Michael Waldman

His recent article details the growing influence of right-wing activists on America's local elections.

And he's joining me now alongside the president of the Brennan Center for Justice, Michael Waldman.

Uh, welcome both of you.

M- Michael, let me start with you.

He's a constitutional expert, so, um, walking into a constitutional crisis, um, I, I don't know that, that he would even go that far.

But, uh, those, um, tho- those are the warnings from Michael Luttig.

Uh, Michael Waldman, Talu Olorunnipa, thank you.

Great to have you both on the show.

They are asking the Supreme Court to greenlight a government list that uses Social Security data to determine whether would-be voters are citizens or not.

Problem is, this administration doesn't have a great track record for accuracy, which may be the point for a president who loves to repeat lies and false claims about elections.

If an official, a voting official, even asks somebody for voter ID, sir, we'd like to see your identification.

Do you come from our country? They put them in jail.

administration hell-bent on making it as difficult as possible for people to vote.

Joining me now, Melissa Murray, an MSNOW legal analyst and former clerk to Sonia Sotomayor, former FBI assistant special agent and MSNOW national security and intelligence analyst, Michael Feinberg, MSNOW political analyst and professor of politics and journalism at Morgan State University, Jason Johnson.

Also with me in studio, former Clinton speechwriter and president for the Brennan Center for Justice, Michael Waldman.

Michael Feinberg, I just want you to put on your investigative hat for us.

This is the US Postal Service attempts to implement President Trump's executive order aimed at limiting mail-in voting.

Constitutional law expert Michael Waldman, president of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice.

The Constitution says states run elections.

Congress has a legitimate role.

Congratulations, Rev.

Also with us, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Michael Waldman.

It's good to see you both.

Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, the Postal Service moved to implement the order restricting mail-in voting.

That triggered yet another wave of lawsuits from Democratic-led states, which Judge Talwani now says, quote, "Face irreparable harm where they are required to comply with a likely unconstitutional regulation for which compliance is practically impossible as to the 2026 midterm elections," now little more than two months away.

And that, quote, "In any event, the USPS interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote." We're back with Reverend Al Sharpton and Michael Waldman.

Uh, Michael, your reaction to this ruling?

Hello and welcome to The Briefing, a weekly conversation with leaders and experts to explore the ideas shaping our democracy today.

I'm Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice.

I want to update you on something you may have seen on the news, got a lot of attention, a Supreme Court ruling on Donald Trump's executive order on mail voting.

As I told a journalist earlier today, I am alarmed by this, but not freaked out.

It also lets another shoe drop in the Kafkaesque nightmare that our precedents have been steadily creating." And one, I would add, that we are all now living through.

With questions about how you will cast your vote and your ballot on the line, let's bring in Melissa Murray, former law clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, NYU law professor, and MSNBC legal analyst, and Michael Waldman was chief speechwriter for President Clinton and is president of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice.

Melissa, these six justices, they had a chance to tell the president, "No, you can't change the election rules 70 days out." They did not.

How does that reflect on this court?

It is not a final decision on this question.

It is not a final word.

Does that then though, Michael Waldman, leave everyone in limbo?

Uh, it, there's a lot of noise and a lot of confusion from something like this, but for voters, the bottom line is they can still vote.

Hello, and welcome to The Briefing, a weekly conversation with leaders and experts to explore the ideas shaping our democracy today.

I'm Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice.

Mark Twain once said, "There is no Native American criminal class except for Congress." We've been joking about Congress, yelling at Congress from the beginning.

It's part of our democratic heritage.