Ever since Donald Trump returned to power, he and his regime have waged war on
the norms, principles, ethics, ideals, rules, and laws that define — or are supposed to define — our nation.

Public Citizen filed the first lawsuit of Trump’s second term — literally one
minute after he was sworn in. We have filed 21 more lawsuits against the regime
since then (and there will be more). We have won some, we have lost some, and
many are still working their way through the courts. Stay tuned for an upcoming
email with updates on all 22 cases.

Today, we wanted to answer some questions we’ve gotten about these lawsuits and
other ways Public Citizen is confronting the Trump regime.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH CASES TO FILE?

To file a lawsuit against the government, first we need to identify a law the
government has violated. Then we need to identify a person or organization who
was, or is very likely to be, harmed by that violation and is a good fit to
serve as the “plaintiff” (i.e. who we represent in the case). When we see
something wrong that the Trump regime is doing, that’s what we look at first:
Does that wrongful action violate the law, and who is directly impacted?

Both of those things can sometimes be straightforward and sometimes be tricky.
Many outrageous things aren’t actually illegal. And many people and
organizations are hesitant to go up against the Trump regime in court.

In addition, the courts have set a high bar for what someone needs to show to be
able to sue — what the courts refer to as “standing.” For example, we’re all
taxpayers, but being a taxpayer generally does not give someone the right to sue
in federal court, even when their money is being wasted — on the grounds that
the harm is too generalized.

Other factors also go into deciding which cases to file: How important is a
particular issue? Does the wrongful behavior involve an area of law in which
Public Citizen has expertise? How are courts likely to rule, given the signals
coming from the Supreme Court?

Lastly, there are real constraints on our budget and staffing. Public Citizen
never has, and never will, take money from Uncle Sam or Big Business — our
independence and integrity are not for sale. Our work is powered by everyday
folks chipping in if and when they can. Since Trump returned to office, we have
seen a marked uptick in donations. We can’t thank our supporters enough for
that. We also know they are not a bottomless reserve of cash. As a nonprofit
organization that has been fighting vastly better funded corporate and
government entities for over half a century, we prize our ability to budget and
operate efficiently and responsibly.

THE TRUMP REGIME IS DOING SO MANY OUTRAGEOUS AND DESTRUCTIVE THINGS, AND IT
SEEMS TO BE GETTING AWAY WITH SO MUCH. WHY CAN’T THE COURTS STOP MORE OF IT?

Many of the cruel and damaging things the administration does are,
unfortunately, legal. For example, Congress recently voted to strip Medicare
benefits from 15 million people. When the administration implements that
horrific policy, it will be legal — not right , but legal.

Another constraint is that with some of the unlawful things the administration
has done, nobody is legally in a position to sue. For example, the Constitution’s “emoluments clause” makes
it illegal for a president to accept foreign gifts without congressional
authorization. But when Trump takes a foreign gift, there may not be anyone who
has “standing” to sue him over it (meaning anyone who was directly harmed).

And, of course, even when we and others are able to file cases against the
regime in federal court, we don’t always prevail. There are a lot of reasons for
this, and every case is different, but one reason is that judges — whether
appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents — tend to give the federal
government the benefit of the doubt.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION?

In normal times, lawsuits against the government tend to move slowly. We start
by filing a “complaint” in court. Sixty days later, the government files its
response. Then both sides file motions arguing why they should win and responses
to each other’s motions. After several more months, the judge issues a ruling.
Then the losing side might appeal. Some of our cases still move at that kind of
pace.

But in many of the cases in Trump’s second term, we are trying to stop things
that can’t be fixed after the fact or where the people we represent are
experiencing harm right now . As a result — much more frequently than ever before — we are asking judges to
rule on a very expedited basis, filing motions for “temporary restraining
orders” (TROs) or “preliminary injunctions.” If a judge grants such a motion,
the government must pause its unlawful activity while the case proceeds. To get
a preliminary injunction, we have to persuade the judge that (1) we are likely
to win in the end and (2) without immediate relief, the plaintiff will
experience harm that cannot be repaired later. Even so, the administration
appeals most preliminary injunctions.

It can all get quite jumbled, but, eventually, things do get sorted out. We do
our best to keep you apprised about key developments along the way. One thing to
keep in mind is that filing a lawsuit is the beginning, not the end — after we
announce a case, there is tons more work for our lawyers to do.

WHAT ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT?

Public Citizen has argued more than 60 cases before the Supreme Court, during
Democratic and Republican administrations. In addition, we file briefs and often
provide assistance to one side or the other in a significant number of other
cases that come before the Court.

The Supreme Court has issued many rulings we vigorously disagree with, including Trump v. United States , which provides broad criminal immunity to the president for almost any action
taken while serving in the Oval Office.

In this second Trump term, the Supreme Court has issued quite a few rulings on
its “shadow docket” (the name people have given to cases filed as emergency
motions asking the Court to act quickly, such as requests to put preliminary
injunctions on hold). Most of the shadow docket decisions this year have favored
the Trump administration. However, we won one of the very first shadow docket
decisions the Court issued on challenges to Trump actions.

Most cases that we file — or that anyone files — do not reach the Supreme Court.
The government has accepted defeat in some cases that we and others have won.
And the Court may decline to review some cases the administration asks it to
take up.

When we lose cases at the Supreme Court (or in any court), it hurts — because
the stakes are often so high. But that does not necessarily mean the fight is
over. We can go to Congress and try to get laws changed. We can push for a
future administration, or even the Trump administration itself, to reverse its
policies. These are not pathways that will give fast results, but we don’t quit
just because we got an adverse court ruling.

WHAT CAN BE DONE WHEN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEFIES COURTS?

