Before the hosts say a word of content, Pod Save America's ad roll kicks off with three back-to-back sponsor reads. SimpliSafe leads — listeners get 50% off a new system with professional monitoring — with an aside that Jon Lovett installed his own system and everyone is very proud of him. McDonald's plugs its new summer drink lineup including a strawberry watermelon refresher and mango pineapple refresher with popping boba. Shopify closes the pre-show with a pitch to scale your business on what it calls 'the best converting checkout on the planet.' It's a compact, businesslike opening before the hosts take over.

Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor briefly introduce themselves before Favreau lays out the full episode agenda: major Supreme Court decisions on mail-in voting and Trump's power to fire agency heads, a looming decision on the bipartisan housing bill being held hostage to the SAVE Act, the DSA primary momentum following New York, and a studio interview with Heather Williams of the DLCC about building Democratic majorities at the state level. The preview is brisk and sets up a notably heavy news cycle.

The segment opens with Trump's 6:30 a.m. Truth Social post asking whether people appreciate his 'fantastic' Great American State Fair — misspelling 'Obama' as 'Obuma' along the way. Favreau explains the context: a 16-day exposition run by Freedom 250, the entity Trump created to compete with the bipartisan America 250, which drew 10 states to opt out, saw all major musical acts drop except Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice, and was plagued from opening weekend by extreme heat, rain, power outages, and sparse crowds. The hosts play Fox News clips in which hosts marveled at being at a 'state fair' while struggling to explain away the empty fields behind them, predicting crowds would arrive after the stock exchange closed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy thanked the military band and called absent artists 'libtards.' Then came the segment's most memorable detail: a 54-year-old right-wing MAGA livestreamer was arrested by park police for masturbating in front of an acrobat troupe while simultaneously vaping and recording — then reportedly returned for a second attempt ^{[1] — Tommy Vietor "A 54-year-old right-wing MAGA livestreamer was arrested by park police for masturbating in front of an acrobat troupe at Trump's Great Amer…" 06:33 Play} . The hosts' glee is barely contained.

Jon Lovett delivers a sharply observed cultural critique: MAGA World is essentially an internet phenomenon — caricatures of collapsing cities, complaints about national decline, all circulating among people who never actually go to state fairs or mix with their fellow citizens in public spaces. The spectacle of Larry Kudlow broadcasting from an outdoor event he visibly had no idea how to inhabit captures something real, Lovett argues. He pivots to a broader historical riff: he's been reading Erik Larson's 'Devil in the White City' about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, where Americans built the first Ferris wheel — basically a moving steel Eiffel Tower — to show Europe what America could do. Now, 130 years later, Trump's version of a great American fair featured a Ferris wheel that broke down from generator failures, Vanilla Ice canceling due to inclement weather despite pledging 'rain or shine,' melted ice cream, and a Confederate flag in the North Carolina booth. Jon Lovett's verdict: jagoffs, with jagoffs to spare ^{[1] — Jon Lovett "The original America 250 plan had bipartisan membership, national events, big concerts, and years of preparation. Trump took the money, han…" 08:35 Play} .

With the fair rained out Sunday, Trump spent the morning motorcading around the Capitol. He toured the East Potomac Golf Links and plans to start renovation of the federally owned public course September 1st despite a federal judge threatening 'serious consequences' without approval. He's also redesigning Lafayette Park to contain exactly 47 maple trees — his favorite — to honor himself as the 47th president. Nobody knows how many trees currently exist there, meaning someone has to go count. Meanwhile, the Atlantic's Michael Scherer revealed that Trump's new White House colonnade — made of polished African granite carved in Italy, and which Trump claimed to have personally paid for — was actually charged to taxpayers for approximately $690,000 ^{[1] — Jon Favreau "Trump's new White House colonnade, made of polished African granite carved in Italy, was claimed by Trump to have been personally paid for.…" 15:15 Play} , with additional hundreds of thousands spent modifying the adjoining wall to hang Trump's own photos. The hosts also mock a limited-edition U.S. passport bearing Trump's photo that he described as saying 'Welcome, but be good' — language that appears nowhere on the document. Jon Lovett's response to all of it: he'd rather have Trump occupied with vanity tree projects than doing real damage, but the double standard is jarring — if Biden had wandered around discussing renovations in his final year, the right would have been calling for the 25th Amendment.

