Jamelle Bouie and David French of The New York Times, Sarah Isgur of The Dispatch, and Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law join Jeffrey Rosen to make sense of the relationship between the Roberts Court and the Trump administration. They discuss how the Supreme Court might resolve open legal questions—including impoundment and the unitary executive theory—and debate the Court’s role in maintaining the separation of powers.
This conversation was originally recorded on February 22, 2025, as part of the NCC’s President’s Council Retreat in Miami, Florida.
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This episode was produced by Samson Mostashari and Bill Pollock. It was engineered by Bill Pollock and Advanced Staging Productions. Research was provided by Samson Mostashari and Cooper Smith
Participants
Jamelle Bouie is an opinion columnist for the New York Times, where he covers history and politics. A former political analyst for CBS News, he previously served as chief political correspondent for Slate magazine and staff writer at The Daily Beast.
David French is a New York Times opinion columnist and hosts the legal podcast Advisory Opinions. Before that, he was a senior editor at The Dispatch, which he helped start, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. His most recent book is Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation (2020)
Sarah Isgur is currently a staff writer at The Dispatch, hosts the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, and frequently appears as a legal analyst on cable news. Prior to joining The Dispatch, Sarah served in the Justice Department as the director of the Office of Public Affairs and as senior counsel to the deputy attorney general.
Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at NYU Law. She’s also one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny. She is a leading expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice. Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Murray was on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where she was the recipient of the Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction. From March 2016 to June 2017, she served as interim dean of Berkeley Law.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Melissa Murray (with Leah Litman and Kate Shaw), “Yes, We’re in a Constitutional Crisis” Strict Scrutiny podcast (Feb. 17, 2025)
- Jamelle Bouie, Michelle Cottle, David French, and Carlos Lozada, “Opinion: Don’t be Fooled, ‘Trump is a Weak President’” The New York Times (Feb. 14, 2025)
- David French, “The Trump Crisis Deepens,” The New York Times (Feb. 6, 2025)
- Sarah Isgur and David French, “Lawless or Unwise?” Advisory Opinions podcast (Feb. 14, 2025)
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