At least 96 court cases have been filed against the Trump administration for actions taken in the first six weeks of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The website Just Security has created an online tracker that enumerates the cases and gives detailed updates.
Just Security describes itself as “an editorially independent, nonpartisan, daily digital law and policy journal that elevates the discourse on national security, democracy and the rule of law, and rights. … Our goals are to inform and empower decision-makers with high-quality analysis, foster informed dialogue on challenging issues, and remain accessible to our global audience.”
The journal is based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.
In addition to a continually updated spreadsheet, the site also offers commentary on daily actions as well as a podcast. Those articles include explanations of Trump’s executive orders on immigration, refugee resettlement, USAID, the environment and a host of other issues.
As of today, there have been at least 40 rulings that at least temporarily paused some of the president’s initiatives.
The New York Times also is keeping track of the court challenges to Trump’s agenda and reported today there have been at least 40 rulings that at least temporarily paused some of the president’s initiatives.
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in for the third time, upholding a district court judge’s order unblocking USAID funding.
According to the Times: “Trial court judges have issued temporary orders that block the unilateral firing of civil servants, the access that Elon Musk’s team has enjoyed to sensitive agency data, the relocation of transgender women inmates to men’s prisons, the pursuit of immigrants inside houses of worship, and the freezing of up to $3 trillion in federal funding to the states.”
Courts thus far have issued preliminary injunctions against Trump’s actions in four cases on transgender rights, two cases related to immigration, four cases on birthright citizenship, six cases on budget freezes, one case against Elon Musk and DOGE, four cases on civil servant firings, and one case against Trump’s plan to identify those who helped investigate the January 6 riot Trump instigated.
US News and World Report also has an online tracker.
The bottom line so far is that Trump is losing far more cases than he’s winning although most challenges are still in process.
Speaking last week to a group of nonprofit leaders and democracy advocates, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged those concerns about Trump’s authoritarian actions to keep an eye on the courts.
History shows Trump doesn’t fare well in a court of law, Buttigieg said. “Think about the 2020 election among other things. In a court of law, you’re required to present evidence for your claims and there are punishments for lying. So it’s just not the best curve for them to be on. But the law’s on our side in so many ways.”
“Our side,” he paused to explain, isn’t just “people who belong to my party. I mean the law is on the side of freedom-loving people who are committed to a country that is not led by a king.”
It is possible to stop the encroaching authoritarianism, he urged. “We have to not just get ready for the next hill to climb but take a minute to point out what has been achieved.”
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