His tenure has included multiple ethics scandals, as well as votes that helped roll back voting rights and ushered in ...

The Supreme Court’s decision to destroy what remained of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais will take every ...

Last week, President Trump issued a new executive order that aims to illegally rewrite the rules for federal elections. The principal thrust of the order is to charge the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ...

You’re reading The Briefing, Michael Waldman’s weekly newsletter. Click here to receive it in your inbox. The late 19th century was a dismal time in American politics. Corruption ran rampant. Congress ...

You’re reading The Briefing, Michael Waldman’s weekly newsletter. Click here to receive it in your inbox. As the war in the Middle East launched by President Trump continues to unfold, the president ...

This article first appeared in Just Security. In the 1970s, congressional investigators revealed that the FBI, NSA, and CIA had spent decades illegally surveilling and harassing the civil rights and ...

Efforts to secure full political representation for the District of Columbia have gained momentum, but obstacles remain. The nearly 700,000 residents of Washington, DC, do not have full voting ...

Since May, the Trump administration has been on a quest to collect complete voter files from almost every state. Most states have refused the Justice Department’s unprecedented demands for the data, ...

With its latest gerrymandering decision, the Court is creating a political system primed for distortion and deeper division. You’re read­ing The Brief­ing, Michael Wald­­­­­man’s weekly ...

What is the Federal Prison Oversight Act? Signed into law in 2024, the Federal Prison Oversight Act was designed to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. prison system, which is the ...

Ten years ago, the Supreme Court eviscerated a central component of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. That decision removed the requirement for jurisdictions with histories of racial ...

The Brennan Center’s 2026 survey of local election officials finds ongoing concerns about government support, personal safety, and political interference. Federal cuts to election security support, ...