Jon Favreau leads the hosts through the Supreme Court's final days of term, starting with two relatively positive rulings. First, the court declined to throw out the 2023 verdict finding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, meaning she receives her $5 million — though Trump had already transferred $5.5 million to a court-controlled account in 2023, so the outcome was largely inevitable. Lovett notes that while he's glad Carroll gets paid, $5 million is fairly low on the list of accountability Trump could have faced. A second $83 million defamation verdict is still being appealed. Second, in a 6-3 ruling with a surprising coalition — Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Roberts siding with the liberal justices — the court held that the Fourth Amendment covers cell phone location history even when stored by third parties like Google or Apple, requiring police to obtain a specific warrant rather than sweeping geofence warrants. Tommy Vietor notes that the government was trying to argue that demanding just 'a little taste' of location history wasn't a search at all. Justice Sotomayor enumerated what location data reveals — psychiatrist visits, abortion clinics, strip clubs — and Kagan argued that location tracking isn't optional; it's the price of having a cell phone. Jon Lovett praises the ruling for updating privacy principles to reflect how people actually live in a digital world.

Tommy Vietor reads for ZBiotics, the genetically engineered probiotic designed to break down the toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism and reduce rough mornings after drinking. He credits it with 'saving us in Chicago' on a work trip and says he won't drink without it — listeners get 15% off at zbiotics.com/crooked with code Crooked. Jon Favreau follows with a Hims read, noting that ED is more common than men discuss and that Hims provides 100% online access to licensed healthcare providers who can prescribe sildenafil (generic Viagra) at up to 95% less than the brand-name price, shipped directly to the door.

The biggest ruling of the term gets its full treatment here. In a 6-3 decision, the conservative Supreme Court majority reversed 91 years of precedent established in Humphrey's Executor and ruled that Trump can fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter — and by extension, leaders of the SEC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, EEOC, NLRB, and other independent agencies — without any stated reason ^{[1] — Tommy Vietor "The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority reversed 91 years of precedent, ruling Trump can fire FTC commissioners and leaders of other …" 24:20 Play} . Tommy Vietor explains the practical implication: the president can also simply strip agencies of their quorum, preventing them from meeting at all. The Federal Reserve gets a carve-out in a 5-4 decision — even the appearance of political pressure on monetary policy could destroy faith in the U.S. economy, the court reasoned — but Lisa Cook's job protection is precarious: the ruling said Trump simply didn't go through the proper process, and he can try again with stated cause. Jon Lovett makes the key structural argument: this isn't just expanding executive power, it's stealing power Congress explicitly delegated to these quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial bodies. The hosts debate whether a future Democratic president would benefit, with Lovett warning that Gorsuch's concurrence signals the court would just strike down agencies' powers entirely if a Democrat tried to use them. Jon Favreau's bottom line: as long as this Supreme Court majority holds, there are no independent agencies except potentially the Fed.

In a rare cross-ideological outcome, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 — with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices — to uphold a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they arrive after. The decision could preempt similar Republican legal challenges in at least 14 other states and protect existing policies in approximately 30 states ^{[1] — Jon Favreau "In a 5-4 ruling where John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett sided with the liberals, the Supreme Court upheld Mississippi's law counting mail-…" 31:10 Play} . Trump responded on Truth Social by whining about the decision and name-dropping five Senate Republicans he wants to pressure into passing the SAVE Act, his voter registration proof-of-citizenship bill. Tommy Vietor praises the ruling as an important win for election integrity but warns it represents just one chip that didn't come undone in an ongoing, systematic Republican assault on voting rights.

The bipartisan housing bill to boost housing supply and affordability passed with overwhelming margins: 85 Senate votes, 358 House votes. Senate Majority Leader Mike Johnson sent it to Trump anyway, meaning it becomes law in 10 days unless Trump vetoes it. But Trump — apparently egged on by Bill Pulte — decided to hold it hostage to force passage of the SAVE Act, a voter registration bill with no meaningful fraud problem to solve and polling at only 52% support. Florida Representative Randy Fine encapsulated the MAGA caucus's logic: if Elizabeth Warren likes a bill, it must be bad, and besides, he didn't come to Washington to work with Democrats, he came to beat them ^{[1] — Donald Trump "When I look at that bill, it's a bill. But when I look at the Save America Act, it's about saving America. To me, compared to the Save Amer…" 32:57 Play} . Trump's audio was even more damning: he called the housing bill 'a big yawn' and said the SAVE Act was 'about saving America.' Jon Lovett mourned it as a rare bipartisan policymaking moment, 'like from another era,' with Elizabeth Warren, Republicans, and the White House all poised to celebrate — before Trump ripped the rug out at the one-yard line. The hosts predict Trump will ultimately let it become law without signing it, having thrown his tantrum, but the political damage to frontline House Republicans who were counting on it as a reelection asset may already be done.

Tommy Vietor reads for Common Power, an organizing group that trains volunteers to door-knock for Democrats in over 50 key races across battleground states. Common Power has already driven victories in New York, Texas, and Maine and is partnering with Vote Save America for the general election — listeners can donate and volunteer at commonpower.org/crooked. Jon Favreau follows with a Magic Spoon read, highlighting the brand's protein snack bars (12g protein, 7g fiber, 0g added sugar) and noting that the cereal remains 'iconic' — both hosts agree they want the chocolate peanut butter flavor immediately. Magic Spoon is now available at 7-Eleven nationwide.

