- We wanted to reflect on what that even means with the White House now (re)occupied by a would-be autocrat who has surrounded himself with manifestly unqualified sycophants and billionaires whose operating "principles" seem to be greed, ignorance, prejudice, and vengeance.
- We wanted to thank you for being part of Public Citizen as we do what we can, together, to confront the Trump regime.
- And we wanted to give you an update on our work since Trump returned to office — including the seven lawsuits we've filed so far (with more on the way).
REFLECTING ON PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDENTS' DAY
Presidents' Day originated to honor our nation's first commander-in-chief, George Washington, and others who have led these United States — through thick and thin, through times of peace and times of war, through our greatest collective triumphs and our deepest national tragedies.
So far, 45 different men have served as President of the United States. Some have entered office with noble intentions, some not so much. Some put their own ambition above the welfare of the American people. All have been flawed — because they are human beings, because the job is exceedingly difficult, because power tends to corrupt. Shamefully, all have been men, and all but one have been white.
For all their strengths and weaknesses, none of them — not a single one of them — did anything remotely like what our current president, Donald Trump, is attempting to do.
Whatever can be said about any other person who has held the office — good or bad — no other president has actively initiated a full-scale dismantling of the federal government they lead. No other president — despite a few who might have fantasized about it — so flagrantly, so recklessly, so spitefully operated as if he were a dictator or a king.
However ...
Donald Trump is NOT a king. He may want to be. He may be acting like he is. Many people may be enabling him. Individuals and institutions that should — and do — know better may be laying down instead of standing up.
But some of us ARE standing up.
And every person who rises up gives someone else an example to follow. Every act of resistance builds a foundation for the next, and the next, and the next. Every victory — even if seemingly small — demonstrates the reality that Donald Trump is not all-powerful and exposes the myth that what he's doing is somehow natural, or right, or good for our country, or the result of any "mandate."
So while there is nothing to celebrate about *this* president, there is a powerful movement taking shape to fight back, to refuse tyranny, to save our country. Which is exactly what we are going to do.
THIS SHARED PROJECT CALLED PUBLIC CITIZEN
We have to say something about the support we've been getting of late.
From the moment we responded to Trump's re-election with our plan to confront him, we've received messages of appreciation — in equal parts for having a plan and for giving hope.
Then, from the time we filed our first Trump lawsuit within minutes of his inauguration, the outpouring has been overwhelming.
From all over the country — and all over the world — people have expressed their appreciation that someone is standing up to authoritarianism and for decency. For trying to stop at least some of the destruction and cruelty and corruption.
Many Public Citizen supporters have also been kind enough to make donations — with many donating for the first time, others making larger gifts than in the past, and still others signing up to be monthly donors.
We are just so grateful to everyone who has chipped in whatever amount was right for them.
And — equally — we want to be very clear that if donating is not right for you, we understand.
Just reading our emails — so you know how we're fighting back and so you know you are part of something bigger than any of us could ever be on our own — is incredibly meaningful.
On that point, if our updates are starting to blur together, don't worry — you don't have to read every email or keep track of all the ins and outs of the work we're doing.
We promise to keep you in the loop so you have at least an overall sense of how we're standing up to the Trump regime.
HOW PUBLIC CITIZEN IS FIGHTING TRUMP
We have filed seven lawsuits against the regime since Trump took the oath of office on January 20 for the second time. In fact, we filed the first of those lawsuits within moments of Trump being sworn in.
Here's a recap of what each lawsuit is about, what progress we've already made, and what comes next.
Lawsuit #1 — Elon Musk's "DOGE" Operating Unlawfully
Two minutes after Trump was sworn in on January 20, we filed a lawsuit challenging the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — being run, infamously, by Elon Musk — for operating in secrecy and in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
A hearing in this case has not yet been scheduled.
Lawsuit #2 — "DOGE" Invades U.S. Treasury Department
On February 3 — following news that Elon Musk's "DOGE" gang had infiltrated a payment system at the U.S. Treasury Department — we filed a lawsuit demanding an immediate halt to the illegal invasion of the privacy of millions of Americans whose information is in that system. The suit got widespread coverage in the media, both nationally and internationally. (The American Prospect called it "one of the most important lawsuits in the history of the United States.")
Two days later, our lawyers filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. And on February 6, the judge issued an order restricting two Musk-connected men already housed at Treasury from modifying or copying the database, prohibiting them from sharing any information with Musk or anyone else outside the department, and preventing Elon Musk himself (or any additional DOGE-connected people) from accessing the sensitive Treasury data while our lawsuit proceeds to the next stage.
