The Oath and The Office

Trump just suffered a major Supreme Court defeat. A significant tariffs ruling limits presidential power and reasserts Congress’s authority — applying a doctrine once confined to agencies directly to a president. But don’t mistake this for resolution. A reauthorization attempt could trigger a new wave of litigation and deepen the constitutional fight.

Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang also examine how Judge Cannon stalled Jack Smith at a pivotal moment — and what the prosecution of a former prince reveals about how accountability for powerful leaders can succeed… and how it can fail.

Then we widen the lens.

Mike Pesca (The Gist, NPR) joins us to explore “soft” censorship and the pressure facing American journalism — including the late-night flashpoint. Can regulatory scrutiny, “equal time” rhetoric, and public threats chill speech without an outright ban? We discuss the FCC’s evolving posture, the late-night controversy, the Bari Weiss debate (and Mike’s distinct take), and what citizens can actually do to resist intimidation.

The courts may be holding.
But pressure on speech — and democratic guardrails — is intensifying.

Trump’s FCC is pressuring late-night TV — and CBS is hesitating. What happens when regulators don’t censor speech outright, but make networks afraid to air it?

In Minnesota, democratic guardrails held. A far-right witness was exposed in a Senate hearing and a judge blocked cuts to critical public health funding. Proof that pushback can succeed.

Then the counter-move. Under the Trump administration, the Federal Communications Commission has signaled it will enforce the equal-time rule against late-night and daytime talk shows — a shift that made CBS lawyers nervous about Stephen Colbert’s interview with James Talarico, a Texas Senate candidate. Colbert has blasted the move as political intimidation, and critics argue it reflects a broader effort to chill speech rather than a neutral application of regulatory fairness rules. What happens when government doesn’t censor speech outright — but makes networks afraid to air it?

Plus: a Presidents’ Day special — five presidents who threatened democracy and the warning signs we’re seeing again. Drawing on The Presidents and The People, Corey Brettschneider connects today’s battles to the deeper history of democratic erosion — and what it takes to stop it.

📘 Get The Presidents and The People:

https://www.amazon.com/Presidents-People-Threatened-Democracy-Citizens/dp/1324006277

Trump is turning DOJ into payback politics—and this week shows the playbook in action: pressure around the Gateway tunnel, a reporter’s home searched, the Clinton subpoena spectacle, and a growing recruiting crisis inside the department.

Then Preet Bharara on the warning we missed: Trump forcing the showdown that got Preet fired—an early preview of today’s collapse of prosecutorial independence. We break down political prosecutions (Comey, James), the hard edge cases where “law enforcement” gets murky, how the ethics of staying vs. resigning change in a corrupt regime, and where real hope comes from now.

A federal judge warns that Trump is violating the principles of law and the Declaration of Independence—and this week’s events show exactly what that means in practice.

We break down the detention of a five-year-old and the collapse of due process, Trump’s threat against Trevor Noah and the future of free speech, and the raid on a Georgia election center. We also examine the authoritarian “tell” behind Trump’s call to “nationalize the voting”.

Plus: Trump’s reported Fed Chair pick Kevin Warsh and the Epstein-files connection—and a brief turn to Bruce Springsteen on moral imagination and democracy.

The Oath and The Office — weekly analysis of constitutional democracy under pressure.

Jan. 6 wasn’t just a riot—it was a blueprint. This week, we connect Jan. 6 then to now and ask the core question of self-government: what happens when federal power starts acting as if the rules don’t apply?

Hosts Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang are joined by Tom Joscelyn—senior House Judiciary staff and a principal author of the House January 6 Committee’s final report—for a deep dive into the pressure campaign on Mike Pence, the false-electors plot, and why white supremacy and Christian nationalism were central to the attempt to overturn the election. Most importantly: how that same playbook is reappearing right now—and what it means for the rule of law.

Before Tom joins, Corey and John break down the week’s accountability flashpoints:
The killing of a Minnesota nurse—and the competing public narratives and misinformation surrounding it
The growing wave of court pushback and legal scrutiny aimed at ICE tactics in Minnesota
Where the politics stand on defunding ICE—and what real oversight would require
DOJ’s move to file criminal complaints tied to the St. Paul church protest, plus the magistrate judge’s refusal to approve a warrant prosecutors sought (including an attempt involving Don Lemon)
A reported memo directing ICE agents to proceed with operations—including entry onto private property—regardless of warrants or legal standing, and what that means for constitutional rights