The hosts play clips from Zohran Mamdani, Josh Shapiro, and Chris Murphy reacting to the DSA's New York primary wins. Gottheimer's blunt declaration — 'if you're a socialist, you are not a Democrat' — is the flashpoint. Tommy Vietor slots himself into the Murphy camp: the results reflect voters' rage at the establishment and status quo, not a wholesale shift toward socialism. Most DSA members, he argues, aren't Marxist-Leninists but are describing a worldview much closer to the UK Labour Party or Nordic social democracy than anything historically alarming — and the Scandinavians, notably, don't get attacked. Jon Lovett acknowledges that deeply liberal districts are entitled to elect whoever they want — that's what primaries are for — while noting that Josh Shapiro actually handled the tension well by disagreeing firmly without declaring anyone persona non grata. The hosts agree that Gottheimer's 'you're with us or against us' framing is counterproductive, and compare the current panic to the identical freakout when AOC beat Joe Crowley in 2018, after which the party went on to nominate Joe Biden ^{[1] — Tommy Vietor "Tommy Vietor's read on the New York DSA primary wins: voters are angry and willing to trade powerful incumbents for something new to demons…" 42:10 Play} . Jon Favreau adds that frontline Democrats in competitive districts should feel free to distance themselves clearly from DSA positions they find objectionable — Biden did exactly that on defund the police — without trying to purge anyone.

The conversation deepens into a nuanced argument about how the Democratic coalition should handle its internal tensions. Jon Lovett draws a sharp distinction: Democratic voters in safe blue districts have every right to elect whom they want, and newly elected officials deserve the grace to show who they've become since their most controversial statements. AOC made this point about Daria Elisa Chevalier: holding office changes you, the weight of responsibility does real work. But that grace doesn't eliminate accountability — being part of a coalition means Republicans will weaponize your past statements, and the coalition deserves clarity on where you stand now that you have a platform. Jon Favreau describes the online reaction to his Thursday take on this subject: people calling for him to be 'Luigi'd,' a viral video placing his photo next to Mike Johnson's captioned 'these two are the same.' Tommy Vietor calls the reaction patronizing and stupid — once you're an elected official or a prominent commentator, everything is fair game ^{[1] — Jon Lovett "Democratic voters in deeply blue districts get to choose whoever they want — that's what primaries are for. But winning a seat comes with r…" 46:46 Play} . The hosts agree that Zohran Mamdani himself represents a more sophisticated approach: actively persuading Jewish New Yorkers of his opposition to antisemitism without giving an inch on his anti-Israel positions, condemning the Chevalier rally, doing real coalition work.

Jon Favreau sets the scene: Scott Wiener, the San Francisco state senator running for Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat, was surrounded and berated by hecklers at the city's annual Trans March. The protesters accused him of betraying queers through his Israel positions and told him he had 'stopped being queer' the moment he started supporting Israel. Wiener ultimately left because the confrontation became physically unsafe. The irony is acute: per his own website, Wiener has publicly called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide (joining Bernie Sanders and Representative Balint as one of only three prominent Jewish elected officials to do so), never taken AIPAC money, voted no on military funding for Israel, and supports Palestinian statehood. Jon Lovett is direct ^{[1] — Jon Favreau "San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener — who publicly called Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, never took AIPAC money, voted no on mil…" 52:45 Play} : if you are following a Jewish elected official around a park yelling at him about his Zionist handlers because his position on Israel — which is that it committed a genocide — is insufficiently anti-Israel, then you are being an antisemite. Tommy Vietor adds that the people filming it make their own movement look bad, hand Fox News a forever clip about crazy Democrats, and achieved the opposite of their stated goal by making Wiener sympathetic. Jon Favreau says the right response from the broader left is to call it out — holding two ideas at once is entirely possible.

Tommy Vietor reads for Rocket Money, sharing a relatable anecdote about unknowingly paying for a British streaming service for one episode before canceling. Rocket Money has saved users over $880 million in canceled subscriptions and offers real-time spending alerts, consolidated financial dashboards, and subscription tracking — join at rocketmoney.com/crooked. A ThirdLove ad follows, positioning the brand around comfort-first bra design for over 60 sizes including half cups unavailable elsewhere, with $15 off a first purchase using code PODCAST15.

