The Pro-Democracy Advocates Who Are Suing Trump And Winning

Democracy Forward is fighting every day to ensure the courts hold the line against Trump and his authoritarian project

Mar 30, 2026

**Skye Perryman, President and CEO, Democracy Forward speaks onstage during Together For Democracy 2026.** *Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Democracy Forward.*

It’s natural to feel our legal guardrails won’t hold in this perilous moment. Luckily, organizations like Democracy Forward are litigating against the Trump administration, and they are winning. Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, reminds us that despite the daily horrors and Truth Social barrages, there are reasons to believe that the rule of law will prevail.

In one recent high-profile case, Democracy Forward sued DOGE to challenge its illegal incursion into Social Security Administration systems. You may have seen the viral deposition videos of two “DOGE bros” that followed in another case. Last week, the pro-democracy community won a victory when a judge ruled that those videos could remain public after the Justice Department sought to have them taken down.

Today, Skye Perryman sheds light on Democracy Forward’s work and other important cases making their way through the courts.

— Team Big Picture

Your organization Democracy Forward is a real force behind the scenes, challenging the Trump regime in court to block much of its agenda. And you’ve had major wins that many people haven’t heard about. Can you tell us about a few?

SP: You are very kind to call it out! Since inauguration, more than 650 lawsuits have been filed against Trump-Vance administration executive orders and actions by the pro-democracy community, and judges of all stripes have had to rule against the administration. Democracy Forward alone has filed more than 400 legal actions, launched more than 250 investigations, and issued more than 2,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests since January 2025, serving as a critical bulwark against this administration.

We are grateful to have had a lot of media coverage of our individual cases, but what I think goes underreported is that the Trump-Vance administration is losing court orders far more than they are winning — their loss rate has generally been between 70 and 80%. The administration has faced losses in front of courts with judges appointed by Republican presidents, Democratic presidents, and President Trump himself, with less than 5% of these cases going to the U.S. Supreme Court.

You mentioned our wins — among our cases at Democracy Forward, some of our biggest successes include:

When President Trump tried to freeze funding for all federal programs, Democracy Forward sprung into action, achieving the first and only nationwide court order blocking the freeze. Since then, we have won several cases to block funding freezes, including on congressionally appropriated grants from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and for organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, which had $12 million in federal public-health funding threatened through unlawful retaliation for speaking out in defense of children’s health.

We won a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ new policies that have resulted in the separation of families and the prolonged detention of children in federal immigration custody, and another to protect housing for more than 170,000 people, including families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, after an attempted policy shift by the administration.

While this administration has threatened services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, LGBTQI+ youth, and unhoused communities, we have taken them to court and won on behalf of broad coalitions and the American Bar Association.

Democracy Forward was the first to take action and win against the president’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education, successfully forced the administration to unfreeze more than $6 billion for public schools, blocked an assault on the University of California system, and won a final judgment to stop implementation of a “Dear Colleague Letter” that would have targeted schools that taught about racism.

On behalf of a coalition of Baptist, Sikh and Quaker organizations, we won a ruling to block an administration policy that allowed immigration officials to enter houses of worship to conduct immigration enforcement operations. We’ve won another injunction on behalf of additional faith-based organizations. We also won multiple injunctions to force DHS to stop blocking members of Congress from conducting oversight visits at detention centers, as is their duty.

We successfully blocked implementation of a dangerous new rule that was projected to strip health coverage from more than 2.2 million people, raise costs for working families, and undermine the Affordable Care Act’s core protections.

Democracy Forward has filed numerous lawsuits against unlawful actions targeting the civil service, blocking the firing of civil servants during the 2025 government shutdown, and challenging the Schedule F executive order and “Fork in the Road” buyout. We’ve also defended agencies and offices like U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Our work achieved the first significant reinstatement of probationary employees and we successfully restored the Voice of America after a judge found the appointment of Kari Lake to be illegitimate, voiding all decisions made under her. We also won an injunction to block the unlawful reorganization of the federal government.

Your readers can read more in our 2025 Impact Report.

When the DOGE bro depositions went viral recently, I saw that you were also behind the lawsuit against DOGE. Can you explain that litigation and what sort of accountability you hope to achieve?

SP: Among the reasons that DOGE was so dangerous is that it acted without regard for the American people’s interests and also ignored federal laws and processes. We continue to oppose DOGE and its unlawful attempt to access data at the Social Security Administration (SSA), Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services, and more. We also secured a court order to restrict the IRS from sharing confidential taxpayer information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was a top DOGE priority.

The case you are referring to is our case against the SSA, which I think will prove to be among the most important of all of our cases. Unvetted political operatives should never have access to Americans’ sensitive personal data. That’s why Democracy Forward last year went to court after uncovering that DOGE operatives had gained access to private records at the SSA. A federal court recognized the seriousness of that breach and ordered the data deleted while blocking further access. In June 2025, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to resume granting DOGE staff unprecedented access, and that case is continuing.

Then, in January of this year, the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged multiple inaccuracies and misrepresentations made to the courts in our case — including that a member of DOGE entered into a “Voter Data Agreement” and may have shared data with a third-party, non-government source. This has serious ramifications, and of course comes as the Trump-Vance administration is under fire for its attempts to undermine free and fair elections throughout the country, seizing ballots and attempting to purge voter rolls, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

So we are back in court to uncover the details of what went on here. Because Americans should not have to worry about this administration using their personal data to compromise free and fair elections coming into the midterms.

