an overturn legal precedence and a federal judiciary shaped by Trump appointees,
2:45.4	will courts be able to meet this moment? To tell us more, we're joined by two legal experts.
2:50.7	Jamal Green is a constitutional
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