Strict Scrutiny — "Make America Grift Again" (March 16, 2026)

Episode Overview

The “Make America Grift Again” episode of Strict Scrutiny is a spirited, sharp, and often irreverent deep-dive into the entrenchment of corruption and grift in American political life—focusing on current Supreme Court decisions, executive overreach under the Trump-Vance administration, and a cultural analysis of gender, power, and legal ethics. Hosts Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray engage in wide-ranging discussion from the outsized influence of billionaire donors, deregulatory grift, and judicial antics, to the practical fallout on immigration, regulatory enforcement, and gendered governance.

A highlight is a live interview with U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), who provides on-the-ground insight into immigration, congressional oversight, and the realities behind the headlines in LA.

Main Themes, Discussion Points, and Insights

1. Supreme Court-Enabled Corruption & The Era of Grift

The Billionaire Takeover of Elections

• Citizens United’s Legacy ([03:35])
  • Post-Citizens United, billionaire and corporate influence on federal elections has ballooned:
    • “300 billionaires and their immediate family members donated more than $3 billion, 19% of all contributions in federal elections in 2024.” — Leah Littman ([03:35])
    • The share of billionaire money rose from 0.3% in 2008 to ~19% in 2024, with a 5:1 advantage to Republicans over Democrats. — Melissa Murray
    • “Once upon a time, rich people gave roughly comparable amounts to Republicans and Democrats... That is just no longer remotely the case.” — Kate Shaw ([05:08])
• Citizens United Decision:
  • While commonly described as allowing unlimited corporate spending, Kate Shaw clarifies the technicality: “It was a ban on this very narrow period of time right before an election… Even that was too much for the Supreme Court to permit.” ([05:08])

Legalized Oligarchy and Supreme Court Complicity

• Mockery of Judicial Reasoning
  • “We the people, in order to form a more perfect oligarchy.” — Melissa Murray ([07:42])
  • The hosts lampoon the Court’s claim that unlimited corporate expenditures can’t give rise to corruption or the appearance thereof. — Leah Littman ([08:23])
• Case Studies from the New York Times
  • Outlandish local races entirely funded by billionaires; Steve Schwarzman personally boosting a Montana Senate run (campaigns “hugely influential” from outside money).
  • Regulatory capture and exchange of policy for favors tie into themes throughout.

Deregulation for Sale: Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and DOJ Settlements

• Antitrust Case Settlement Casts Shadows of Corruption ([08:52]-[13:20])
  • Trump’s DOJ abruptly settles a major antitrust case mid-trial, alarming the judge and state co-plaintiffs due to weak penalty and surprise timing.
  • Notable: “The damages to the states are capped at less than 1% of Live Nation’s 2025 revenue.” — Melissa Murray ([09:00])
  • Key figures connected to the settlement (Mike Davis, Rick Grenell, Kellyanne Conway) are all deeply tied to Trumpworld and Live Nation becomes a donor to Trump’s transition.
  • Senator Mazie Hirono questions AG Pamela Jo Bondi about the role of lobbyists—eliciting evasive answers ([11:52]).

The Administrative State as a Playground for Patronage

• Presidential Control and Regulatory Gutting ([16:26])

  • The Court’s willingness to expand presidential power over regulatory agencies “is a recipe for corruption” — Leah Littman on the Trump v. Slaughter case.
  • Industry lobbyists (esp. tobacco, crypto, private equity) gain regulatory relief in exchange for campaign support.

• “Deal Doe”:

  • “Deals that actually fuck over the country.” — Leah Littman coins a risqué but pointed term ([20:41]).

• The Pardon Industry

  • The Trump pardon market explodes, with lobbyists making a business out of obtaining pardons for wealthy convicts ([21:03]).

2. Gender, Manosphere, and Judicial Dystopia

Masculinity at the Helm: The "Manosphere" Government

• Trump’s Florsheim Shoe Gifting Ritual ([23:34])

  • Trump expresses “cult-like” control by gifting all-male staff his favorite (mid-priced, ill-fitting) Chicago Florsheim shoes. Staffers reportedly feel compelled to wear them.
  • “He is so hot for the shoes that he has a stack of them in the White House.” — Kate Shaw ([24:30])
  • Hilariouly, recipient JD Vance displays the shoes to the President in person.

