The Oath and The Office
Two Squared Media Productions
Mixing sharp wit and serious political fire, The Oath and The Office is where hard-hitting constitutional analysis meets razor-sharp comedy. Distinguished political science professor Corey Brettschneider teams up with comedian John Fugelsang to break down the most powerful 35 words in American democracy—the presidential oath of office. Every president swears to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Constitution, but what happens when one openly attacks democracy and the rule of law itself? Each week, Corey and John pull no punches, exposing the latest threats to the rule of law and demanding accountability. Smart, fearless, and wickedly funny—this is the civics lesson you can’t afford to miss.
Recent Episodes
20 episodesTrump’s Imperial Presidency: Bogus Charges and Foreign Wars
Trump’s claim of power above the law is showing up on every front: bogus prosecutions, deportation threats, attacks on speech, war powers, and military escalation abroad.This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang start with the dismissal of human trafficking charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. A federal judge found the prosecution vindictive and selective, a major rebuke to a Trump DOJ that tried to punish a man after he fought back against his unlawful deportation.Then Corey and John turn to Mahmoud Khalil, where the Trump administration is pushing another dangerous claim: that noncitizens can be detained and deported for political speech. They also discuss new congressional pushback against Trump’s war in Iran and the DOJ indictment of Raúl Castro, as the administration invokes “law and order” while expanding American military power in Latin America.Then filmmaker Andrew Glazer joins the show to discuss "Spring of the Vanishing", his investigative documentary on the American military’s alleged complicity in killings of innocent civilians by the Mexican military during the drug war. The conversation becomes a broader warning about how the war on drugs has been used to destroy civil liberties at home and abroad.The theme running through all of it: Trump’s imperial presidency is not just a foreign policy problem. It is a threat to constitutional democracy here at home.Subscribe to The Oath and The Office wherever you get your podcasts, and help us expose abuses of presidential power before they become the new normal.Watch Spring of the Vanishing: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0LAGR1QS4QZ2PIWOMLFK18KJ2K
The Secret Memos Behind the Supreme Court’s Shadow Docket (with Jodi Kantor)
What is the Supreme Court doing when it acts without full briefing, oral argument, or a real explanation?This week on The Oath and The Office, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor joins the podcast to explain the Court’s shadow docket: the emergency orders process that has become one of the most powerful and least understood parts of American government.Kantor discusses the Supreme Court memos she obtained with Adam Liptak, what they reveal about Chief Justice John Roberts, and how they relate to the Court’s supposed image as a neutral “umpire".Corey and John also discuss Trump’s proposed “anti-weaponization” compensation fund, the politics of abortion and the abortion pill at the Supreme Court, and the Court’s emergency order allowing Alabama to move forward with redrawn congressional maps.In this episode:What the shadow docket is and why it mattersJodi Kantor on Supreme Court memosThe two sides of John RobertsWhy the “umpire” model of judging has collapsedAbortion, Alabama, and emergency Supreme Court powerTrump’s “anti-weaponization” fund and the politics of grievanceThe immunity case and presidential powerLink to Jodi Kantor's book, How to Start: https://jodikantor.com/how-to-startLink to Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak's reporting on the secret memos of the Supreme Court: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html
Can Trump Undo Our Citizenship Rights? (with ACLU’s Cecilia Wang)
This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin with the new redistricting wars, as southern states move to dilute Black Americans’ voting power after a green light from the Supreme Court. They look at Tennessee, Alabama, and the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision striking down a voting plan approved by voters.Then, they turn to citizenship itself: DOJ support for stripping citizenship from naturalized citizens and Trump’s attacks on his own Supreme Court justices.Corey then speaks with Cecilia Wang, National Legal Director of the ACLU, who argued before the Supreme Court against Trump’s executive order attacking birthright citizenship, with Trump himself watching from the courtroom. Wang explains why the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment are on her side, how Reconstruction transformed the Constitution, and why the fight over citizenship is part of the larger battle for voting rights, civil liberties, and democracy itself.
