How Trump is Using the IRS to Resegregate America

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Strict Scrutiny is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It's back to school season. And this year, 5 million children across Texas are going to be greeted by the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. Texas politicians passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, forcing their religion on every kid in those schools. 28 families in Texas supported by Americans United for Separation of Church and State are taking the fight to the Supreme Court. And we need you to amplify their voices before the Supreme Court gets its hands on this case.

We've already talked about on the podcast how the Fifth Circuit decision allowing this practice was total BS. I mean, it had to liken the Ten Commandments to basically like a poster, almost suggesting, oh, what, you triggered libs? But the reality is there's a human cost of Christian nationalist policies like these Ten Commandments laws, as well as the decisions the Supreme Court hands down.

Public schools are supposed to be accessible to all. They're not supposed to be instructing on the state's preferred religion or the state's edited version of scripture. Visit au.org/tenc to learn more about this case and how you can help join the fight to protect church-state separation.

SPEAKER_2 (1:15)

Mr. Chief Justice, please report. It's an old joke, but when an argument against two beautiful ladies like this, they're going to have the last word.

SPEAKER_3 (1:28)

She spoke, not elegantly, but with unmistakable clarity. She said, I ask no favor for my sex.

All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.

Melissa Murray (1:58)

Hello and welcome back to Strict Scrutiny, your podcast about the Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. I am your host today, Melissa Murray, and the court is still on summer recess, which means that we at Strict Scrutiny are still keeping summer hours, which means that I am delighted to be joined by a fantastic guest host today. So please welcome Rashad Robinson. Hi Rashad.

Rashad Robinson (2:22)

Hey Melissa. It's great to be with you.

Melissa Murray (2:24)

We are in the midst of greatness. Rashad is an expert political strategist, a media advocate, and the former president for the amazing change organization, Color Of Change. For over a decade, he designed and executed winning campaigns that shifted corporate behavior, reformed the criminal justice system, and advanced racial equality.

Right now, he is on a book tour throughout the United States promoting his recently released book, From Presence to Power, there it is, How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win. That's the important part. In the book, Rashad argues that visibility and having a seat at the table aren't necessarily sufficient for true social change. They're good to have, but what you need is visibility, a seat at the table, and structural influence. This book provides a practical framework for actually building that kind of structural influence and creating the opportunity for lasting systemic victories. All to say, I cannot think of a better person, Rashad, to join me today to break down this week's legal news and help us think about how we move beyond our current moment because what a moment it is.

Rashad Robinson (3:33)

Absolutely. Absolutely. So good to be with you. It's so good to do this. Yes.

Melissa Murray (3:38)

Okay. So here's what I have on tap for today, Rashad. We're going to start with us discussing some legal news, including the Trump administration's plan to use the IRS and tax-exempt status to re-segregate American education. Because why not? Make America great again by going back to 1953 After that, we are going to bring our listeners a fantastic conversation that Kate, Leah and I had with Nicholas Bowie and Daphna Renan about their new book, Supremacy, How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People. The book is out tomorrow and we cannot recommend it enough. And as always, after that book interview, we will end things by talking about our favorite things. Rashad, think about some of your favorite things from this week that you want to share with our listeners. But let's get started with the news because there is a lot of it.

So listeners, we've been covering all of the court's summer shadow docket shenanigans. And this week was no exception because on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, exactly the kind of time where you would want to bury a big news item, the Supreme Court decided to release another shadow docket ruling. And predictably, this ruling was another big win for the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections. Let me set the scene for you. On June 30th, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a decision on its merits docket in a campaign finance dispute called National Republican Senatorial Committee versus FEC.