Michael Waldman
@mawaldman.bsky.social
President & CEO, @BrennanCenter. Author, The Supermajority, The Fight to Vote, etc. etc. Ex-speechwriter.
Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3
August 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Trump’s post saying he will sign an EO purporting to ban mail voting marks an appalling attack on free and fair elections. Flatly illegal and flagrantly unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections. Presidents have no lawful role. 1/3
Reposted by Michael Waldman
Americans deserve fair congressional district maps no matter what state they live in. Congress can make that a reality if it chooses to.
August 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Americans deserve fair congressional district maps no matter what state they live in. Congress can make that a reality if it chooses to.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6
August 7, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Gerrymandering is really bad for representative democracy. Voters should choose politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymanders mean less choice, less representation, less accountability for politicians – and more polarization. 1/6
An important new analysis: we’re now seeing a strategy unfold to undermine the 2026 election. It’s unprecedented and often illegal. And it will be a big and growing story for the next year and a half. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Undermine the Next Election
The executive branch is interfering in U.S. elections in unprecedented ways.
www.brennancenter.org
August 3, 2025 at 1:42 PM
An important new analysis: we’re now seeing a strategy unfold to undermine the 2026 election. It’s unprecedented and often illegal. And it will be a big and growing story for the next year and a half. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
This is a summer of brute force and performative cruelty. Now the new budget includes an astonishing increase in the size of ICE - making it the largest federal law enforcement agency by far. There's a better way. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Not the Fix Our Immigration System Needs
The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties — and it comes amid ICE’s resistance to lawful congressional oversight.
www.brennancenter.org
July 9, 2025 at 4:39 AM
This is a summer of brute force and performative cruelty. Now the new budget includes an astonishing increase in the size of ICE - making it the largest federal law enforcement agency by far. There's a better way. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Reposted by Michael Waldman
The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties. And it comes amid ICE’s resistance to congressional oversight.
bit.ly/4eF7rYs
bit.ly/4eF7rYs
Not the Fix Our Immigration System Needs
The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties — and it comes amid ICE’s resistance to lawful congressional oversight.
www.brennancenter.org
July 8, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The administration’s militarized immigration crackdown is eroding civil liberties. And it comes amid ICE’s resistance to congressional oversight.
bit.ly/4eF7rYs
bit.ly/4eF7rYs
Proud to sign this… www.weholdtruths.com
We Hold These Truths
www.weholdtruths.com
July 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Proud to sign this… www.weholdtruths.com
Reposted by Michael Waldman
In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Why the 4th of July Matters
In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality.
www.brennancenter.org
July 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
In every generation, the Declaration of Independence has stood for a more expansive promise of freedom and equality. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Bill Moyers lived a life committed to American democracy. At LBJ's side for civil rights (and Vietnam), he became a pioneering journalistic crusader on money and politics and voting. At @brennancenter.org we were honored to hear him over the years. In 2013 he spoke to our community:
The Great American Class War
In his speech at the Brennan Center's 2013 Legacy Awards Dinner, award-winning journalist Bill Moyers outlines the "unfinished work" that remains to be done in America's systems of democracy and justi...
www.brennancenter.org
June 26, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Bill Moyers lived a life committed to American democracy. At LBJ's side for civil rights (and Vietnam), he became a pioneering journalistic crusader on money and politics and voting. At @brennancenter.org we were honored to hear him over the years. In 2013 he spoke to our community:
Trump "always chickens out." Will the Supreme Court chicken out? www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Will Courts Keep Checking the President?
The Supreme Court shouldn’t back down.
www.brennancenter.org
June 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Trump "always chickens out." Will the Supreme Court chicken out? www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Does a President have the power to impose sweeping tariffs. No! That's our argument in a friend of the court brief we filed this week in a case brought by the conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance. We're proud to do it. The Constitution is clear and the law is unambiguous.
Amicus Brief in Emily Ley Paper et al., v. Trump
On May 12, 2025, the Brennan Center for Justice filed an amicus brief in Emily Ley Paper et al., v. Trump, opposing the government's motion to transfer the case to the United States Court of Internati...
www.brennancenter.org
May 15, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Does a President have the power to impose sweeping tariffs. No! That's our argument in a friend of the court brief we filed this week in a case brought by the conservative New Civil Liberties Alliance. We're proud to do it. The Constitution is clear and the law is unambiguous.
