Two and a Half Weeks In

Today, there seems to be a growing awareness across the country of the peril we are in. There is increasing evidence that Elon Musk and his band of boys have access they should not have to government systems and data and to individual Americans’ personal information. Today we learned one of the young engineers has “editor access” to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which joins a growing number of agencies where they apparently have a presence. Donald Trump signed an anti-transgender measure today, likely only the first of several.

Pam Bondi became the attorney general and promptly did just what she told the Senate at her confirmation hearing she wouldn’t do. There is no surprise here; apparently, revenge prosecutions are, in fact, on the table. ABC reported that “In her first hours after being sworn in Wednesday as nation's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive Wednesday establishing a ‘Weaponization Working Group’ that she says will be tasked with reviewing ‘politicized’ actions of officials who investigated President Donald Trump at both the state and federal levels.” She specified she would be investigating the prosecutors: Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. My former DOJ colleague Eric Columbus posted on Bluesky, “It’s almost like she’s Trump’s personal lawyer.”

Labor Protest in Washington, D.C., today

Bar Harbor Maine

As Americans began to protest today, Congress got into the act too. Senate Democrats are holding the floor all night to prevent a vote to confirm Russell Vought, a name that may be familiar to you because of his connection to Project 2025. Vought is the nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). If confirmed, Vought will be in a position to implement much of Project 2025. Democrats may not have the votes to prevent his confirmation but they are putting a spotlight on Vought and what he does once he takes office.

Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, who is involved in tonight’s efforts on Capitol Hill, had this to say today on Bluesky:

Sometimes, plain talk is best. This is clearly one of those times. There is no point in pretending that Trump’s new administration isn’t violating the law as it takes administrative action to advance its goals. Whether it’s the attempt to override birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen, unlawful firings, or shutting down agencies, it’s increasingly clear that it will be up to the courts to put an end to the culture of lawlessness that has been the hallmark of the first two and a half weeks Trump has been in office.

Lawsuits proceeded in those courts today. Efforts to prevent Elon Musk from accessing data at the Department of Labor resulted in a representation to the court that DOL would not permit any access until after the court rules on a motion for a temporary restraining order Friday. In the Treasury case over DOGE access, there is reporting that the judge seems inclined to prevent DOGE from getting into Treasury Department records. A federal judge in Maryland put Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship on hold, a back up to an earlier decision by a judge in Seattle. There are temporary restraining order hearings in the morning to put a halt on efforts to both gather and release information about and to fire FBI agents who worked on cases involving Donald Trump and January 6. There is more, and fortunately, Just Security has an excellent litigation tracker for the more than 30 legal challenges that have been filed so far. It’s an incredible amount of litigation in a compressed period of time. Although it’s still early times in this litigation, the Trump administration is losing across the board.

[Quick refresher, since we’re going to be seeing this term a lot: A temporary restraining order (TRO) is a short-term order entered by a judge to freeze the status quo in place while the plaintiff in a newly filed lawsuit challenges some action the defendant is taking. To get one, the plaintiffs have to show that they will suffer irreparable harm without the TRO.]

Lots more coming, but I’m going to call it an early night and get a little extra sleep after a long day of teaching. I hope you’re taking care of yourself too. Last night, I closed by saying, “Call it what it is: A coup. Let’s make sure it doesn’t succeed.” Today, it looks like Americans got to work. The First Amendment gives us not only the right to free speech but the right to assemble and to petition the government. It’s time to exercise those muscles.

We’re in this together,

Joyce