The stewardship over the personal data of people in America is one of the most important obligations of our government — and this administration is failing. We will not stop until we know exactly how far this unlawful assault on our privacy— and the potential threats to free and fair elections—go.

This case also shows the importance of litigation: The only way the American people have been able to learn what their government is up to in secret is because of the judicial process and our brave clients’ lawsuit.

Is Elon Musk a target of litigation at all or is he untouchable because he was merely a “special government employee”?

SP: There have been cases that challenged Elon Musk’s role and actions, and those are pending in the courts. We don’t view anyone as “untouchable” and believe that, as more becomes revealed about what Musk and his allies were doing with the American people’s sensitive personal data, you will see further litigation and accountability. The main thing that the DOGE episode did was confirm several things: (1) the American people don’t want unelected, unqualified people – whether they are billionaires or bros – running roughshod over their privacy and their rights; (2) the administration has not shown any interest in actually making government more efficient or in delivering for the American people, as DOGE cost taxpayers billions and didn’t make anything more effective; and (3) the people know a power grab when they see one – and oppose it.

Why is it so important for people to see those depositions?

SP: The depositions show the American people the reality: DOGE was never about principles or about the people. It was instead an effort by the President and Elon Musk to “shock and awe” the American people in the early days of the administration to normalize anti-democratic activity that violated their rights. The “DOGE bros” may have left Washington, but the havoc they caused has not. The Trump-Vance administration is still trying to gut federal agencies, eviscerate services millions of Americans rely on, create chaos, and steal sensitive, confidential information, all in the shadows, hidden away from the public eye.

The depositions help show DOGE for what it was. And, they also show how the people can get transparency and accountability. This work to hold the administration accountable is why our investigations team is so important. Since January 2025, Democracy Forward has filed more than 2,000 public records requests, which have already yielded 21,000 pages of documents unearthed from the group’s investigations. Our investigations aim to shed light on the weaponization of justice and law enforcement, the unlawful withholding of federal funding, the destruction of key governmental functions, efforts to evade our nation’s transparency laws, and much more.

Your readers can learn more about our oversight efforts in our new report: Demanding Accountability: Democracy Forward’s Investigations in the First Year of the Trump-Vance Administration.”

What are some of the lawsuits you have in the pipeline that you think show the most promise? And where do you see Trump’s greatest legal vulnerability that may not be getting the attention it deserves?

SP: Wherever there is lawlessness in this administration, you can expect us to be there. We are particularly focused on the election this year, and on stopping the near daily violation of individual Americans’ rights — whether it’s the right to due process, free speech, or being free from an arbitrary government. In addition to Democracy Forward’s own efforts to file cases, we also house the Democracy 2025 initiative, which is a strategic legal network of 700+ organizations that all work together to make sure threats are covered in the courts. That network has been credited with coordinating the largest and most effective strategy against unlawful administrative action in modern history – and we will continue to build and grow that over the coming years as threats escalate.

Born out of urgency and built for impact, Democracy 2025 brings together lawyers, advocates, organizers, experts, researchers, and policy strategists to defend people, communities, and our democracy against escalating attacks. The coalition has become critical not just to addressing a barrage of threats presented by the Trump-Vance administration but also because many large legal institutions, such as elite law firms, have been hesitant to challenge the administration in court, creating an even greater need for leadership and legal representation from the pro-democracy, public interest community.

I believe that Trump’s greatest vulnerability is his continued underestimation of the American people. The people’s voices, as expressed through court actions, have stopped, slowed, and exposed many of the administration’s most harmful agenda items. Without people showing up and being willing to go to court, the administration would have already consolidated its power. But it hasn’t. And, now we have millions of people in the streets also making their voices heard.

Together, we are ensuring that the people’s voices are heard. The courts remain a critical tool the people have to make their voices heard – and we are also working to protect the other ways people can make their voices heard, like the ability to speak freely and protest, and the ability to vote.

We are living through a time when it is easy to be cynical about the legal accountability of bad actors like Trump and his cronies. What message would you like to send to people who fear the courts and our justice system are not rising to the moment?

SP: It is the people who must rise to the occasion, and they are and will need to continue to meet the moment in the days, months, and years ahead. The courts are providing a critical check — the President and his administration would not be targeting judges and lawyers if they thought the courts weren’t a real check on their power — but we use the courts to support the people’s voices, and that is what will have to continue to build in the days ahead. (As I noted above, the administration is losing far more than it is winning in courts, and the American people currently have access to many essential services, programs, and rights that they wouldn’t have, had people not filed lawsuits and won).

Yet, this moment is about more than the courts. It requires all of us to use our voices and stay engaged. In these chaotic times it’s important and empowering to be surrounded by others who are choosing courage. Extremists and anti-democratic actors want us to feel alone and isolated, but we must resist isolation and intimidation.

Look at the amazing turnout this past weekend at No Kings 3. More than 8 million people came together across the country in the largest single-day nonviolent protest in modern American history. More than 3,300 locations participated, including 600 new locations in mostly rural, red communities. That is the power of people and community.

Building community is not just essential for this work, but for the very existence of a pro-democracy community. Never underestimate the power we all have—we, the people. Stay in touch with us at Democracy Forward as we continue to build innovative ways to build community: https://democracyforward.org/get-involved.

Skye L. Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, communications, policy education, and research. Since January 2025, Democracy Forward has filed hundreds of legal actions, launched hundreds of investigations, and, through its Democracy 2025 initiative, has organized the largest, most successful affirmative litigation effort against executive branch excesses in United States history. Learn more about Democracy Forward’s work here.