Brennan Center for Justice

The Brennan Center for Justice is a non-partisan law and policy institute housed at NYU School of Law, named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Founded in 1995, it covers elections, criminal justice reform, and national security. In election years it functions as a rapid-response research body, publishing real-time analysis of executive orders, court rulings, and legislative changes that affect voter access. Its work is cited by Democratic litigants and characterised by Republican critics as advocacy masquerading as research.

In the 2026 election cycle the Brennan Center is the principal research and advocacy body documenting the scope and impact of voting law changes. Its research underpins the argument that the SAVE Act would disenfranchise an estimated 21 million eligible US voters who lack the documentary proof of citizenship the bill would require. Its documentation of historical voting suppression patterns provides the evidentiary base for Voting Rights Act litigation, including cases arguing the Florida and Texas maps violate Section 2.

Senior Counsel Katherine Yon Ebright, of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Programme, was the key cited authority on whether Trump's 1 May 2026 War Powers Resolution letter could pause the Section 1544(b) clock. Her analysis held that the statute supports no pause mechanism: once the 60-day period begins, it runs until Congress acts or hostilities end.