Checks & Balances

On this episode of Checks & Balances, Gregg Nunziata welcomes Richard Bernstein, a former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and a board member of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, to discuss how the Roberts Court fared in fending off Trump’s attempts to federalize elections.

They recap where the Court left things at the end of last term, then walk through this term’s emergency docket cases. These include the Postal Service ballot-mail rule, the expanded SAVE citizenship verification system, Missouri’s repeated attempts to use a new congressional map, and the Justice Department’s failed bid to make California segregate ballots on the eve of the election. Looking ahead, they preview RNC v. Mi Familia Vota, which asks about Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement and its effort to remove suspected noncitizens from voter rolls close to an election.

Along the way, Bernstein explains what the Purcell principle means for litigants caught between “too early” and “too late,” as well as his views on how the Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais increased the power of states to shape local elections. Bernstein also responds to complaints, like those made by the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal, that fears of ballot seizure and interference were overblown.

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After nearly 16 years in the FBI, Michael Feinberg left a career he loved. Now he’s warning about what’s happening inside the Bureau. He joins Gregg Nunziata to discuss his departure, the loss of experienced agents, and the political pressure he says is reshaping the FBI under Kash Patel. From Chinese counterintelligence to the targeting of presidential critics, Feinberg explains the national security stakes and the choices facing agents caught between their careers and their consciences.Subscribe for weekly conversations about law, liberty, and the threats to both from the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

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Gregg Nunziata welcomes Nathaniel Zelinsky of Washington Litigation Group to discuss the legal battles over federal firings, independent agencies, and America’s public monuments.

They examine how the Supreme Court has expanded presidential authority, what lawyers can still do to push back, and why protecting the rule of law ultimately requires more than court victories.

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On this episode of Checks and Balances, Gregg Nunziata sits down with former Polish Deputy Minister of Justice Zuzanna Rudzińska-Bluszcz to discuss Poland’s struggle to defend judicial independence and restore the rule of law.

Drawing on her experience as a human rights lawyer and government official, she explains how political leaders weakened independent institutions, how judges and ordinary citizens fought back, and why winning an election is only the beginning of democratic repair.

Their conversation explores the lessons for Americans—and why protecting democracy also means building a government that delivers for the people it serves.

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Tom Joscelyn, principal author of the January 6 committee’s final report, joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks and Balances to discuss how conspiracy theories, social media, and political extremism are reshaping America.

Joscelyn explains what the investigation revealed about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, why he believes accountability failed, and how ideas once confined to the fringes became mainstream.

They also discuss threats from the far right and far left, preserving the January 6 record, and why Joscelyn is calling for an American “reformation” rooted in constitutional principles and a better future for working families.

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Who should control your data—and what happens when that power is abused?

Gregg Nunziata talks with former DHS Chief Privacy Officer Nuala O’Connor about government overreach, digital privacy, and why AI companies must play by the same rules as everyone else. Also: What does it mean to protect liberty and the rule of law in an increasingly connected world?

Listen to Checks & Balances, a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

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Former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter joins Gregg Nunziata to explain how America’s election safeguards have weakened—and why the Trump administration’s efforts to expand federal control over elections deserve close scrutiny.

They discuss the collapse of meaningful FEC enforcement, potential voter-roll purges, federal involvement at polling places, threats to the certification process, and the legal preparations underway to protect the midterms. Potter also reflects on campaign-finance reform, his work with John McCain, and the founding of the Campaign Legal Center.

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What happens when winning elections becomes more important than the principles a movement claims to defend?

Gregg Nunziata talks with Reason senior editor Stephanie Slade about her new book, “Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right,” and whether conservatism can reclaim its commitment to freedom, faith, and the rule of law.

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Historian Timothy Ryback joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss his book, 53 Days, and the decisions that helped Hitler dismantle Germany’s democracy in 1933.

They examine the journalists and lawyers who resisted, the politicians who recognized the danger but voted to give Hitler power, and what this history can—and cannot—tell us about America today.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Federal judges are facing an unprecedented wave of threats. Amrit Singh, Professor of Practice and the founding director of NYU Law’s Rule of Law Lab, and Jeremy Fogel, a former district judge in California and the Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, join Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances. Professor Singh and Judge Fogel discuss the findings from their recently published report Threats to the Independence of the Federal Judiciary, which offers concrete recommendations for strengthening judicial independence, the keystone of our nation’s constitutional order.

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Note: This episode was recorded on September 16, 2026.

Resources:

* Professor Singh and Judge Fogel’s report: Threats to the Independence of the Federal Judiciary

* Professor Singh and Judge Fogel’s article in The Hill: “Federal judges are being targeted with pizza doxxing; no one has been held to account”

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

William Baude, the Harry Kalven, Jr. Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Constitutional Law Institute at the University of Chicago Law School, joins Gregg Nunziata, the Executive Director of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, for a conversation about the postal service executive order, the White House ballroom, and cases to watch in the upcoming Supreme Court term. They also delve into Professor Baude’s research interests, including the development of uniform time, and how Professor Baude’s popular legal podcast Divided Argument came to be.

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Note: This episode was recorded on September 3, 2026.

