Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

After a transgender high school athlete won two events at a California track and field competition, President Donald Trump has threatened to defund the state. On today's episode: Katie Barnes, author of Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates (St. Martin's Press, 2023), discusses the rules various leagues have set in place to ensure equity and inclusion and fact-checks some of the broader ideas held by the public about fairness and gender in sport.

A constituent told Sen. Joni Ernst that proposed Medicaid meant that "People are going to die." Sen. Ernst responded: "Well, we all are going to die."On Today's Show:Jonathan Lemire, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC; writer for MSNBC and contributing writer to The Atlantic, talks about the latest national political news, including Ernst's comments, what's brewing for Democrats regarding the 2028 election and more.

The Trump administration announced it would "aggressively revoke" student visas for Chinese students who are planning to study in the United States. On Today's Show:Liam Knox, the admissions and enrollment reporter for Inside Higher Ed and author of their Admissions Weekly newsletter, reports on the latest on that plus the dispute between the administration and Harvard over enrolling foreign students.

On today's show: Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center's Economic Policy Program, talks about the impact of raising the cap on SALT (state and local tax) deductions—and who benefits.

Why does one legal analyst say that the current Supreme Court is operating under a doctrine akin to “no law, just vibes?”On Today's Show:Leah Litman, professor of law at the University of Michigan and a former Supreme Court clerk, co-host of the podcast "Strict Scrutiny" and the author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2025), offers her take on the current Supreme Court, the major decisions coming this term.

New York City's CUNY system  recently lost federal funding for more than 70 research grants.On Today's Show:Denis Nash, professor of epidemiology at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and executive director of CUNY's Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, talks about the funding he recently lost on research related to COVID vaccine uptake, plus comments on the changes coming to how the COVID vaccine is rolled out for the next season.

Today, we revisit a conversation about the Equal Rights Amendment, and its current status.On Today's Show:Julie Suk, a law professor at Fordham University and the author of We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment (Skyhorse Publishing, 2020), reviews the history of the Equal Rights Amendment, from its introduction by Alice Paul in 1923 through its current disputed status, following passage by a 38th state and President Biden's declaration that it's the "law of the land."

This morning, the House passed a spending bill after many long late nights of negotiations. Now it moves on to the Senate.On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) talks about her work in Washington, and her view of the Trump and GOP budget proposal.

As President Trump attempts to get the House's new budget bill to pass, lawmakers met overnight to pursue amendments that could lead to compromise. On Today's Show:Marianna Sotomayor, congressional reporter for The Washington Post, where she covers lawmakers and debates on Capitol Hill, offers commentary on the bill's status.

On Sunday, House Republicans released their package of proposals that would cut federal spending on Medicaid and Obamacare.On Today's Show:U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ6), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, discusses what's in the bill, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says would cause 8.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance.

We unpack SCOTUS's decision to continue to prohibit the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members.On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019), offers legal analysis on how the courts are limiting executive power (or not).

Trump's administration has aimed to pare back federal funding to various parts of civic society.On Today's Show:Brian Boucher, contributor for Artnet News and journalist covering the New York art world, talks about how arts organizations are reacting to the Trump administration starting to cut their grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The federal government is aiming to take steps to reduce public funding to public media sources through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.On Today's Show:LaFontaine Oliver, president and CEO of New York Public Radio, talks about the executive order President Trump signed regarding federal funding for public media and what comes next for the NYPR and the broader system.

A Democratic senator outlines his critiques of the Trump administration, and outlines his prescription for protecting the guardrails of democracy.On Today's Show:Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator (D-CT), author ofThe Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy (Random House, 2020) talks about his critique of DHS and the effect of Trump administration policies in Connecticut.

At a recent primary event for Democrats hoping to be NJ's next Governor, candidates discussed how they are thinking about a relationship with President Trump's administration. On Today's Show:Michael Hill, WNYC Morning Edition host and Briana Vannozzi, anchor for "NJ Spotlight News," recap and offer analysis of a conversation between New Jersey's Democratic candidates for governor.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson has made comments characterizing the Trump administration's behavior toward the legal profession as "threats and harassment."On Today's Show:Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate covering courts and the law, previews the end of the Supreme Court term, and talks about the arrest of Newark NJ's mayor Ras Baraka.

In president Trump's first administration, he stated that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "not money". Now, his sons head their own crypto company.On Today's Show:David Yaffe-Bellany, technology reporter forThe New York Times, covering the crypto industry, shares his reporting on the ways the Trump family has financially benefitted from embracing the industry in these first few months of his second presidency.

Communication blackouts, delayed flights, staffing shortages -- New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport has been in crisis mode for the past week. On Today's Show:Pete Muntean, CNN correspondent covering aviation and transportation, pilot, and flight instructor, takes us behind the scenes of the multiday meltdown at Newark, and explains what's caused these problems for travelers and staff alike.

Last week, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Food and Drug Administration would require all new vaccines to be tested against placebos and to develop new vaccines without using mRNA technology.On Today's Show:Christina Jewett, reporter covering Food and Drug Administration forThe New York Times, explains what that will mean for future drugs, including COVID-19 booster shots, plus more FDA-related news headlines.

With the impacts of President Trump's trade wars beginning to be felt in the US, we discuss the macro- and micro-economics of the administration's trade policy.On Today's Show:Kimberly Adams, senior Washington correspondent for Marketplace and the co-host of the Marketplace podcast “Make Me Smart,” talks about the latest news on tariffs, including the end of the de minimis exemption, which may lead to higher prices for consumers. Plus, Arthur Dong, professor of strategy and economics at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, offers analysis of the US-China relationship as Beijing is considering whether it should begin to negotiate with President Trump on trade.

