The Supreme Court Is Backing Trump's Power Grab | The Ezra Klein Show

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Trump was losing in the courts. He’s not anymore. In the early months of the administration, the courts were proving a powerful check on President Trump, blocking many of his boldest actions. But those were the lower courts. In the past few months, the Supreme Court has weighed in, and it has handed Trump win after win after win. So what do these decisions enable the president to do? And why is the Supreme Court giving Trump what he wants? To pull all this apart, I’m joined by Kate Shaw. She is a former Supreme Court law clerk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a host of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast. Note: This episode was recorded on Aug. 21, before Trump announced his intention to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and before Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and began processing him for deportation to Uganda. 0:00 Intro 2:10 Trump's SCOTUS winning streak 9:02 Unitary executive theory 16:27 Birthright citizenship 23:09 Could Democrats do the same? 35:34 The two John Roberts 39:12 Gerrymandering 41:45 A third term for Trump? 46:58 A steel-man of the Roberts Court 49:16 Court partisanship 50:50 Constitutional dysfunction 55:28 Book recommendations Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/op... Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-... Thumbnail credit: Melina Mara - Pool/Getty Images