What’s the president’s legal basis for sending National Guard troops to DC streets?
The Current
On August 11, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that put the federal government in charge of the local police force. A second executive order directed members of the D.C. National Guard into active federal service. Today, over 2,000 National Guard members from D.C. and other states are mobilized in the nation’s capital. To talk about the constitutional and legal basis of these actions and what this expansion of federal military power by the Trump administration could mean for other U.S. cities, Scott Anderson, a fellow in Governance Studies, plus general counsel and senior...
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How resilient is New Orleans today?
The Current
20 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast, researchers from New Orleans, Brookings, and The Data Center are examining and the challenges it still faces. Manann Donoghoe joins The Current to talk about the extensive new analysis, the many factors that make a city resilient, and the areas policymakers should be investing in to ensure communities can adapt to extreme weather events and other shocks. Transcript and show notes: Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to
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How do we know if US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were successful?
The Current
Mara Karlin, a visiting fellow at Brookings and former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities, discusses the recent U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, the Israeli-Iran conflict, and what might come next. A key question is how to assess the impact of the military strikes on Iran's nuclear capabilities. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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The moral dimension of AI for work and workers
The Current
Molly Kinder, fellow in Brookings Metro, reflects on the moral and ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence, work, and workers, as she lays out in her recent paper, “The unexpected visionary: Pope Francis on AI, humanity, and the future of work.” Kinder addresses the late Pope Francis’s leadership on this issue, and look ahead to how Pope Leo XIV will continue the Church’s attention to this fundamental challenge. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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What Medicaid and other safety net cuts could mean for US poverty
The Current
House Republicans are currently negotiating a budget reconciliation bill that packages extensive tax breaks with deep spending cuts to anti-poverty programs like Medicaid and SNAP. Robert Greenstein explains how the U.S. safety net has and the impacts of the cuts now being considered. Show notes and transcript: Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Closing the racial gap in economic and social power
The Current
Historically, Black Americans’ quest for power has been seen as an attempt to gain equal protection under the law, but power in America requires more than basic democratic freedoms. It’s linked with economic influence and ownership of one’s own self, home, business, and creations. In his new book, "Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It," published by McMillan, Brookings Senior Fellow Andre Perry quantifies how much power Black Americans really have and calculates how that translates into the longevity of Back communities. On this episode of The...
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The US government data purge is a loss for policymaking and research
The Current
In its first two months, the Trump administration has not only laid off thousands of federal workers and shuttered agencies, but it has also purged taxpayer-funded data sets from a swathe of government websites, including data on crime, sexual orientation, gender, education, climate, and global development. Caren Grown, senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, joins The Current to explain why the loss of data and the expertise behind its collection will harm good policymaking. Show notes and transcript: Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple,...
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A playbook to counter democratic backsliding in the US and abroad
The Current
Democracy Playbook 2025, published by the Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security project at Brookings, identifies seven pillars that are essential to safeguard democracy worldwide and offers actionable steps to strengthen democratic institutions in the U.S. and globally. To talk about the new report, Governance Studies Senior Fellow Norm Eisen, co-editor of the Playbook, joins The Current. Show notes and transcript: Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Can the Trump administration freeze federal spending?
The Current
This week, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordered a freeze of funding across a broad array of federal programs, leading to mass confusion around the country from local governments, nonprofits, and individuals. While that particular order appears to have been rescinded, Molly Reynolds explains how it touches on foundational questions of Congress’ spending power and constitutional authorities, and how it’s just one of the Trump administration’s first steps to try to dramatically remake the size and scope of the federal government. Show notes and...
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What might US rural policy look like in the Trump administration?
The Current
As the Trump administration prepares to take power in Washington, Senior Fellow Tony Pipa, host of the Reimagine Rural podcast, looks at what has happened in rural policy under the Biden administration and what shifts in federal policy and emphasis might ensue under President Trump. No matter what changes come, Pipa notes, local communities will continue to solve problems locally. Show notes and transcript: Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
info_outlineThis week, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordered a freeze of funding across a broad array of federal programs, leading to mass confusion around the country from local governments, nonprofits, and individuals. While that particular order appears to have been rescinded, Molly Reynolds explains how it touches on foundational questions of Congress’ spending power and constitutional authorities, and how it’s just one of the Trump administration’s first steps to try to dramatically remake the size and scope of the federal government.
Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/can-the-trump-administration-freeze-federal-spending
Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to [email protected].