The Supreme Court’s Assault on Our Rights (with Kate Shaw)
The Supreme Court is reshaping American democracy — weakening voting rights, empowering the presidency, and narrowing the protections that have defined modern civil rights law.John Fugelsang and Corey Brettschneider begin with the Court’s assault on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the fallout for democratic participation across the country. They also discuss Trump’s attacks on James Comey, threats against ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, and the broader campaign of intimidation against critics and dissenters.Then constitutional law scholar Kate Shaw joins the show to discuss how the Court is enabling Trump’s authoritarianism, including the pending fight over Temporary Protected Status, the shadow docket, emergency rulings on immigration and executive power, and her recent exchange with Senator Josh Hawley over nationwide injunctions.What happens when the courts weaken voting rights while expanding presidential power? And what does it mean for the future of constitutional democracy?Subscribe to The Oath and The Office wherever you get podcasts.
Trump’s War on Truth and Science (with James Morone)
Trump briefly talked about “cooling things down.” Then came the escalation.This week on The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang look at how President Trump is using political violence not as a reason for restraint, but as a weapon against his opponents. Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah are targeted for jokes. A 60 Minutes interview becomes another venue for attacking the press. And the administration’s suit against the Southern Poverty Law Center raises a larger question: is law enforcement being turned into a tool of political retaliation?We also turn to the Supreme Court’s major Fourth Amendment case over geofence warrants and cell location data. The old law-school hypotheticals about government surveillance no longer feel hypothetical. With companies like Palantir helping build the modern surveillance state, the threat of databases tracking protesters, dissidents, and political opponents is suddenly very real.Then Corey is joined by James A. Morone, Professor Emeritus at Brown University and one of the country’s leading political scientists, to discuss his new book with David Blumenthal, "Whiplash: From the Battle for Obamacare to the War on Science". The book tells the inside story of how Obama, Trump, and Biden transformed health care politics, from the fight over Obamacare to COVID, Operation Warp Speed, anti-poverty policy, and Trump’s war on science itself.Get the book from Yale University Press:https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300263480/whiplash/
Trump’s Supreme Court, the Shadow Docket, and the New Normal (with Aaron Parnas)
Has Trump changed American politics so deeply that what once seemed dangerous now feels normal?In this episode of The Oath and The Office, we begin with the Supreme Court: the shadow docket, Clarence Thomas, and a judiciary that increasingly operates with extraordinary power and too little accountability.We then turn to the case against the former CIA director, along with the resignation of a Justice Department prosecutor, and ask what these developments reveal about the state of law, accountability, and political pressure inside the justice system.Then Aaron Parnas joins us. Parnas has built a massive audience by reporting breaking political news to a younger generation in real time, often outside traditional media. We ask him a bigger question: can the news be reported outside the wider context of the threat to democracy? And when Parnas argues that much of this feels normal to people who grew up in the Trump era, Corey asks what it means when democratic crisis starts to feel ordinary.We also discuss Trump’s reported pressure on the IRS, the questions surrounding Kash Patel and the FBI, and why these stories may be part of a much broader pattern.This is a conversation about power, accountability, and the risk of treating democratic erosion as the new normal.
Trump vs. the Pope
Trump says the pope should stay out of politics. But when Trump posts himself as Jesus, attacks independent moral authority, and demands loyalty from every institution, the real goal is not religious neutrality. It is control.In this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin with Trump’s clash with the pope and what it reveals about the authoritarian impulse: not keeping religion out of politics, but bending religion to serve power.Then they turn to Hungary, where Viktor Orbán’s loss offers a real sign of hope. Even after gerrymandering and years of democratic erosion, autocrats can still be challenged and defeated.They also break down two more revealing stories: a judge throwing out Trump’s defamation suit over the Epstein birthday-card report, and the administration’s move to abandon civil-rights settlements protecting trans students. Taken together, these stories show the same pattern: attacks on truth, attacks on vulnerable people, and attacks on any institution unwilling to bend to raw power.This episode is about more than one controversy. It is about the larger authoritarian playbook — and why resistance still matters.
