Master Plan

Jared Jakang Mayer, an investigative reporter focused on political history and corporate power, traces Lewis Powell’s path from corporate lawyer to Supreme Court justice. The conversation examines Powell’s ties to Philip Morris, the FBI, and anticommunist campaigns, plus the memo’s blueprint for influencing universities, media, elections, and courts. It also explores how that strategy evolved into a lasting political movement.

Australia’s famously calm, trusted elections offer a striking contrast to America’s democratic turmoil. Colin Cole and Ruth Greenwood explore independent election administration, compulsory voting, proportional representation, and the institutions shaping public confidence. The discussion also confronts Australia’s colonial legacy and asks what the United States can learn from a democracy that keeps experimenting.

Sam Wang, Princeton neuroscientist and founder of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, joins Stanford political scientist Jonathan Rodden to examine redistricting’s role in the 2026 midterms. They explore fair maps, gerrymandering, voting-rights changes, independent commissions, political geography, and how district lines shape competition, accountability, and public trust.

Ro Khanna, a California congressman, lawyer, and author, joins Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic leaders to debate the presidential powers inherited from Trump. They explore using existing laws to deliver for working people, rejecting unchecked executive control, protecting law enforcement from political abuse, and restoring guardrails against corruption. The central question: can Democrats act boldly without creating another king?

Andy Kroll, investigative reporter offering sharp analysis. Russell Vogt, conservative operative and architect of Project 2025 who shaped OMB strategy. They unpack a blueprint to remake the federal bureaucracy. Short takes cover plans to staff a loyal shadow government, Schedule F’s threat to civil service, and how rescissions, impoundment, and reorganization could concentrate executive power.

Obama vowed to restore the rule of law after the War on Terror. But behind closed doors, his administration created a secret system that allowed the president to decide who lived and who died. TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode. Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade Want the Master Plan book? Members save 20%, and new Lever Leaders can get a free signed copy while supplies last. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 11, 2001 brought chaos and terror to the United States. It also brought an unprecedented opportunity. After decades of watching what he felt was the erosion of presidential power, Vice President Dick Cheney leveraged a national emergency to shift the balance of power toward the executive branch. We trace Cheney's evolution — from Gerald Ford's chief of staff to George W. Bush's right-hand man — and how his "monarchical" view of the president laid the groundwork for Donald Trump. TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode. Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A preview of a season that traces how crises are used to reshape and centralize presidential power. It explores the widening of executive authority through vice presidential moves and aggressive tactics. The narrative follows the accumulation of power across administrations and the danger of refusing to give it up. Listeners are invited to subscribe for early access to final chapters.

Josh Chaffetz, Georgetown law professor who studies separation-of-powers, and Alan Morrison, longtime public-interest lawyer who argued Chadha, join to unpack the legal twists behind the War Powers Resolution. They trace the rise and fall of the legislative veto, the Supreme Court’s Chadha ruling, and how severability reshaped presidential authority. Short, sharp conversations about constitutional mechanics and congressional undoing.

After Iran-Contra scrutiny, Attorney General Edwin Meese and conservative allies launch a campaign to expand presidential power. Newly uncovered documents reveal their Justice Department blueprint, battles over independent counsel, and high-stakes Supreme Court showdown. The theory survives its first major defeat, then finds new champions in conservative legal circles.