A left-wing legal group with the misleading name Democracy Forward is proving to be the biggest obstacle to translating President Donald Trump’s massive election victory into real change.
The group’s mission is to thwart the decisions of the 77 million voters who supported Trump for president.
It sues the Trump administration repeatedly, venue shopping for sympathetic district court judges – the lowest on the totem pole – who will act as stooges, issuing national injunctions to halt Trump’s agenda, never mind how flimsy or outright false the legal claims are.
The brainchild behind Democracy Forward is the scandal-plagued Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, who chairs the group. He’s the same culprit whose fingerprints were allegedly all over the fake anti-Trump Steele dossier in 2016. He also was behind the state-by-state changes in election law intended to tilt the scales against Republicans in 2020.
On Friday, Democracy Forward struck again, winning an order by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston to suspend Trump’s plans to shrink 21 federal departments and agencies – everything from the departments of Energy, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Interior, Labor and many more to the Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration and National Science Foundation.
In terms of sheer size, this is the most consequential court battle to stop Trump yet.
Democracy Forward claims to be defending democracy. “At this critical moment where those who were responsible for January 6th have returned to power, we must use the law to defend our democracy and build for a better future,” the group’s “About Us” page reads.
There’s the big lie. Democracy Forward suggests Trump “returned to power” through some illicit coup. Truth is, he was elected by huge popular and Electoral College majorities.
One of Trump’s winning campaign promises was to drain the swamp, shrink the size and cost of government, and eliminate 10 regulations for every new one slapped on the public. Democracy Forward is fighting to protect the interest groups and unions that feed at the trough of ever-bigger government.
Illston insists that her ruling is intended to “protect the power of the legislative branch.” She argues the president must consult with Congress to make “large-scale overhauls of federal agencies.”
Many previous presidents have consulted Congress, and 5 U.S. Code 903 says the president “shall” submit to Congress whatever broad reorganization is planned.
Even so, Illston’s making a weak argument. Article II of the Constitution puts the president exclusively in charge of the executive branch, and any statute that impinges on that authority may be what’s unconstitutional. Two higher federal courts in other parts of the country have refuted the argument she makes, but she says she is not bound by other circuits.
Illston’s argument sounds more like a mere pretext than a sincere attempt to protect Congress. After all, Congress isn’t suing to ask for protection.
Look who is suing: the four largest public employee unions in the nation – despairing that the layoffs will mean fewer union dues collected and a heavier workload for those who are still on the job. This is a lawsuit to protect the gravy train.
Also joining the lawsuit are Democratic cities and state governments arguing that the federal spigot is about to be turned off. “Where will our funding come from?” they ask. The gist of the argument is that the federal government should only get bigger, never smaller. It’s crazy.
The city of Baltimore contends that when federal employees are laid off, the city collects less tax revenue. No one is stopping Baltimore residents from finding work in the private sector.
In a similar lawsuit launched in March against Trump’s reorganization of the Department of Education, Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers whined that Trump’s plan could lead to block grants to the states, some even allowing the money to go for private school vouchers.
Sorry, Randi. These issues should be decided with elections, not lawsuits.
Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s CEO, told HuffPost that long before Trump’s victory, the group created a spreadsheet of Trump’s policies – guided by the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 – and plotted legal actions against each one.
Seeking national injunctions has been their most corrupt weapon. But on May 15 the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to slap urgently needed limits on district courts’ issuing these injunctions.
Not a minute too soon. Limiting national injunctions will rein in the left-wing litigation complex and handcuff Elias.
Don’t let the name of his latest operation fool you. Democracy Forward is really democracy undone – a planned assault on your right to choose.
Betsy McCaughey is a former Lt. Governor of New York State and founder of SaveNYC.org. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.
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I will continue to tell the truth about the Democratic Party, they are enemies of America and the American people! The Democratic Party wants to destroy America and the American people! President Trump wants to make America great and stop the destruction of our country! The no good Democrats will say and do anything to stop President Trump from saving America!
Let’s pray that SCOTUS does the right thing. Kind of scary though not knowing what Robert’s or Barrett might do.
The question is where do they want to “Democracy Forward” to? The WEF, or Communist China? Marc Elias, as well as his former employer Perkins Coie are overdue for a national security investigation regarding their undermining and subverting of our Constitution.
The Federal bureaucracy is part of what we fought a revolution to get away from and prevent. This judge is obviously a Tory and opposed to the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps she should move to England where she can kiss the king’s a$$. She sure doesn’t have any sense of America or her citizens, but confuses bureaucracy with democracy. I’m getting very tired of unelected members of the government undermining the will of the people. Justice Robert’s be damned, it’s past time to impeach any judge who undermines the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. It’s also time for state governments to do the same to Congress persons or Senators who do the same. Some accountability is called for immediately!