When the administration does not follow a court’s order, we go back to the
court, tell the judge what’s going on, and ask for a more specific order or a
decision holding the relevant government official in contempt of court. The
Trump regime has been more willing to mislead or slow-walk decisions than any we
have ever encountered. It sometimes takes multiple efforts to get the
administration to comply. While the regime has defied rulings on a few
occasions, it is, for the most part, following court orders.

WHY AREN’T WE SUING DONALD TRUMP, OR THIS OR THAT OFFICIAL IN HIS REGIME,
INDIVIDUALLY?

Longstanding legal principles make it impossible in many areas of law, and very
difficult in other areas of law, to hold individual government officials
personally accountable. Beyond that, the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Trump v. United States conjured out of thin air a broad presidential immunity from criminal
prosecution.

Our lawsuits can do — and are doing — a lot to block bad policy or actions. They
are not, however, a way to impose personal accountability on Donald Trump.

WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE TRUMP IS ABLE TO SUE WHOEVER HE WANTS WHENEVER HE WANTS?

Donald Trump is extremely litigious. For decades, Trump has used lawsuits — or the threat of lawsuits —
to bully business rivals; city, state, and national governments; media
companies; people he owes money to; people and groups who have been critical of
his loathsome and illegal behavior, and others.

What is perhaps most disturbing now is that Trump is continuing to use lawsuits
to bully adversaries. Not only is he weaponizing the Department of Justice, he
is bringing dubious lawsuits against universities and media companies. And in
case after case, those entities have agreed to settlements, including
significant monetary payments. But here’s the thing: They aren’t settling
because they think they would lose the lawsuits on the merits, they’re settling
because they have business before the government and are afraid of retaliation
by Trump.

That’s a very serious problem of authoritarianism, but it’s not a problem rooted
in the judicial system. When people fight back in court against Trump, they are
often able to win.

ARE YOUR LAWSUITS MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

The short and sweet answer is: Yes!

We are scoring substantive wins that mitigate the authoritarian overreach
perpetrated by the Trump regime — protecting rights, blocking deregulation,
overcoming censorship, and preserving agencies. Our lawsuits have:

* Defeated an attempt by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government
Efficiency (DOGE) to shutter the Job Corps program, which provides training
and housing for low-income youth.

* Forced the administration to make payments on foreign aid grants.

* Required the administration to repost health information it had wiped from
government websites.

* Forced the administration to repost an online database that reveals how
federal agencies will spend federal dollars.

* Saved the National Hunger Hotline from cancellation.

* Forced the administration to remove partisan language from the
“out-of-office” emails of furloughed federal employees.

* Blocked an administration effort to deny commercial driver’s licenses to
certain immigrants.

Some of these wins are temporary. Some are permanent. Many of our cases are
ongoing, with outcomes still to be determined. There is no doubt that we are
having an impact on what the administration is able to get away with.

Along with the substantive wins, these lawsuits are inspiring hope — hope that
authoritarianism can be stopped, that fighting makes a difference, that
something can be done. In this way, our litigation is about more than the cases
themselves. It is about overcoming fear, isolation, and hopelessness — so that
people connect and mobilize and build the power we need to defeat Trump and
Trumpism.

IN ADDITION TO LAWSUITS, WHAT ELSE IS PUBLIC CITIZEN DOING TO FIGHT TRUMP AND
THE MAGA AGENDA?

An exhaustive list would take this email from pretty long to pretty much
ridiculous, but we’ll highlight just a few of the ways Public Citizen — that’s
not just the two of us and our staff, it’s also some 1.5 million supporters from
all walks of life and every corner of this country — is working day in and day
out to fight Trumpism and to save democracy.

Public Citizen is a leader in the coalition behind the nationwide Hands Off! and
No Kings! rallies that have seen millions and millions of everyday Americans
take to the streets in peaceful protest of the regime and its dictatorial
ambitions.

We have filed dozens of ethics complaints against administration conflicts of
interest and wrongful behavior.

We are issuing deep-dive investigative reports into matters ranging from the
sponsors of Trump’s gaudy Billionaire Ballroom to the torrent of abandoned
investigations into corporate lawbreaking.

We are leading a massive coalition (thousands of organizations!) standing
together in resolute resistance as the administration threatens the very
existence of nonprofit groups — and the essential work we do — by falsely
brandishing accusations of domestic terrorism at groups that oppose the regime’s flagrant misconduct and authoritarianism.

And of course we are also continuing our traditional, pre-Trump work to make
things better for everyday Americans by fighting for policies that will do
things like (just to mention a handful): make medicines more affordable; protect
workers from excessive heat; challenge oil and gas exports that are
supercharging corporate profits but skyrocketing consumers’ utility rates;
secure protections against creepy artificial intelligence technologies that put
teens at risk; advocate to make billionaires and Big Business pay their fair
share of taxes; keep unsafe drugs off the market; break up monopolistic
corporations, and win Medicare for All so that no American has to live without
health coverage.

MORE ABOUT TAKING THE TRUMP REGIME TO COURT

What you and Public Citizen are doing together matters. What hundreds of other
organizations, big and small, are doing matters. What millions upon millions of
our fellow Americans are doing matters. We believe that to our core. We take
solace in that. And we draw inspiration from that. We hope you do, too.

If you can, please donate today to support Public Citizen’s work standing up to
the Trump regime. [[link removed]]

Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help
at such a critical moment. [[link removed]]

CONTRIBUTE NOW [[link removed]]
Or join our popular Monthly Giving program (if you haven’t already) to help make
sure we have the ongoing financial resources to fight Trump day after day after
day. [[link removed]]

If you’ve donated to Public Citizen already, thank you. If a donation is not
right, we understand. Either way, thank you for being part of Public Citizen.

For progress,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen


Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe
[[link removed]]