Jon Favreau welcomes Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, to the studio. He opens with a pointed question: if we get a contested presidential result in 2028, which chambers stand between a close call and a stolen election? Williams identifies the key battleground states — Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania — as the places where winning legislative majorities in 2026 matters most for 2028 ^{[1] — Heather Williams "Free meals for every kid in school — the kind of policy that puts money directly in working families' pockets — is a direct product of Demo…" 1:02:32 Play} . She explains that the entire presidential certification process, along with voting laws and election administration, are state-level functions — more people understood this viscerally after 2020. She then grounds the abstract in something concrete: free school meals for every kid, which passed in Minnesota when Democrats held the trifecta and has since spread to multiple states, is her favorite example of what winning state legislative power actually delivers for working families.

Jon Favreau asks Williams to walk through the target map. She describes three tiers of opportunity: breaking Republican supermajorities in the South to put Democrats in the negotiating room; protecting Democratic governors' veto pens in Republican-controlled states; and building outright new majorities and trifectas in presidential battlegrounds. The headline number is striking: just 19 seats in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona would produce six new Democratic majorities and four new trifectas ^{[1] — Heather Williams "Winning just 19 state legislative seats across four presidential battleground states — Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona — would …" 1:03:50 Play} . She also flags the longer-term play — the South is growing, the 2030 Census reapportionment will create new congressional districts, and building Democratic infrastructure now in states like Georgia and North Carolina will pay dividends for a decade. Jon Favreau then asks what will be the chamber to watch on election night; Williams gives a personal answer (Minnesota, her home state) and a strategic one (Arizona, if Democrats are truly having an extraordinary year).

Jon Favreau surfaces a counterintuitive data point: in 2024, the Democratic side outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee by better than 3-to-1 — about $175 million to $49 million — and still lost the Minnesota trifecta and the Michigan House ^{[1] — Jon Favreau "In 2024, Democrats outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee roughly $175 million to $49 million at the state legislative level — …" 1:07:42 Play} . So if money isn't the constraint, what is? Williams identifies the 'attention battle': low-name-ID first-time candidates running for state legislature can't cut through in a crowded ballot environment no matter how much you spend on them. The fix requires running candidates as part of coordinated tickets with statewide races. On the harder question of gerrymandered states where legislative wins seem structurally impossible, she outlines three simultaneous strategies: never abandoning the minority caucus because those legislators still have some power, especially with a Democratic governor's veto; winning state Supreme Court races that can force map redraws (Wisconsin's turnaround is the model); and pursuing ballot initiatives to create nonpartisan redistricting commissions, as Michigan did through its People Not Politicians process.

Jon Favreau asks about recruitment — specifically, how do you convince candidates to run in districts Republicans win by 20-30 points? Williams says she was most nervous about recruitment coming out of 2024, especially after the horrific assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Hortman. But the response was the opposite of what she feared: people are energized to run. Minnesota has a full slate in every district; Kansas has its biggest slate of candidates in 30 years. The candidates tend to be middle-class, first-time, ordinary people rather than made-for-TV politicians — and that's actually their superpower. They can knock the door of every voter in their district, they're never off duty at the grocery store or school drop-off, and they have a genuine personal story to tell. Williams then answers why these candidates routinely run ahead of the national party brand: they are masters of localization ^{[1] — Heather Williams "The Democratic national brand is in the basement, yet state legislative Democrats routinely run ahead of it. The reason: they translate abs…" 1:11:15 Play} . The infrastructure bill isn't an abstract number — it's the road that's going to be fixed in 20 minutes, cutting 40 minutes off your daily commute. Everything gets translated into neighborhood impact. That art form, she argues, is what separates them from national politics.

Jon Favreau asks his most direct question: what should a listener who's surrounded by Trumpy neighbors and sure Democrats have no shot do right now? Williams doesn't hedge: get involved in your state legislative race. It will broaden your view of your neighbors, open conversations that move the needle, and give you a concrete outlet for the energy that otherwise just turns into despair ^{[1] — Heather Williams "For Democrats living in deep-red areas who feel hopeless, Heather Williams has a direct prescription: get involved in your state legislativ…" 1:13:50 Play} . These races are run on the margins, and direct voter contact by candidates and the volunteers around them is the most powerful persuasion tool available. She notes that the conversation is craved even across political lines — disillusioned Republicans who no longer feel at home in Trump's party are reachable in ways national politics can't access. Jon Favreau closes the interview noting the DLCC has already flipped 30 seats this cycle in some ruby-red districts, and Williams projects that a +4 environment could translate to 600+ flipped seats nationally in 2026.

Jon Favreau closes the episode with a brief thanks to Heather Williams for stopping by the studio, and notes that he and Dan will return with a new episode on Friday. The credits roll: Pod Save America is a Crooked Media production, produced by Austin Phillips, Saul Rubin, McKenna Roberts, and Faris Safary, with the full production team listed. The hosts note proudly that the staff is unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.