The Trump strategy of flooding the zone with shit, or moving fast and breaking things, like the law, has a temporary tactical advantage because opponents tend to follow the rules and rule-following takes time. But the law is catching up with Trump. The following signature Trump actions were ruled illegal 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦:

* His tariffs (8/30)
* His use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans (9/2)
* His deployment of troops to Los Angeles (9/2)
* His firing of Democratic directors at two independent agencies, the Voice of America (8/28) and Federal Trade Commission (9/2)
* His freezing of Harvard research funds (9/3)
* His 'pocket rescission' of foreign aid funds (9/3)

#Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

"Trump admin agrees to restore public health webpages."
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/02/tpublic-health-webpages-restored
(#paywalled)

"The Trump administration agreed to restore scores of health agency webpages and datasets that went dark to comply with executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion and gender identity, under a court settlement announced on Tuesday....[The takedowns] prompted a lawsuit from nine medical groups who alleged the administration's actions were arbitrary, illegal and threatened public health. Under the agreement, the #HHS will reinstate the webpages in question to reflect how they appeared online as of January 29, 2025. Once that happens, the case will then dismissed."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #DEI #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

"Warning Signs: Authoritarian Constraints on Scientific Inquiry in the Recent Past."
https://items.ssrc.org/insights/warning-signs-authoritarian-constraints-on-scientific-inquiry-in-the-recent-past/

"What can we learn of political interference in the domain of intellectual freedom, and how have academics attempted to cope with such assaults from past authoritarian regimes? What patterns and intricate trends can we highlight, so that if they return today, they can possibly be spotted, re-examined, and placed on our “warning” screens. Not that they will be replicated, and manifested, exactly as they had in the past, but related attempts might lead to similar problems for intellectuals and the public seeking to maintain civic debate, scientific inquiry, and public culture."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/science/trump-science-autocrats.html

Trump's "blitz on science stands out because America’s labs and their discoveries powered the nation’s rise in the last century and now foster its global influence … Few if any analysts see Mr. Trump as a Stalin, who crushed science, or even as a direct analog to this era’s strongmen leaders. But his assault on researchers and their institutions is so deep that historians and other experts see similarities to the playbook employed by autocratic regimes to curb science."

#Censorship #DefendResearch #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"Scientists breathe new life into climate website after shutdown under Trump."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/30/climate-gov-website-trump

"Earlier this summer, access to climate.gov…was thwarted by the Trump administration, and its production team was fired in the process… Now, a team of climate communication experts – including many members of the former climate.gov team – is working to resurrect its content into a new organization with an expanded mission. Their effort’s new website, climate.us, would not only offer public-facing interpretations of climate science, but could also begin to directly offer climate-related services, such as assisting local governments with mapping increased flooding risk due to climate change."

#Censorship #Climate #DefendResearch #Preservation #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"Trump Has Forced Out Nearly 10% Of The Federal Workforce."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-fires-10-percent-federal-workforce_n_68aca73de4b01646d84f8363

"More than 199,000 federal workers have left their jobs or have been forced out by the Trump administration since January 2025, according to an alarming new analysis by Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit focused on better government. That’s nearly 10% of the entire federal civilian workforce…'We’re seeing the arson of our government,' [said] Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service."

#DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics