I want to consider some good news today. The good news is that certain cultural, political and legal guardrails are holding against Donald Trump and his government right now.
I am not suggesting our democracy is in the clear. I am suggesting we see signs of power checking power, of institutions doing their job, of people rising to the challenge. Naming some examples of this should embolden all of us to do our part.
These are not in any particular order, just presented as they come to mind.
David Gushee
The courts have imposed meaningful limits on Trump’s effort to govern trade policy by unilateral executive decree. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down major tariff actions earlier this year, and federal trade courts have since ruled against parts of the administration’s replacement tariff regime as well. Appeals continue, but the judiciary has clearly signaled that even presidents do not possess unlimited authority over taxation and trade policy.
Several highly publicized efforts to investigate or prosecute prominent Trump critics and perceived enemies — including Letitia James and James Comey — have run into serious legal obstacles, judicial pushback, failed grand jury efforts or internal resistance from career prosecutors. These episodes suggest parts of the legal system are still resisting overt politicization.
The Federal Reserve has retained its independence. Jerome Powell refused to resign. Lisa Cook refused to resign and was retained in her position.
The SAVE Act — which would federalize parts of voter registration policy and impose strict proof-of-citizenship requirements that could disenfranchise many eligible voters — has not cleared Congress despite intense pressure from Trump and his allies. That legislative failure matters.
Federalism itself remains a democratic guardrail. States continue to exercise substantial independent authority over elections, education, reproductive policy, law enforcement and civil liberties, often functioning as counterweights to federal overreach.
“States continue to exercise substantial independent authority over elections, education, reproductive policy, law enforcement and civil liberties.”
Canada strongly resisted Trump’s provocations regarding sovereignty and trade pressure. Greenland and Denmark likewise refused to yield to territorial rhetoric and instead reinforced their own diplomatic and security posture. Trump’s expansionist rhetoric appears to have receded for now.
Ukraine has proved far more resilient than many expected. European support has expanded as U.S. reliability has weakened, and Ukraine has maintained an effective defense posture rather than capitulating to pressure for an unfavorable settlement.
Trump’s dismissal of his European allies and wishy-washy posture to NATO has led Europeans toward greater solidarity and cooperation with each other and steps toward an enhanced military posture for their own defense.
Congressional scrutiny and their own failures have doomed some of Trump’s least-able appointees and forced their removal.
Public backlash, litigation, media scrutiny, and operational failures have forced at least some moderation and recalibration in immigration enforcement tactics, even if many troubling practices remain.
Congressional scrutiny, scientific institutions, state governments and public criticism all have limited the extent to which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been able to translate anti-vaccine views into sweeping federal policy.
Public opposition to military escalation with Iran appears substantial, including among segments of Trump’s own political coalition. Economic pressures, geopolitical constraints and the risks of escalation all seem to be limiting the administration’s room for maneuver.
Civil society organizations that defend civil rights, voting rights and democracy are heavily mobilized. Every democracy-eroding step taken by the administration faces litigation.
The media landscape has been affected by some right-wing takeovers, but the independent media sector is strong. The New York Times, for example, reports the news and offers opinion and commentary without apparent fear, despite a frivolous Trump lawsuit. The same is true with many other individual personalities and news outlets. The vast opining that ordinary Americans do on social media continues unabated — after some initial chilling effect, which still mainly applies to visa holders and migrants.
Universities have absorbed significant damage under federal pressure, especially around DEI programs and research funding. Some institutions capitulated too quickly; others have resisted more forcefully. Yet the university sector as a whole still retains substantial institutional autonomy, particularly outside the deepest red states.
Trump’s declining approval ratings indicate the American public is not happy with the performance of the president or administration, and one sees adjustments being quietly made to try to respond to public opinion — on immigration enforcement, the Iran war and other arenas.
Despite immense pressure and conspiracy rhetoric, election administration systems in the United States have continued to function. Local election officials, judges and state administrators have repeatedly resisted efforts to overturn certified outcomes or manipulate voting procedures.
Large portions of the federal civil service, military leadership, inspector general system and career legal bureaucracy continue to operate according to professional rather than personalist norms, despite intense political pressure.
Americans have not retreated into silence. Protest movements, local organizing, journalism, litigation networks, religious activism and public advocacy remain vigorous and visible.
A review of this list teaches us what democratic guardrails actually are:
- Courts
- Federalism
- Elections
- Civil society
- Public opinion
- Universities
- Journalism
- Markets/economic constraints
- Allied democracies
- Professional bureaucracies
Democracies do not preserve themselves automatically. They survive because citizens, institutions and communities summon the courage to defend them. The signs of democratic resilience visible today should not make us complacent. They should make us more determined.
David P. Gushee serves as Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, chair in Christian social ethics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and senior research fellow at International Baptist Theological Study Centre. He is past president of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics. He also is author of 30 books, including Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust; Kingdom Ethics; Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies; Changing Our Mind; and The Moral Teachings of Jesus.