To deny OUR votes & his winning the office, been so since Term 1
Evil is precisely right. One thing I know is “Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming” and “Crimes against children will unite humanity”. Many of these bad actors will be going away for good, our financial system is in the process of being revamped as is our tax system, woke agendas are being dismantled, crooked judges and politicians are being exposed, BIG arrests are coming, and precious metals and crypto will be exploding. The future is bright!
The dems could not win at the ballot box so they are using lawfare to beat Trump in the courts.
It will keep going until a lot of them along with congress go to jail.
Established politicians had a good scam going for ages, along came outsider who dare to upset the established order. Can’t tolerate that, where would they end up if questioning God’s order were allowed .The audacity of it, trying to shake status quoThey have no cloth on and know it.
It will stop when the people say enough an take out the democrats and the judges one way or another.
When the Democrats use every dirty trick to hamstring, or hobble, or cripple Donald Trump, they are doing it to all of us too… It’s not about us; it’s about them and their insatiable lust for control and our money…
DemoKKKRATS wouldn’t know Classic Democracy if they tripped on it! Their idea of “Democracy” is Socialism/Communism with a “smiley face”. Look who the usual suspects filing these unconstitutional “lawfare” suits are; unions, public employees, teachers, state and local Blue state politicians; all afraid of being pushed away from the trough taxpayers are FORCED to keep filled. The weak willed SCOTUS needs to put the blocks to this nonsense ASAP. With Roberts and Barrett being “weather vanes”, ANY outcome is up for debate.
SAD SAD THAT THE VOTERS REALLY DON’T HAVE A REAL SAY. AMAZING HOW MUCH OUR “OWN” FELLOW CITIZENS REALLY DISLIKE US. WHY WHY
The democrats have been destroying democracy since Obama. Now they are running the country via bribed judges that will not follow the law just the policies of the democrats and this Democracy, read Dictatorship, Forward, read Now. They tried to replace 20 million Americans, read MAGA, with 20 million people by allowing them in this country be they criminals, drug dealers, pedophiles smuggling children into the pedophile world. Human smugglers. Everyone was welcome. Was given 20K a year, housing and medical care and an education. The 20 million citizens could pay for that luxury. To the detriment of themselves. Going hungry, loosing health care, their children’s education. DEI saw to that. Trans brainwashing took care of the children. COVID spamdemic took care of the elderly. And dang Trump won. Only they have never acknowledged that. Harris lost they say. And Trump for “DICTATORSHIP NOW”, is just an obstacle for 4 years and the lawsuits by them is just to tie his plans for America tied up till they can take over. Only they haven’t understood that Trump was elected because of his campaign policies. And he is making all his policies come true. The difference between Biden/Obama regime was defeated in Nov 2024. By tge voters. Only they hold on to Jan 6 2020 Coup that Pelosi orchestrated from beginning to end. That is why their Jan 6 committee had to abandon when the truth came out. And more will come out that is why the communists in the house and senate have to act fast. Because 24/7 more and more American dems are waking up to the puppet show we endured the past 4 years. The dems are surprised? Really? Nobody saw any decline in Biden? How come 77 million Americans did. The “DICTATORSHIP NOW” will fall like Joe is going to fall as soon as Jill pulls away from him. She was the one that propped him up to make her look good as First Lady. Sorry Jill you have been found out!!! Your constituents are awake as well. Time to go. And take your Stupid senators and house members with you. The democrat party is done. Trump will triumph.
This is NOT the way government should be operating. Democrats have spent the last decade+ completely corrupting our precious American government & country to the point where it’s hardly recognizable. We cannot keep depending on & HOPING that SCOTUS fixes each & every issue that must be elevated to their level! There MUST BE somehow WE the People can go on the attack, rather than this complacency we are forced to live in.
Illston “says she is not bound by other circuits”. Hmmm, then why would her decisions have an impact beyond the borders of her jurisdiction?
The Demon party is a sick bunch
Who is the money behind democracy forward and similar groups?
Democrats are despicable.
if they lose the house and senate in the midterms you have an army of 53 million illegals ready to take america down thank you politicians and gov employees the founders told us we could only be taken down from within
Follow the money and arrest those paying the bill for sedition/treason, whichever fits. This is ridiculous. These people are trying to overthrow a duly elected POTUS and it’s BS
Anyone who doesn’t agree with President Trump are not Americans and are enemies of America! President Trump is great and all ways does why is best for our country!
