David Sirota is editor-at-large at Jacobin. He edits the Lever and previously served as a senior adviser and speechwriter on Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign.
During the Reagan administration, John Roberts was known for denouncing judicial overreach. Today he has adopted an assertive use of judicial power, using the Supreme Court’s shadow docket to fast-track corporate wins on climate and federal policy.
A little-known Supreme Court case that just vacated the corruption conviction of a local official raises a crucial question: Will the kind of influence peddling now ubiquitous in politics become unprosecutable simply because it has become so commonplace?
Mallory McMorrow, who is running against Medicare for All champion Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate, recently went viral presenting herself as a populist crusader against surveillance pricing. Her record as a Michigan state legislator tells a different story.
Congressional Republicans are holding airport security funding hostage to get more money for ICE. The situation is possible because of the federal appropriations process, which makes some federal spending changes easier and others far more difficult.
The Democratic Party has split: one faction masks corporate capitulation as necessary moderation, and the other refuses to tell voters to ignore their experience, admitting that Democrats have long bailed out the ultrarich at workers’ expense.
Donald Trump’s attack on Iran may set off a showdown over the president’s authority to declare war. The case could end up in court, giving conservative justices a long-awaited chance to end Congress’s ability to limit presidents’ warmaking powers.
With Donald Trump’s tariffs being ruled illegal, the government may be on the hook for up to $170 billion in refunds. Because Amazon helped conceal how much tariffs raised consumer prices, it will be easier for companies to hoard refunds for themselves.
Justice Neil Gorsuch’s decision to strike down Trump’s tariffs underscores a broader truth: the Supreme Court is just as insincere as every other branch of government, with justices often prioritizing the political dynamics of the moment.
Working-class economic populism is necessary for both Democrats’ electoral success and the defense of democracy itself. Not many Democrats since FDR have recognized this, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the few who does.
Last week was the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision enshrining the idea that money in politics is not corruption, but constitutionally protected speech. States and cities across the US are battling the rotten legacy of that decision.
Democrats have a rare moment of leverage to pass legislation ending qualified immunity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, dismantling a legal shield that has allowed them to evade accountability for murder.
At a hearing last week, an industry-backed Democrat absolved health insurance CEOs for America’s health care crisis. That party leaders allow themselves to be seen as defenders of the insurance industry shows just how out of touch they are.
As the Trump administration and its ICE thugs continue their violent frenzy in cities, establishment Democratic politicians still refuse to meet the moment.
Elizabeth Warren became a national force by being one of the only Democrats willing to speak out against the party’s Wall Street fealty — before adopting a more establishment-friendly posture. She may now be returning to her antiestablishment roots.
When Barack Obama and Joe Biden occupied the White House, Democrats gave excuse after excuse about why they couldn’t take bold action. Donald Trump’s second-term rampage of executive power shows Democratic presidents were not as powerless as they claimed.
Donald Trump is acknowledging that corporate greed is a primary driver of America’s housing crisis and has claimed he’ll move toward banning large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes. His track record says otherwise.
Mitt Romney recently published a New York Times op-ed arguing for higher taxes on the rich. When he was in a position to actually sculpt the GOP platform and the tax policy of the US, Romney was an ardent supporter of cutting taxes for the wealthy.
As private health insurers jack up premiums for tens of millions, a majority of Americans now want Medicare for All — even if it entails eliminating private health insurers and raising taxes.
The extrajudicial murders carried out by the Trump administration in the Caribbean build on a dangerous power grab forged by Dick Cheney and expanded under Barack Obama.
Tech giant RealPage filed a federal lawsuit asserting that AI companies have a free speech right to help landlords collude to raise rents, part of a broader trend of corporations advancing new interpretations of the First Amendment to protect their power.