Yes, Presidents do have to uphold the Constitution. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump says ‘I don’t know’ when asked if he’s required to uphold Constitution
The president also downplayed fears of a recession and spoke of potential successors when his four-year term ends in an NBC interview.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 4, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Yes, Presidents do have to uphold the Constitution. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Fan fiction? Hardly. An important piece by my colleague Grady Short -- Canada's election is unfolding with a very different campaign finance system (no billionaires funded Super PACs, etc. etc. etc. etc.), robust public financing, and so on.
Canada shows how democracies can regulate campaign finance for the common good.
The Campaign Finance System Americans Could Have Had
Canada shows how democracies can regulate campaign finance for the common good.
www.brennancenter.org
April 24, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Fan fiction? Hardly. An important piece by my colleague Grady Short -- Canada's election is unfolding with a very different campaign finance system (no billionaires funded Super PACs, etc. etc. etc. etc.), robust public financing, and so on.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
With the sweeping worldwide tariffs — and their myriad exceptions and complications — the new imperial presidency meets the new billionaire politics.
A Second Gilded Age
Tariffs and favoritism are signs of a poisoned political era.
www.brennancenter.org
April 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
With the sweeping worldwide tariffs — and their myriad exceptions and complications — the new imperial presidency meets the new billionaire politics.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
"They walked the full length of the train and questioned every single passenger about their citizenship status"
A co-worker of mine (who is a judge), traveled by train from Montana to North Dakota for work this week. The train made a stop in Havre, MT, where ICE agents—armed and dressed in full military-style tactical gear—boarded the train.
The New America: Federal (ICE) Agents Boarding Trains?
By Judith Roberts * As an attorney I’m deeply alarmed by an incident that occurred just this week and feel compelled to share it—to raise aw...
weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com
April 19, 2025 at 2:21 AM
"They walked the full length of the train and questioned every single passenger about their citizenship status"
Reposted by Michael Waldman
The problem of tariffs goes beyond stock market decline. They open the door to lobbying, favoritism, and graft.
A Second Gilded Age
Tariffs and favoritism are signs of a poisoned political era.
www.brennancenter.org
April 17, 2025 at 5:53 PM
The problem of tariffs goes beyond stock market decline. They open the door to lobbying, favoritism, and graft.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
April 18, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Michael Waldman
The 2020 election was secure thanks in part to the critical work of CISA. Chris Krebs, appointed by President Trump to head that agency, did his job and told the truth about the election. /1
April 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The 2020 election was secure thanks in part to the critical work of CISA. Chris Krebs, appointed by President Trump to head that agency, did his job and told the truth about the election. /1
Reposted by Michael Waldman
Note to editors and producers: If an executive order demands action that is illegal or outside of the president’s authority, then you should not describe it as ordering something. You should say it seeks to achieve some outcome and then note it is illegal or beyond the power of the president.
March 28, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Note to editors and producers: If an executive order demands action that is illegal or outside of the president’s authority, then you should not describe it as ordering something. You should say it seeks to achieve some outcome and then note it is illegal or beyond the power of the president.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
"I think people a few months ago were checked out. A month ago, they were stunned and depressed. I think people are getting angry." @mawaldman.bsky.social on the growing public backlash against Trump and Elon Musk's cuts to the government.
March 3, 2025 at 1:05 AM
"I think people a few months ago were checked out. A month ago, they were stunned and depressed. I think people are getting angry." @mawaldman.bsky.social on the growing public backlash against Trump and Elon Musk's cuts to the government.
Reposted by Michael Waldman
President Trump says his administration is cleaning up a Justice Department corrupted by politics. https://cbsn.ws/3QRoCLr
February 24, 2025 at 12:18 AM
President Trump says his administration is cleaning up a Justice Department corrupted by politics. https://cbsn.ws/3QRoCLr
Tonight Donald Trump tried to fire the Democratic chair of the Federal Election Commission - the agency (weak as it is) charged with policing Elon Musk's unprecedented campaign spending on Trump's behalf. Wrong.
February 7, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Tonight Donald Trump tried to fire the Democratic chair of the Federal Election Commission - the agency (weak as it is) charged with policing Elon Musk's unprecedented campaign spending on Trump's behalf. Wrong.