• Florsheim’s Parent Company Sued Trump Admin—But Leader Disclaims Knowledge of Gift Ritual ([27:55])

  • Company head Thomas Florsheim, Jr., has openly critiqued Trump’s tariffs, showing the strange cross-currents of business, law, and influence.

Misogyny, DEI, and Dysfunction in the Administrative State

• The "Doge Bro" Phenomenon

  • Dogebro depositions reveal ideologically motivated, often clueless gutting of federal agencies by “mediocre at best” men ([38:23]).
  • DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) erased via ChatGPT prompts and superficial readings: “DEI means dicks, ex-husbands, imbeciles, incels, idiots, or some combination thereof.” — Leah Littman ([42:50])

• Judicial Antics: Swings Toward Vulgarity and Provocation

  • Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence Van Dyke authors a dissent beginning “this is a case about swinging dicks, girl.” ([45:31])
    • “My distressed colleagues appear to have the fastidious sensibilities of a Victorian nun... I hope we can all agree it is far more jarring for the unsuspecting and exposed women to be visually assaulted by the real thing.” — Judge Van Dyke ([47:19])
  • The hosts dissect at length this descent into judicial crassness and edge-lord posturing.

Legislative and Bureaucratic Follies

• UFC Fighters Training FBI Agents ([34:08])
  • FBI Director Kash Patel to bring UFC fighters into FBI training, part of a “bleak dystopia” of masculinity at the core of government.
• Voter Suppression and Gender
  • Texas Senator John Cornyn, trying to out-Trump Ken Paxton, advocates ending the filibuster to pass an ID/voter citizenship law likely to disenfranchise women (due to mismatched ID documents post-marriage) ([35:13]).

3. Ethics, Legal Accountability, & Supreme Court News

Executive Branch Ethics in Crisis

• AG Pamela Jo Bondi's Ethics Evasion ([49:03])
  • DOJ seeks to insulate its attorneys from state bar investigations.
    • “This is a recipe for DOJ obstruction of any state bar investigations of current or former [lawyers]... I take some small joy in that fact [that they’re nervous].” — Kate Shaw ([50:57])
  • Potential conflicts over Pam Bondi’s brother (a defense lawyer); prompt a congressional call for an investigation into recusals due to familial ties.

Supreme Court: Docket Mechanics, New Offices, and Polls

• Shadow Docket Criticism

  • Justice Jackson bluntly denounces the emergency docket as “not serving the court or this country well... a warped kind of proceeding.” ([54:16])
  • Justice Kavanaugh attempts to both-sides the critique.

• New Supreme Court Defender Office

  • Federal judiciary approves a new public defender office for indigent criminal defense at the Supreme Court level—applauded as a step toward equity ([56:01]).

• Argument & Opinion Recaps ([57:21])

  • Hunter v. United States: Lisa Blatt dominates oral arguments with her signature style. Justice Alito has a “minor temper tantrum” about new questioning formats ([58:20]).
  • Gallet v. New Jersey Transit Corp.: Court limits sovereign immunity for state-operated entities.
  • Orellana v. Bondi: Sustains review of BIA asylum decisions, but under a deferential standard.

• Public Trust in the Supreme Court at Record Lows

  • Only 22% report significant confidence, the lowest since 2000 ([62:34]).

4. Live Interview: Rep. Jimmy Gomez — Immigration, Oversight, and LA

Congressional Oversight and Legal Stonewalling

• Spot Inspections Blocked

  • Congress forced new language into appropriations bills to permit surprise visits to immigration detention centers. Trump officials circumvent via bureaucratic tricks (“just making shit up at every single step of the way” — Jimmy Gomez, [64:45]).
  • Gomez helps lead litigation to enforce oversight rights and obtains injunctions to permit congressional entry.