A hearing is scheduled for February 24.
Lawsuit #3 — Public Health Agency Websites Censored
On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive requiring federal agencies to "use the term 'sex' and not 'gender' in all" federal documents. In response, on January 31, agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed from their websites important datasets and webpages, including information that doctors and researchers across the country use to diagnose and treat patients, monitor diseases, and advance public health.
On February 4, we filed a lawsuit challenging the removal of this vital health information. On February 6, we moved for a temporary restraining order. On February 11, the judge granted our motion and ordered the agencies to restore the deleted webpages and datasets while the litigation proceeds.
We will be amending our complaint this week, to expand the scope of the case.
Lawsuit #4 — USAID Shutdown Ignites Worldwide Humanitarian Crisis
The Trump administration illegally ordered USAID workers to stop doing their jobs, terminated contracts, froze grant funding, and prepared to lay off or fire nearly all USAID employees. Elon Musk bragged that he had spent the weekend "feeding USAID into the wood chipper." With USAID in disarray, essential medical care, food assistance, and other critical projects across the globe cannot operate.
On February 6, we filed a lawsuit in federal court to reverse the Trump administration's attempted dismantling of USAID. On February 7, we asked the court for a temporary restraining order. That night, the judge issued an order blocking the plan to put 2,200 USAID workers on leave and bringing back the hundreds put on leave earlier in the week, through February 14. On February 13, we were back in court seeking to extend the court order. The judge extended it through February 21, as he considers whether to grant further emergency relief.
We will soon be briefing a motion for summary judgment, asking the court to issue a final order restoring USAID.
Lawsuit #5 — "DOGE" Invades U.S. Department of Education
In addition to infiltrating a sensitive database at the Treasury Department, "DOGE" has accessed confidential information at other agencies as well, including the Department of Education.
On February 7, we filed a lawsuit in federal court to block "DOGE" access to Department of Education databases, which include financial information of thousands of student-loan applicants and their families. On February 14, the judge held an hour-long hearing on our motion for a temporary restraining order.
We are awaiting the judge's ruling on our request for emergency relief.
Lawsuit #6 — Trump's Unconstitutional Foreign Aid Freeze
Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in office directing agencies to freeze almost all foreign assistance that the United States provides worldwide.
On February 10, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of two organizations that receive grants from the State Department and USAID to do humanitarian work. On February 12, we filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. The next day, the court granted our motion and issued an order requiring resumption of foreign assistance funding for our clients and others as the case proceeds.
Our next step will be to file a motion seeking to make the court order permanent.
Lawsuit #7 — Illegal Dismantling of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
After Wall Street's reckless greed set off a worldwide financial crisis in 2008, Congress passed a law creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to safeguard the American people, and our economy, from Big Banks and other giant financial institutions.
On January 31, the Trump administration began taking steps to dismantle the CFPB. On February 13, Public Citizen lawyers sued to halt that effort. The next day, we filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. Later that day, the judge entered an order blocking any destruction of records, firing of people, or transfer of agency funding while she considers the case.
The next hearing in the case will be on March 3.
There will be more lawsuits. And that is far from the only way Public Citizen is fighting Trump.
- We have a small army of policy experts who are monitoring the regime's reckless and inappropriate moves and are filing complaints with the federal and congressional entities that are supposed to intervene. We're moving fast as Trump is undoing safeguards through actions like firing inspectors general and the head of the Office of Government Ethics.
- We have a diverse team of researchers uncovering and reporting on the ethics violations, conflicts of interest, grift, corruption, and outright fraud that seem to be in the very DNA of Trump himself, members of his family, and the assorted shameless miscreants and billionaires with which he has stuffed his so-called administration.
- We have world-class lobbyists working the halls of Congress to spur Democrats, and even some Republicans, out of stupor and into action. (This remains a work in progress, to be sure.)
- We have experienced organizers in the field laying the groundwork for rallies in Washington, D.C. and all across the country.
- And much, much more.
We are doing what we can. We are bringing to bear everything we've learned, all the connections we've made, all the experience we've developed, all the passion we've nurtured — from every victory and every setback — since our founding over half a century ago.
If you can, please donate today to support Public Citizen's work standing up to the Trump regime.
Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help at such a critical moment.
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.
If you've donated to Public Citizen already, thank you. If a donation is not right, we get it. Either way, thank you for being part of Public Citizen.
For progress,
- Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
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