In Donald Trump’s first term in office, the American Civil Liberties Union filed four hundred and thirty-four lawsuits against the Administration. Since Trump’s second Inauguration, the A.C.L.U. has filed cases to block executive orders ending birthright citizenship, defunding gender-affirming health care, and more. If the Administration defies a judge’s order to fully reinstate government funds frozen by executive order, Anthony Romero, the A.C.L.U.’s executive director, says, we will have arrived at a constitutional crisis. “We’re at the Rubicon,” Romero says. “Whether we’ve crossed it remains to be seen.” Romero has held the job since 2001—he started just days before September 11, 2001—and has done the job under four Presidents. He tells David Remnick that it’s nothing new for Presidents to chafe at judicial obstacles to implement their agendas; Romero mentions Bill Clinton’s attempts to strip courts of certain powers as notably aggressive. But, “if Trump decides to flagrantly defy a judicial order, then I think . . . we’ve got to take to the streets in a different way. We’ve got to shut down this country.”
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From the online spectacle around Leo XIV's election to our favorite on-screen cardinals. This week on Critics at Large, we're talking all things Pope.
The Catholic Church was made for this moment. I think 2,000 years ago, the Catholic Church basically anticipated TikTok, Instagram, X. You don't have those little Swiss guard outfits and think they're not being photographed. Oil painting is not enough.
I'm Vincent Cunningham. Join me and my co-hosts for an episode on what can only be described as Pope Week. New episodes of Critics at Large drop every Thursday. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. In Donald Trump's first term in office, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, filed 434 lawsuits against the administration. They included suits against the so-called Muslim ban and family separation at the border and many more. There is no telling how many lawsuits they will file in a second Donald Trump administration.
The executive director of the ACLU is Anthony Romero. Romero has held the job since 2001, September 2001 to be exact. He started in the role just a few days before the September 11th attack. Romero has done the job under four presidents.
Since Donald Trump's second inauguration, the ACLU has filed suits to block executive orders ending birthright citizenship, defunding gender-affirming health care, and much more. I spoke with Anthony Romero last week. Let's begin with the most essential question, legal and political.
Are we less than a month into the Trump administration, the second Trump administration, on the brink of a constitutional crisis?
I think we could very well be there. We're at the Rubicon. Whether we've crossed it is yet to be determined. Well, describe what the Rubicon is.
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