The “America Has a King Now’ Edition
The Supreme Court hands down a mix of decisions on several of this term’s most consequential cases: in Slaughter and Cook, Trump’s attempted firings at the FTC and the Fed redefine executive power; birthright citizenship prevails; and the Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes.
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Episode Notes
This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host Ruth Marcus discuss this week’s momentous Supreme Court rulings. The FTC/Slaughter case overturns nearly a century of precedent protecting independent agencies from presidential power while Cook makes a suspicious exception for the Fed, birthright citizenship prevails on constitutional grounds but the close vote further reveals what’s broken at the court, and the court rules against transgender people, again, by upholding state bans on trans athletes.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
John Kruzel for Reuters: Supreme Court strengthens Trump’s hold on key levers of government power
The Editorial Board of The New York Times: Opinion: The Court’s Hypocrisy
Cass R. Sunstein and Philip Hamburger for The New York Times: Opinion: Guest Essay: What Is the Supreme Court Doing to Presidential Power?
The Editors of National Review: If the Fed Is Not Executive, What Is It?
Stephen L. Carter for Bloomberg: Opinion: The Supreme Court Drew the Right Line on Trump’s Firing Spree
Amy B. Wang and Maegan Vazquez for The Washington Post: NPR retracts story reporting Justice Alito is retiring from Supreme Court
Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship
The Editorial Board of The New York Times: Opinion: The Supreme Court Remembers Its Principles
The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Trump Loses on Birthright Citizenship
The Editorial Board of The Washington Post: Opinion: The Supreme Court’s birthright overreach
Ruth Marcus for The New Yorker: The Supreme Court’s Check on Trump’s Power Was Too Close for Comfort
Adrian Carrasquillo for The Bulwark: Trump Lost on Birthright Citizenship. But He’s Winning the Immigration Wars.
Jonah Goldberg for The Dispatch: The Birthright Citizenship Debate Is About to Get Worse
Louise Radnofsky and James Romoser for The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Upholds State Restrictions on Transgender Athletes
Chris Geidner for LawDork (Substack): Supreme Court’s conservatives OK trans sports bans
Suzanne B. Goldberg for MS NOW: Opinion: The Supreme Court’s ruling on trans athletes is legal scapegoating
Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court’s trans sports ruling is a cautionary tale for all left-leaning lawyers
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Sean Gregory for Time: The U.S. Can Thank Birthright Citizenship for Its Best World Cup Player; Mike Lee for Politico: About that ‘OUR SOIL’ meme
Ruth: HBO: Somebody Somewhere; Stef Rubino for Autostraddle: Want to Learn What It’s Like to Be Queer in America? Watch ‘Somebody Somewhere’; Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture: A ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Spectacle
David: Town & Country, a novel by Brian Schaefer
Listener chatter from Lauren Binstock in Toronto, Canada: Canada Ant Colony x Down the Anthill: Ant Cowboys: Ants Injure Aphids for Easy Farming; Ada McVean for McGill Office for Science and Society: Farmer ants and their aphid herds
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, David, and guest host Ruth Marcus discuss how Trump’s rally-turned-fireworks-delay, a militarized downtown, and a rebranded “Freedom 250” have turned DC’s festivities into a loyalty test. They ponder whether skipping DC’s fireworks means ceding the flag to Trump and if attending old-fashioned local cookouts and parades is the more patriotic move.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with Senator Chris Murphy about his new book, Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. Murphy lays out a provocative agenda for Democrats to call Americans to national service, break up corporate power, rebuild local communities, and create a bigger tent that reaches disaffected conservatives hungry for change.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Nina Porzucki
Research by Emily Ditto
You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.
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Find out more about David Plotz’s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.