Is Trump Committing War Crimes? Lawrence Douglas on Hegseth, Nuremberg, and the Criminal State
Can a president commit war crimes? Can a defense secretary? And what would it take to hold either one accountable?Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang open with the Supreme Court showdown over Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship. After Trump became the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer faced tough questioning from several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who delivered the line of the day: “It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.” Corey and John break down why the administration’s argument looked weak, why Wong Kim Ark remains the key precedent, and what the hearing may signal about the fate of Trump’s effort to gut birthright citizenship.They also discuss the latest chaos inside Trump’s Justice Department after Pam Bondi was pushed out as attorney general and replaced, for now, by Todd Blanche, another Trump loyalist. From there, they turn to the Supreme Court’s move that could wipe away Steve Bannon’s contempt conviction, and what it says about accountability in Trump’s Washington.Then Corey and John are joined by Lawrence Douglas of Amherst College, professor of law, jurisprudence, and social thought, and author of "The Criminal State", for a chilling conversation about whether Trump is committing war crimes, whether Pete Hegseth could face exposure as a war criminal, and how leaders who authorize brutality can be held to account. They explore the continuing relevance of Nuremberg, the legal meaning of crimes carried out by the state, and whether American institutions still have the power to confront criminality at the top. This is a sober, urgent discussion about impunity, presidential violence, and the future of the rule of law
Before Project 2025: How the Right Built Trump’s Power Grab (with David Sirota)
Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship is only part of the story. The bigger danger is a decades-long effort to free the presidency from constitutional limits.Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang begin by breaking down Trump’s latest argument against birthright citizenship, why it misreads the Constitution, and what is really at stake in the legal fight.Then David Sirota joins to trace the deeper roots of Trump’s power grab: the conservative blueprints that helped lay the groundwork for Project 2025, the lessons of Nixon and Reagan, and the long campaign to expand executive power.In this episode:Trump’s attack on birthright citizenshipwhy the constitutional case against it failsthe antecedents of Project 2025Nixon, Reagan, and the growth of presidential powerwhy the No Kings protests matterwhat reforms could restore real limits on the presidencyThis episode is about more than one policy fight. It’s about how the presidency was reshaped, and whether American democracy can still impose meaningful limits on executive power.
Mueller Warned Congress. Trump Celebrated His Death.
Trump’s reaction to Robert Mueller’s death was grotesque. But the deeper question is what Congress failed to do when Mueller was alive: why didn’t it impeach Trump based on the Mueller report? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang revisit Mueller’s findings, the Nixon parallel, and the constitutional failure that still shapes Trump’s presidency.Then: a major Supreme Court voting-rights case out of Mississippi, ICE at airports as a new front in Trump’s immigration crackdown, and a federal judge’s ruling against Pentagon restrictions on defense reporters.Plus, a listener from the U.K. asks a question many Americans are asking too: could Trump really defy the Constitution and try for a third term?This week’s episode connects the week’s biggest legal and political stories into one urgent question: how many constitutional guardrails are still holding?Learn more about the ACLU and its upcoming Supreme Court case at aclu.org/barbara.
Stacey Abrams on the SAVE Act: The New Voter Suppression Threat
Is the SAVE Act really about election security — or is it a new blueprint for voter suppression?On this episode of The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the latest fight over the SAVE Act, why its proof-of-citizenship requirement could make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to register and vote, and what this battle reveals about the future of democracy.Then Stacey Abrams joins the show to explain what the bill would do, why it is so dangerous, and how the broader attack on voting rights fits into the Trump-era push to undermine democratic institutions.Also in this episode: Gregory Bovino is out, Judge Boasberg pushes back against politically charged legal tactics, and Trump lashes out at the courts yet again.This is a conversation about voter suppression, constitutional democracy, and who gets to decide the future of the country.Learn more about the ACLU and its upcoming Supreme Court case at aclu.org/barbara.
