Will Judges Stick Together to Face Trump’s Defiance?

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Washington Roundtable speaks with with Michael Waldman, the president and C.E.O. of the Brennan Center for Justice, at N.Y.U. Law, to discuss the escalating attacks on the judiciary by President Trump and his allies. If the Administration ignores a legitimate order from a federal judge, as it has come close to doing, what can the courts do in response?

This week’s reading:

“Donald Trump, Producer-in-Chief,” by Susan B. Glasser
“Why ‘Constitutional Crisis’ Fails to Capture Trump’s Attack on the Rule of Law,” by Isaac Chotiner
“The Trump Administration Nears Open Defiance of the Courts,” by Ruth Marcus

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I went to, there's an annual production put on by the Washington Barred Association as opposed to Bar Association.
0:07.8	It's the lawyers go to the Shakespeare Theater.
0:10.4	And it opened with a few words from the MC who said, among other things, that in this country, we obey court orders.
0:17.7	And this theater where Ushavans was in the audience,
0:22.6	exploded.
0:24.6	Cat calls and applause.
0:26.6	Just mentioned following court orders in this city.
0:30.6	It was like lighting a match in a room
0:32.6	full of gas.
0:33.6	Boom!
0:34.6	Yeah, I know it was incredible.
0:36.6	Everyone's on edge.
0:40.1	I look forward to the time when that is not a controversial statement.
0:41.1	Isn't it something?
0:50.9	Welcome to the political scene from the New Yorker, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics.
0:56.1	I'm Jane Mayer, and I'm joined by my colleague, Susanasser and Evan Osnows. Hey, Susan. Hey, there. Great to be with you. Hi, Evan. Good morning, guys.
1:04.1	We've talked a lot on this show about Trump's increasingly imperial presidency and how it's
1:09.9	overstepping virtually every guardrail in our democracy.
1:13.6	And today, we're going to talk about what may be the most serious clash yet,
1:18.7	how Trump and his allies are attacking the judicial branch.
1:23.5	This isn't the first time that judges have faced criticism, threats, and even violence,
1:28.5	but something new happened this week. The president himself led the mob online against a federal
	...

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