2025: Year in Review

Video Description

This year we saw extraordinary threats to American democracy: an executive power grab, attacks on the freedom to vote, and more. Yet we also saw a growing response, from court rulings to citizen alarm. What happened? And what can we expect next? Speakers: Sean Morales-Doyle, Director, Voting Rights and Elections Program Wendy Weiser, Vice President, Democracy Program Daniel I. Weiner, Director, Elections and Government Program Katherine Yon Ebright, Counsel, Liberty and National Security Program Moderator: Michael Waldman, President and CEO Recorded on December 16, 2025. Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing, at https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing. The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to repair, revitalize, and defend our systems of democracy and justice so they work for all Americans. The Brennan Center cannot support or oppose any candidate for office. 00:00:00 Introduction: Michael Waldman on a Year of Testing the Constitution 00:01:42 Presidential Power Grab: Expanding Authority and Breaking Norms 00:02:40 Conflating Crime and War: The Unprecedented Use of Military Force 00:03:41 The Alien Enemies Act: A Wartime Law Deployed for Mass Deportations 00:05:13 Judicial Pushback: Trial Courts Standing Up to Executive Overreach 00:07:31 Public Sentiment on Due Process and Immigration Policy 00:10:02 Confluence of Power: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the New "Gilded Age" 00:11:45 corruption Reimagined: Personal Aggrandizement and Crypto Interests 00:13:20 Unitary Executive Theory: Dismantling traditional Checks and Balances 00:15:36 Article III vs. National Security: Can Judges Check the President? 00:17:48 The Supreme Court and Tariffs: Unilateral Power vs. Constitutional Law 00:19:38 Michael McConnell on the Significance of the Steel Seizure Precedent 00:22:30 The Failure of Congress and the Decline of Campaign Finance Laws 00:24:40 Cynicism and the "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" Jurisprudence 00:26:00 Political Tides: The Public Response to Radical Immigration Policies 00:28:40 Accountability vs. Solution: The Need for an Aggressive Reform Agenda 00:30:26 2025 Voting and Election Review with Wendy Weiser and Sean Morales-Doyle 00:31:14 Sending a Message: Pardoning the January 6th Protesters 00:32:58 Hoovering Data: The Massive Effort to Construct a National Voter File 00:35:00 Risks of Centralized Data: Disinformation and Voter Purges 00:37:13 The Anti-Voting Executive Order: Purporting to Change Election Rules 00:39:06 Brennan Center Victory: Winning the Halloween Lawsuit against Passport Mandates 00:41:20 Texas Redistricting: Racial Gerrymandering and Shadow Docket Rulings 00:44:00 The SAVE Act: analyzing the "Show Me Your Papers" Legislation 00:45:23 Impacts on Married Women and Access to Citizenship Documents 00:47:38 groundswell of Opposition: Why the SAVE Act Stalled in the Senate 00:49:36 Harning the System: Standing with Local Election Officials 00:51:30 Vigilance against Intimidation and Masked Federal Agents 00:53:52 Building Back Better: Restoring the Voting Rights Act and Fairness 00:56:30 Responsive Democracy: Competitive Elections and billionaire Influence 01:00:00 Summary of 2025: A Moment of Clarity Amid Constitutional Despair 01:03:00 The Kernal of an Idea: Making Government Work Better and Fixing Democracy 01:05:40 Closing Thoughts: From Degradation to a Season of Reform and Renewal