Letter from the President
The Fight for the Constitution
In 2024 the Brennan Center worked hard to ensure elections that were safe, secure, free, and fair. Our work was nonpartisan and rigorous. We fought fear with facts.
In Arizona and Michigan, we helped secretaries of state prepare for the worst. In every state, on Election Day, police officers carried pocket guides we wrote outlining how they could help protect voters. We tested the best responses to egregious election rumors and worked with public officials and digital influencers to rebut conspiracy theories. We briefed hundreds of journalists on our research.
In the end, the election was safe and secure.
Voters chose a new president and Congress. The results were part of a worldwide anti-incumbent wave. But in the United States, they reflected deeper disquiet. For the first time since the 1800s, the incumbent party lost the White House three times in a row. Millions believe that the political system does not work for them. When a system fails to deliver a sense of prosperity and wellbeing, attachment to democracy can be tenuous.
In 2025, in Donald Trump’s first weeks in office, we saw an unprecedented assault on the rule of law and the constitutional system of checks and balances.
How are we responding? We are fighting the abuse of power. We are defending voting rights. We are exposing the astounding new role of big money in government and politics at a scale dwarfing the Gilded Age.
But we must do more.
A crisis like this can bring innovation. We must think anew. We will not only respond to current threats, but craft and advance the next bold reform agenda. From today’s clashes can come a time of democratic rebirth. What will matter most is not what we are against but what we are for.
So we will press forward with proposals to reform the Supreme Court, Congress, and the presidency. We will grapple with artificial intelligence and social media as they upend public life. We will advance creative criminal justice reforms — a continuing area of notable bipartisan accord.
As I told our staff the day after the 2024 election, the Brennan Center was built for this moment. Thank you for your support that makes this vital work possible.
Michael Waldman, President and CEO