• Detention Centers: Human Consequences

  • Conditions are dire, accountability is rare: more deaths in 2025 than the previous 10 years combined; detainees shuttled or deported to avoid scrutiny; medical neglect is rampant ([68:12]).
  • “They're also hiding what they're doing with people.” — Jimmy Gomez ([68:12])

• SCOTUS Allowing Racial Profiling via Shadow Docket

  • Noem Vasquez Perdomo case: Supreme Court stays an order blocking ICE’s race-based stops; Kavanaugh issues a rose-tinted concurrence claiming all is professional and brief ([70:34]).
  • Gomez: “If you look like me, you look like anybody of Latino descent, you're guilty. And that's what. What they basically allowed to be legal in this country.” ([71:51])
  • Personalizes the harsh effects: his own mother now at risk, families skipping school and medical appointments due to fear ([73:36]).

National Security, Foreign Policy, and Truth Decay

• Iran Policy: Fact-Free Zone ([79:59])
  • Gomez describes an administration that rewrites factual narratives to justify militarism and regime change.
  • Officials who produce inconvenient facts are fired; military moves are driven by shifting and contradictory rationales.

Congressional Dads Caucus: Hope on Policy for Families

• Recasting Carework as a Bipartisan Cause
  • Congressional Dads Caucus (50 members strong, but all Democrats) pursues childcare and family support policy ([84:41]).
  • “We're trying to build this support and box people in and then at the same time, getting dads... to say, dads have a responsibility to take care of our kids, not only at home, but also in the halls of Congress.” — Jimmy Gomez ([84:49])

Notable Ending: Call to Action

• Nine months to the midterms: Listeners urged to get involved early and frequently ([87:26]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We the people, in order to form a more perfect oligarchy.” — Melissa Murray ([07:42])
• “Deals that actually fuck over the country. Wow, Leah.” — Leah Littman (& Kate Shaw) riffing on “deal doe” ([20:41])
• On the “manosphere” government: “Like they all have complexes about their dick size and we are all living with the consequences of that.” — Leah Littman ([27:47])
• “It’s the corruption, stupid, right?” — Leah Littman ([21:42])
• “He is, as always, a messy bitch from New Jersey who leans into the drama.” — Leah Littman on Justice Alito ([59:41])
• “I think of my mom... she was at risk just because of who she is. And that's a reality. And that's what people live in fear in every single day in Los Angeles and across the country.” — Jimmy Gomez ([73:36])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:35 — Billionaires’ influence post-Citizens United, Supreme Court’s enabling role
• 08:52 — Live Nation/Ticketmaster DOJ settlement, suspicious timing/lobbyist involvement
• 16:26 — Supreme Court, presidential power, regulatory capture
• 20:41 — The “deal doe” theory
• 21:42 — The rise of the pardon industry
• 23:34 — Trump’s Florsheim shoe gifts; masculinity and culture in governance
• 38:23 — “Dogebro” depositions, DEI elimination by fiat
• 45:31 — Judge Van Dyke’s “swinging dicks” dissent; judicial masculinity
• 49:03 — Executive branch ethics and accountability (Pam Bondi, state bar avoidance)
• 54:16 — Justice Jackson and Kavanaugh on the shadow docket
• 57:21 — SCOTUS argument recaps: Lisa Blatt, Justice Alito’s dramatics
• 62:34 — Record low public confidence in SCOTUS
• 63:20 — Rep. Jimmy Gomez interview: Immigration oversight, ICE, and SCOTUS’ role
• 68:12 — Detainee deaths, personal stories, medical neglect in ICE facilities
• 70:34 — SCOTUS shadow docket unleashing racial profiling (Kavanaugh’s magical thinking)
• 79:59 — Iran, congressional intelligence, and government truth decay
• 84:41 — Congressional Dads Caucus and caregiving policy

Final Thoughts

"Make America Grift Again" is a tour de force of trenchant legal analysis, bitter humor, and righteous exasperation. Strict Scrutiny lays bare how legal doctrines, court decisions, and political culture have enabled grift, deregulation, and a masculinist, insular approach to governance—with tangible harms for democratic norms, civil rights, and the rule of law. The episode is particularly notable for bridging technical Supreme Court doctrine with lived realities—especially on immigration and gender—and for showcasing the legal weeds with memorable, often hilarious, commentary.

Listeners come away with a panoramic view of both the stakes and the personalities that define contemporary legal and political culture.