Background Briefing: July 20, 2025

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With the Upcoming Senate Confirmation Vote on Emil Bove, Will Trump Get His “Roy Cohn” on the Supreme Court?

We begin with the letter from more than 75 federal judges to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee urging the Republican majority not to confirm Emil Bove to the Court of Appeals then onto the Supreme Court. Needless to say the letter along with another plea from more than 900 Justice Department lawyers was ignored as Chairman Grassley rammed the nomination forward prompting the Democratic senators to walk out. We discuss whether a full vote in the Senate could stop Trump from finally getting his “Roy Cohn” on the Supreme Court with the outrageous appointment of a craven and lawless lackey who will do anything Trump asks him. Joining us is the Honorable Nancy Gertner, a former U.S. federal judge who was appointed to the federal bench of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton. She built her career around standing up for women’s rights and civil liberties before retiring in 2011. Now a Senior Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, she is the co-author of a letter with more than 75 fellow judges warning against Trump’s efforts to elevate Emil Bove to the Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court.

 

We Are Past a Constitutional Crisis and Should be Working on Restoring Our Democracy and Reviving the Constitution

Then, as many fret over whether we are in a constitutional crisis, we examine whether we are past that and already in a Trump dictatorship and should be working on how to get the Constitution back and restore our democracy. Joining us is Sean Wilentz, the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University. His books include The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln, The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008, Bob Dylan in America, and The Politicians and the Egalitarians. His latest book is No Property in Man: Slavery and Antislavery at the Nation’s Founding and he is the co-host of the podcast “The Court of History.”

 

A Way Out of America’s Descent Into Authoritarianism

Then finally we speak with Richard Parker, who teaches economics and public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and is a Senior Fellow at the Shorenstein Center. He is a former managing editor of Ramparts, was a cofounder of Mother Jones magazine, and serves on the editorial board of The Nation. His books include, The Myth of the Middle Class and John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics. He joins us to discuss the way out of America’s descent into authoritarianism as the multicultural, diverse and inclusive younger generation takes over from the outworn last gasps of MAGA trying to Make America White Again.