To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes 2025 in Review: Susan Glasser
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Dec 27, 2025 
Susan Glasser, a journalist and staff writer for The New Yorker, shares her insights on the tumultuous year of 2025. She contrasts it with 2017, highlighting the deterioration of institutions and the erosion of democratic guardrails. The conversation touches on Congress's failures amid executive overreach and the troubling realignment of foreign policy, particularly with Russia. They also discuss the implications of personal decline in leadership, the reality of mass deportations, and unexpected signs of hope in public sentiment. Glasser emphasizes the crucial need to defend democracy.
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Ten Years In, Guardrails Had Eroded
- By 2025 Trump's era felt like year ten, not a repeat of 2017's chaos but a culmination of institutional erosion.
- Institutions that restrained him earlier had weakened, enabling broader consolidation of power.
2025 Was A Hangover From 2024
- The biggest stories of 2025 were hangovers from 2024: the Supreme Court decision and institutional capitulation.
- Premature concessions by media, firms, and institutions created cascading effects that empowered the administration.
Congress Lost Its Deterrent Power
- When Congress passes laws but does not enforce or defend them, the rule of law unravels.
- Susan Glasser argues that executive shutdowns of agencies authorized by Congress amount to an illegal theory of governance.