Documents obtained by the Brennan Center through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit expose more about the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempts to improperly influence the 2020 Census. At stake was the accuracy and legitimacy of the population count, which is used to divvy up seats in the House of Representatives, draw electoral districts, and distribute $1.5 trillion in annual federal funding. Among other things, the administration tried to illegally remove undocumented people from some of the data. The newly uncovered records show the importance of adding guardrails against future political interference.

The Senate’s recent failure to pass the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act highlighted the challenges for protecting voting rights. It’s been a long road to get to our current position, as detailed in an excerpt from the new edition of Brennan Center President Michael Waldman’s book The Fight to Vote. Waldman tells the dramatic story of the nationwide assault on the right to vote last year and the historic mobilization to defend our elections.

This fight is far from over, and the threats to our democracy are real — and growing. Senate rules cannot be allowed to stand in the way of protecting American democracy. The Brennan Center will be continuing to fight for change at the federal level, as well as challenging state voter suppression laws in the courts. Members of the public can advocate in their communities — defending democracy by writing and calling elected officials, attending local hearings, and volunteering in elections.

On the campaign trail, President Biden promised to make the criminal legal system more just. While there has been notable progress in key areas, such as appointing more diverse U.S. attorneys and judges, most promises have yet to materialize. There is a great deal of work to be done on issues ranging from expanding clemency to eliminating the death penalty. A new Brennan Center resource assesses the Biden administration’s progress on its criminal legal reform commitments and provides key recommendations to advance them.

Spending on elections for state supreme courts has reached unprecedented levels, threatening both the perception and reality of the judiciary. Thirty-eight states elect their high court justices, and these courts are taking on greater importance on issues the U.S. Supreme Court is ceding ground on, such as voting rights. A new Brennan Center report tracks the concerning flood of money into these elections, from the funders to the record-breaking totals.

The White House recently released recommendations to improve trust in science policy and strengthen federal scientific integrity, which align with those made by the Brennan Center’s bipartisan National Task Force on Rule of Law & Democracy. The need for objective government research and science-based policymaking could not be more urgent. The Scientific Integrity Act, now pending in Congress, would protect and strengthen this crucial work.

Our election infrastructure is facing down antidemocratic attacks from abroad and within: sham audits, foreign interference, threats to election officials, bills that give partisan officials control over vote counting, and growing insider threats. These security risks are alarming, but they can be mitigated if Congress funds the adoption of critical safeguards and good practices.

TONIGHT: The Power Struggle Over Elections
Thursday, January 27, 6–7 p.m. ET
In the wake of the 2020 election, a power struggle over the right to vote has broken out between states and the federal government — but who really wields the power? The Constitution’s Elections Clause gives Congress broad authority to decide election rules, but the far-right is now seeking to contort the clause to justify their voter suppression and election subversion plots. Brennan Center President Michael Waldman moderates a discussion with election scholar Franita Tolson, historian Rosemarie Zagarri, and Atlantic senior editor Ron Brownstein to break down the Elections Clause and explore what the future of voting — and the fight over it — will look like as we approach the midterm elections. RSVP today.

The Party of Trump
Tuesday, February 8, 6–7 p.m. ET
The Republican Party’s transformation under Donald Trump may have seemed sudden, but it was decades in the making. From New York Times political reporter Jeremy Peters, Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted, examines the fracturing of the GOP and how party leaders misunderstood their own voters. Join us for a live conversation between MSNBC political contributor Yamiche Alcindor and Peters as they discuss how ideology and aggression came to take hold of the Republican Party and changed the course of American politics. RSVP today.

In the 2019–20 elections cycle, special interest spending accounted for 36 percent of all money spent on state high court races. Before the Citizens United decision of 2010 opened the floodgates, special interest spending had never accounted for more than 19 percent. Read more on Instagram >>