In the first months of Trump’s second term, the president has largely been able to impose his will unchecked. As staff writer Michael Scherer reports in his latest article for The Atlantic, “The Anti-Trump Strategy That's Actually Working,” feeble opposition in Congress, floundering news media, and diminishing public protest have allowed for the administration’s campaign of “ruthless domination.”
But one strategy of resistance has been a successful exception: In American courts, coordinated efforts by attorneys general, advocacy groups, unions, and private citizens have held back the tide of Trump’s executive orders. The legal fights have also raised public awareness of attempted cuts to AmeriCorps and the CDC; the activities of Elon Musk’s DOGE employees; and the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, among other efforts by the Trump administration.
Scherer, an award-winning journalist who’s spent two decades covering national politics, points out the key factors that have allowed this arm of resistance to work so quickly and effectively to combat abuses of power as they arise.
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