Our Greatest Defenses Are Working
As a Citizen, You Can Protect Them
Our greatest defenses are our existing institutions and communities. They were built for the chaos that is unfolding and they are already operating swiftly in response to the new administration. You as an individual do not need to take on the role of these existing institutions by trying to address all of the attacks the administration is throwing at us. You may make it your career to take part in one of these institutions, but as a citizen it should be one of your top goals to protect and support them. This is the most efficient way for us to save ourselves.
Check #1: The Judiciary
The federal judiciary, including Trump appointees, have immediately blocked several of Trump’s actions in his first month, including:
The federal funding freeze
The federal employee buy-out program
The USAID firing spree
The birthright citizenship executive order
Our federal judiciary is probably the most important check on executive power right now. In our advocacy and when voting (in some states you vote for your judges!) we must be cognizant of this. When we say pay attention to your judicial elections, we really, really mean it. We also must ensure MAGA judges don’t get appointed by pressuing our members of Congress to block all judicial appointments coming from Trump this term.
Check #2: Congress
Congress may not be acting like the best check on executive power right now, but there are ways that it naturally acts as a check on power even when it’s being inefficient.
Why? Because our Constitution gives certain powers to Congress over the president. For example, Congress controls funding and creates laws, and the president is there to implement them (not create them). This division of power should be respected by the courts, and it has been. The Supreme Court has recently taken a lot of power away from executive agencies in the name of Congressional power (Google Loper Bright v. Raimondo). If SCOTUS is true to its word and respects its own recent decisions, it should block egregious actions that over-exert executive authority.
But how can we bring that check more to life? Congress is elected by the people. If you call your members of Congress and threaten to vote them out unless XYZ, and if we do it in numbers, we CAN strengthen this check on power.
And most importantly, we must protect Congress as an institution, because if it gets in Trumps way, he will work to dismantle it. We must not let our dismay over its ineffectiveness prevent us from defending it. We must continue to call our reps and engage with our elected officials on all issues we care about and view it as the critical safeguard it is. Create a paragraph script, call your members of Congress.
Check #3: State Attorney General Offices
If Congress has been a disaster in acting as a check on Trump, our State Attorneys General have been our saviors, our fighters, our fierce advocates. They are the ones bringing the lawsuits that have resulted in judicial orders halting Trump policies.
We must encourage and support them, and we must protect them as an institution. We vote for them in our state elections – and must pay as much attention to them as we do the president.
Check #4: Advocacy Organizations
Advocacy organizations like the ACLU, Public Citizen, Indivisible, climate organizations, and smaller local community organizations are made up of ordinary citizens that care about particular issues. Many of them have litigation arms. Alongside or in addition to States Attorney General offices, they are bringing lawsuits against Trump’s policies in court.
These are our purest, most genuine advocates - they have no goal but to better the lives of people and the environment. We must support and strengthen them, as they are stretched thin. We can do that by pursuing a career to work for them, donating to them, and uplifting their advocacy efforts by posting about them, signing their petitions, and following their lead.
Check #5: State Laws and State Legislatures
State laws and legislatures serve as a check on Trump’s power. Trump’s Supreme Court has recently given more power to the states. As a result, states can either succumb to Trump’s pressure, or use that newfound power to serve as a check on the federal government. For example, Illinois’ immigration laws have been used as a bulwark against ICE detention raids the last few weeks and have reduced the harm that would otherwise be imposed on immigrants in a state without such laws.
We as citizens can strengthen the power of states by getting clear about who is running for office in our state and local elections, advocating for the best candidates, and pressuring our current state legislatures, governors, and mayors to respond to Trump’s policies.
Conclusion
This post is a reminder that we are not alone and do not need to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. We have decades-old institutions in place that are fragile, but still there, with people as passionate as you fighting to maintain and use them. If you consider the thousands of people that work in Congress, in state legislatures, at state AG offices, and at advocacy organizations around the nation, that is a massive apparatus of fighters.
As an individual citizen, we can plug ourselves into one of the checks as part of our career, or we can work to protect them. How? Come to our Sky Blossoms meetings on Thursday evenings (frequency TBD) to come up with a plan of action.