With officials and lawmakers in Washington D.C. discussing federal budget priorities, we look the coming year in government funding. On Today's Show:Kadia Goba, politics reporter for Semafor, reports on the latest news from Congress, including where things stand on budget negotiations, the SAVE Act and more.

Several cases of the Trump administration's immigration detentions and deportations have raised questions about due process.On Today's Show:Nick Miroff, staff writer for The Atlantic who covers immigration and the Department of Homeland Security, talks about the behind the scenes negotiations between the Trump administration and the president of El Salvador about the US sending deportees there, regardless of their country of origin. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously discussed  blocking women from military service, though has since backed off on those efforts.On Today's Show:Katherine Sharp Landdeck, professor of history and director of Pioneers Oral History Project at Texas Woman's University and the author of The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II (Crown, 2020), talks about American women in the military over the last century.

After 100 days of Trump's second term, questions have arisen about birthright citizenship, the arrests of judges and deportations without due process.On Today's Show:David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour, offers his assessment of Trump's second term so far, and the opposition that is beginning to form.

Recently, NJ Sen. Andy Kim made an unannounced visit to a federal immigration detention facility. On Today's Show:Andy Kim, U.S. Senator (D-NJ), talks about his work in the Senate and the issues facing the Garden State.

After his first few months in office, where have the initial actions of the Trump administration aligned with Project 2025?On Today's Show:David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of their daily newsletter, and author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2025), shares his analysis of President Trump's agenda.

The global influence of the Catholic church has been a historically important force on the international stage. On Today's Show:Daniel Rober, associate professor and department chair of the Catholic Studies department at Sacred Heart University, talks about the leading contenders to be the next pope, the fraught process in the Vatican and the different directions the next leader of the world's Catholics might take the church.

What constitutes an "authoritarian" government, and what causes them to fail?On Today's Show:Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, historian and author of Autocracy Inc. (Penguin, 2024), argues the checks on presidential power, put in place by the founders, have so far failed in the second Trump administration.

The National Institute of Health is set to cut funding for climate research.On Today's Show:Maggie Astor, New York Times reporter covering the intersection between health and public policy, explains the broader impact these cuts may have on our public health.

The Trump administration's recent deportation efforts have raised questions about the law around citizenship and the removal of non-citizens from the country.On Today's Show:Quinta Jurecic, contributing writer at The Atlantic, fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, and senior editor at Lawfare, offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court's recent rulings on deportation and how the Trump administration is responding.

President Trump has frozen some federal funds to Harvard University, and has a list of demands in order to unfreeze it.On Today's Show:Rick Seltzer, reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, talks about the latest news in the escalating fight between the Ivy League and the Trump administration, including how Harvard would likely have used that money, and what it means for higher education in the U.S. more broadly.

There's an ongoing stand-off between a federal judge and the Trump administration over their deportation practices. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019), shares her legal and political analysis. 

The legal and ethical considerations behind in vitro fertilization have gotten more complicated since SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade.On Today's Show:Anna Louie Sussman, freelance journalist covering gender, economics, health, and reproduction, discusses her three-part series for The New York Times about human embryos, which explores the IVF process today, and what it means for parenthood, privacy and society.

The Federal Trade Commission will argue that the social media giant Meta, formerly Facebook, maintained a monopoly after it bought Instagram and WhatsApp.On Today's Show:Cristiano Lima-Strong, associate editor at Tech Policy Press, offers analysis of the FTC's antitrust case.

As they head to recess, pressure mounts on Republican lawmakers to fulfill President Donald Trump's agenda.On Today's Show:Catie Edmondson, congressional correspondent for The New York Times, offers political analysis of the budget blueprints passed by Congress last week, including what tax and spending cuts might look like and why Republicans were far from united on this.

On Today's Show:William Cohan, co-founder of Puck News and author of many books, including Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon (Penguin Random House, 2022), offers analysis of the latest twists and turns of President Trump's trade war, and how Wall Street is reacting to the chaotic rollout — and rollback — of the tariffs. 

Every month, listeners have the opportunity to speak directly to their lawmakers.On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D NY), talks about her work in Washington, and the struggle by Democrats to hold the media's attention in their opposition to the Trump administration.

Today, we'll hear about the Supreme Court's recent decisions about certain Trump administration policies, and what it means for democracy.On Today's Show:Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny, and a contributing opinion writer with the New York Times, offers legal analysis of how the Supreme Court is acting as a check on the president so far (or not).

Last week thousands of federal employees who work for health agencies like the CDC, NIH and FDA lost their jobs. On Today's Show:Selena Simmons-Duffin, health policy correspondent for NPR, reports on what kinds of jobs and programs were cut and where the impact will be felt.

After a weekend of protests against the Trump administration, we hear from a leading Democrat who made headlines last week for an official act of dissent. On Today's Show:U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) talks about his record-breaking speech on the Senate floor last week and the Democratic response to Pres. Trump's agenda.

Global markets are in turmoil after President Trump announced his long-promised tariffs.On Today's Show:Kathryn Anne Edwards, economist and economic policy consultant, offers analysis of the market reaction and explains how they will hit consumers' wallets—plus how the overall economy may fare in the weeks and months ahead as other countries respond.

Democrats have enjoyed strong showings in special elections in Florida and a big win in Wisconsin this week, not to mention Sen. Cory Booker's record-breaking speech on the Senate floor.On Today's Show:Katie Glueck, political reporter at The New York Times, offers analysis of Dems' very good week.