Trump’s War and the Imperial Presidency
Trump’s shifting war aims are a warning sign of the imperial presidency. We examine how changing justifications for war weaken democratic accountability, whether Congress can still use the power of the purse to stop an illegal war, how the Anthropic story reflects resistance to expanding executive power, why the growing influence of billionaires in American elections is making constitutional democracy even more fragile, and why Kristi Noem’s exit at Homeland Security was a rare reminder of how congressional oversight is supposed to work—even if her replacement may not be better.This episode is sponsored by Princeton University Press. Learn more about Mark Peterson’s new book, The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History:https://hubs.ly/Q0432vyk0
Can Congress Stop Trump’s War?
As the prospect of a U.S. military clash with Iran returns to the headlines, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the constitutional stakes: who actually controls the power to start—and stop—a war?They explain the War Powers Resolution of 1973, why Congress passed it after Vietnam, how the 60-day clock is supposed to work, and why the law was weakened in the 1980s—leaving presidents with wide room to maneuver. What can Congress realistically do today if Trump escalates conflict?They also discuss Bill Clinton testifying before Congress—and what it reveals about accountability, separation of powers, and the political checks that still matter.Plus: listener questions on billionaire political influence and citizen resistance.The Oath and The Office is hosted by Corey Brettschneider (Brown University professor and author of The Presidents and The People, ABA Silver Gavel Award) and John Fugelsang (SiriusXM host).
Trump Loses in Court — But Pressure Remains on the Press and Late Night (with Mike Pesca)
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.
Title Trump’s FCC Pressures Late Night — Even as Resistance Wins
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
DOJ Payback Politics (with Preet Bharara)
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.
Trump vs. the Rule of Law: A 5-Year-Old Detained + Election Power Grab
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 Then & Now: The Insurrection Blueprint (with Tom Joscelyn)
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 itThe growing wave of court pushback and legal scrutiny aimed at ICE tactics in MinnesotaWhere the politics stand on defunding ICE—and what real oversight would requireDOJ’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
DOJ vs. Trump: The Indictment That Never Came (with Glenn Kirschner)
The indictment that never came is still shaping DOJ’s ongoing battle with Trump.In the first half, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down this week’s accountability flashpoints:The push to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — what impeaching a cabinet official actually means and why it matters nowThe Supreme Court fight tied to the FTC with huge stakes for independent agencies and the question of whether a president can threaten the Federal ReserveThe looming tariff decision — and how tariffs are being used as political leverage, including in Trump’s pressure campaign involving GreenlandThen Corey and John are joined by Glenn Kirschner (former federal prosecutor) for a blunt, inside-the-system conversation about:What went wrong with Robert MuellerThe decision not to indict Trump — and the precedent it setHow DOJ “corruption” happens in real life: pressure, incentives, normalizationThe hardest moral call for public servants: stay and fight, or resign and warn the countryIf the law won’t check power, what will?
ICE Kills Renee Good: Can Minnesota Charge? + Trump’s White-Grievance Politics
An ICE agent killed Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis—so can Minnesota bring charges, even if federal officials try to block accountability? We break down what local prosecutors can do, what legal shields federal agents may claim, and why this case is turning into a major constitutional showdown over law enforcement power and democratic control.Then: Trump “unmasks” himself with rhetoric that escalates racial conflict—reviving the “reverse discrimination” frame and claiming white Americans have been “badly treated.” We unpack what that message is designed to do politically, and what it signals about the future of civil-rights enforcement.Finally: a warning on Greenland—military planning and the use of force without Congress isn’t “strong”—it’s illegal. We explain the constitutional limits, what counts as an unlawful order, and what service members are (and aren’t) required to follow.In this episode:• Minneapolis: the legal path to state charges after Good’s killing• Trump’s racial grievance politics—and why it matters right now• Greenland: Congress, war powers, and the legality of military orders