The Brian Lehrer Show

House Speaker Mike Johnson has several holdouts in his own party on the budget blueprint he wants to put on the House floor in the coming days. Meredith Lee Hill, Congress reporter for POLITICO covering GOP leadership, breaks down the beleaguered House budget and the Republicans pushing Johnson not to slash SNAP benefits and Medicaid.

U.S. Justice Department attorneys and Mayor Eric Adams appeared before federal Judge Dale Ho, asking that the five federal corruption and bribery charges against Adams should be dropped. Elie Mystal, justice correspondent and columnist for The Nation and host of their legal podcast, "Contempt of Court," author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution (The New Press, 2023), and the forthcoming Bad Law: 10 Popular Laws That Are Ruining America (The New Press, 2025), offers legal analysis of the request as Judge Ho continues to deliberate.

A recent AP story focused on people who take naps to help refocus on workdays and callers share if they break for naps and if their employers support that.

Katherine Wu, staff writer for The Atlantic, explains how the Trump administration's cuts to research grants has already — and will continue to — impact scientific progress in the United States.=>"The Breaking of American Science" (The Atlantic, Feb. 14, 2025)

European leaders have called an emergency meeting after President Donald Trump suggested Ukraine is to blame for Russia’s invasion of it. Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State during the Obama administration, political analyst at MSNBC and author of Information Wars: How We Lost the Battle Against Disinformation (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2019), breaks down the latest as Trump seemingly pivots away from European allies and towards President Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Stephen Nessen, transportation reporter for the WNYC Newsroom, breaks down the latest news that President Donald Trump has intervened to halt congestion pricing in Manhattan. Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University, co-host of the podcast FAQNYC and the author of How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams (Cambridge University Press, 2024), talks about the latest national and local political news.

Yoni Appelbaum, historian, a deputy executive editor of The Atlantic and the author of Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity (Random House, 2025), argues that progressive policies have unintentionally restricted mobility in America, making it harder for people to move toward opportunity and reinforcing economic inequality.→ How Progressives Froze the American Dream 

Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter covering Democratic politics and campaigns across the country, and the author of Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump (Viking, 2021), shares his reporting on how voters, interest groups, and unions are frustrated with Democratic politicians in the early weeks of Trump's second term, while Christopher Fasano, former attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and organizing committee member of the NTEU 335, discusses how federal workers are fighting back Elon Musk's gutting of federal agencies. 

Robert P. Jones, president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: And the Path to a Shared American Future (Simon & Schuster, 2023), Ryan Burge, associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, research director for Faith Counts, and the author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going (Fortress Press, 2021), and Konstantin Toropin, Military.com's Pentagon correspondent, discuss the overlap and contradictions in the Trump administrations policies toward identity and religious affiliation.

As Mayor Adams faces pressure to step down over allegations of a deal to have his federal corruption charges dropped, Gov. Hochul met with City leaders to discuss his future. Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, and Jimmy Vielkind, New York State Issues reporter for WNYC, talk about the latest developments.