Looking Forward for Our Democracy

Trump’s victory is a call to action for those who value our system of checks and balances.

Join us Thursday, 11/7, at 3 p.m. ET for a live virtual event with Brennan Center experts for a discussion of what happened on Election Day and what could be next. RSVP here.

I want to share with you a few thoughts about the election. The election was free and fair. The system was strengthened immeasurably since 2020, with election officials and law enforcement pulling together. Voting, overwhelmingly, proceeded without incident.

The American people chose national elected leaders who have made clear their authoritarian intentions — who have a fearful, divisive vision of the country, one filled with hatred. Voters did this with eyes wide open.

How will we at the Brennan Center respond to this moment? We will stand up to authoritarianism and abuse of power. We will work with allies to explain, call out, and fight.

We provide leading expertise on the 18th- and 19th-century statutes that Donald Trump has promised to use to implement mass deportation and stretch executive powers beyond their limits, laws such as the Insurrection Act, the National Emergencies Act, and even the Alien Enemies Act. We will fight the weaponization of the Justice Department. We will stand up against national legislation that aims to make it harder for Americans to vote.

And we will continue to expose the growing role of big money in American politics. Both sides had plenty of cash, of course. But one-third of the president-elect’s funds came from a small handful of billionaires. That is something new and ominous.

We will ask hard questions. In exit polls, the number one issue was the health of democracy. What do voters mean? How do we deepen that understanding?

And we will recognize, too, that our institutions of self-government have failed to produce progress for too many people. We can bring to this moment the ability to think anew and help craft the next agenda.

IMAGE: Ronda Churchill