Resources:

* Professor Baude’s podcast Divided Argument.

* Professor Baude’s articles on the 14th Amendment.

* Professor Baude’s lecture on William Winslow Crosskey, the “forgotten originalist.”

* The Society for the Rule of Law’s amicus briefs in the postal service case.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Yuval Levin, the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances for a discussion about our constitutional system—and how it’s holding up today. Levin explains why institutions matter, why Congress’s core work is negotiation, and why AI offers tempting shortcuts but could deprive us of the formative experiences gained through thought and reflection.

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Resources:

* Yuval Levin’s essay in The New Atlantis on Artificial Intelligence: “Idols of the Valley”

* Yuval Levin’s appearance on The Ezra Klein Show

* Yuval Levin’s book The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left

* Yuval Levin’s book American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation―and Could Again

Note: This episode was recorded on August 20, 2026.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Justice Clint Bolick of the Arizona Supreme Court joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss the power of state constitutional law. Justice Bolick explains why state courts often have the final word on protecting individual rights, discusses four key principles necessary to safeguard the rule of law, and offers young lawyers a roadmap for making a difference.

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Resources:

* Justice Bolick’s op-ep: “I don’t need to be a Supreme Court justice. But Arizona needs the system that got me here.”

* Justice Bolick’s commentary: “The Assault on the Independent Judiciary.”

* Justice Bolick on the country’s core four constitutional principles: https://arizonatalks.org/voices/2026-07-on-americas-250th-protecting-core-constitutional-principles

* Justice Bolick on state constitutions and the protection of rights: https://americanhabits.org/state-constitutions-and-the-protection-of-rights/.

Get full access to Checks & Balances at chkbal.substack.com/subscribe

Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Stephen Richer, the former Recorder of Maricopa County, AZ, joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss how elections actually work in the United States of America. Stephen walks Gregg through the mechanics of election administration across the country, explains why our decentralized election system enhances security, and offers concrete ways Americans can get involved to protect the integrity of our electoral process.

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Resources:

* Society for the Rule of Law Institute’s amicus brief in Watson v. RNC.

* Society for the Rule of Law Institute Board Member Richard Bernstein’s articles on Watson v. RNC: here and here.

* Stephen Richer and Gregg Nunziata’s Checks & Balances article on election laws.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

John Malcolm—the Vice President of the Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom—joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to discuss the conservative legal movement, the most recent Supreme Court term, and the arguments now dividing the right. Plus: what he learned debating at the Oxford Union.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Greg Jacob—counsel to Vice President Mike Pence during January 6th and a veteran of the Office of Legal Counsel—joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to make the case that exercising restraint is at the heart of the rule of law. They discuss life in public service, the state of legal academia today, and the law journal The Green Bag’s latest foray into board games.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Donald Ayer—Deputy Attorney General under George H.W. Bush and a founder of the Society for the Rule of Law—joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances to make the conservative case against a conservative Court. They discuss the catastrophes the Court avoided this term, the threats it quietly advanced, and why genuine conservatism is rooted in Burkean humility rather than radical change.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

The presidential historian and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, joins Gregg Nunziata on Checks & Balances for a discussion about the fragility of republics, the norms Washington invented from scratch, why every 50-year anniversary seems to land in a moment of crisis, and what it takes to keep the American experiment going at 250.

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Note: This episode was recorded on June 12, 2026.

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Gregg Nunziata talks with Richard Bernstein, former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, about the Supreme Court’s blockbuster term—election law, tariffs, the National Guard, and birthright citizenship—and whether the Court would stop a president who tried to seize ballots in the 2026 election.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

Dr. Edward Larson, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, historian, and legal scholar, joins Gregg Nunziata on the Checks & Balances podcast. Dr. Larson argues that the real story of 1776 isn’t the Declaration of Independence—it’s the wave of new state constitutions that first established popular sovereignty and rule of law. Dr. Larson discuss the Founders’ fears about executive power and political parties, and close with the contested Election of 1800—and what it can still teach us about a peaceful transfer of power.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

The former Acting Attorney General and former US Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Stuart Gerson, joins Gregg Nunziata on the Checks & Balances podcast for a discussion about the erosion of DOJ independence, why he believes the damage today is worse than Watergate, and what it will take to restore the rule of law.Follow along now on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

The former White House "Ethics Czar," U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, and co-founder and Executive Director of the Democracy Defenders Fund, Norm Eisen, joins Gregg Nunziata on the Checks & Balances podcast for a discussion about corruption, what real reform would require, how the courts are holding up, and finding common cause across the ideological divide.

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Checks & Balances is a podcast of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute.

The New York Times opinion writer and co-host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions, David French, joins Gregg Nunziata on the Checks & Balances podcast for a discussion about the conservative legal movement, executive power, why the judiciary is the last branch standing, and America’s 250th anniversary. Follow along now on Substack, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Judge J. Michael Luttig joins Gregg Nunziata, Executive Director of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, for the inaugural episode of the Checks & Balances podcast. They discuss why judicial independence is the fundamental cornerstone of democracy, the rule of retired judges, and the unprecedented rule-of-law challenges facing the country today.

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