We the People need to find a way to clear out the Schumers, Pelosis, Schiffs, Waters, Jeffries, etc; all the politicians that have corrupted our government. I don’t believe we can VOTE them out; I honestly believe all their ‘elections’ are consistently DEFRAUDED. And it appears it’s impossible to arrest them, no matter their blatant crimes. I haven’t heard anything about that “Constitutional Convention” in years, either. Somebody, somewhere must have an idea?!
It’s been quite obvious how democrats file never-ending lawsuits against every move Pres Trump makes. Now we know the originators. Are Elias & ‘Democracy Forward’ the only originators? I imagine not. It’s coming from the leading democrat Congress members as well as George Soros and others. It’s a little ARMY of self-serving, in-our-face CORRUPTION. We MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.
Seems the public sector unions are the real enemy. When the unions and the municipalities agree on something, my spidey sense goes from a tingle all the way to a shingles like rash. Shut that spigot off now!
more like obstruction of democracy. We must have some smart people and lawyers to counteract his subtle terrorism.
We know what they’re doing we know who’s doing it, why is this not called an insurrection? Why is this individual not in jail. I would call treason but he’s walking free trying to destroy the country with the Democrats
It’s time to vote them ALL out of office and deport a lot of them as well
Attack them back with lawsuits to wrap them in knots.Marc Eliason, this stooge of a judge need to be sued, whether by the administration, or the creation if needed of our own group too counter the “Democrats Forward” losers group. SCOTUS needs to definitely step up and stop this ridiculous garbage.
lot of words to say marxist-leninist radical left anarchists SHOWING what they ARE; what they DO DEFINES THEM.
What is wrong with you people??? I can’t comprehend what goes on in your brain!!! But if you keep it up, we might just have to give him a third term so he can finish everything that you Democrats tried for so hard to keep him from doing by your lawsuits, your lies, your racism, your corruption, your hypocrisy!! And, yet, still, none of you Democrats are listening!!!
Like RINOS {Deceptive Pretenders), we must be personally involved, to become better informed, about who’s who! I pray, especially for, Senior Citizens, to get out of that Old Norm, watching TV Stations and/or Cable News Channels, who serve the Leftist Agenda through “Abject Morality” giving license to lying, fear-mongering, ect… steering the vulnerable awry. Hopefully/Prayerfully level-headed Americans will become astute to Current Events, to such a degree, to better inform an Aging Populous, who requires the abilities of Christian Moralists, rather than, allowing the Guidance of those on the Left, who have only their best interests in mind.
The democ-rat socialist/communist party is run by evil little whiners our government is over run with to many groups that do not look out for the best interest of the American people these judges should be fired
Pray that this issue that will solve left legal warfare to cripple our Nation!
I’m all for the two-party system of US government,.It keeps one party from going rogue. BUT both parties should have the USA’s best interest at heart. The Democrats are only interested in what is best for them. Just think what Trump could accomplish for the US If he didn’t have to counter their every move! The Democrats are like little children,but you can excuse them because of their age.
This ‘over-reach’ by low-level ‘judges’ is a Crime against the Nation, and the SCOTUS needs to STOP IT! This is the treachery that is destroying our Republic!
Eliminating 10 regulations for every new one is absurd. A mediocre rule writer can convert the entire Code of Federal Regulations into one regulation. Moreover, replacing 10 regulations that do nothing (and there are a lot of regulations that do nothing or affect no one, such as purpose and scope regulations or regulations that no longer cover anyone) with an extremely onerous and expensive regulation accomplishes nothing. The goal should be that the regulations replaced should have a greater impact than the new ones adopted. Furthermore, if a regulation directly applies to someone in the general public, it should be enacted as a law.
There already should have been a plethora of other District Court responses to these nationwide lnjuctions claiming “not bound by other Circuits”. The Court system should be in civil war over these appropriation of power.
what we have here are very different definitions of “democracy.” Essentially democracy is government via elected representatives. In almost every state with a major population that is majority blue, New York, California, Michigan etc, the definition of democracy is different from that of conservative Repubs. Their reps are voted in to express their ideology. They’re not the enemy. They are Americans. Red reps do the same. Democracy has always been messy business
My opinion, the most important issue here is that the Judicial branch of government remains as the checks & balances to this Republic as our Founding Fathers intended. I would hope that most American voters to not want to see USA run by Executive Orders. What does Congress have to say on this issue.
The metropolitan communities voted for Harris. The rural communities voted for Trump. It is the rural communities that will lose the most with Trump’s executive orders. No Postal service, no broadband service, no good weather forecasting, no good medical services ( this is already a problem), no immigrant workers to work in the fields, no financial help with educational services, etc.
National injunctions and judge shopping cut both ways. Biden had 13 national injunctions issued against his administration and Republicans love to go federal judge shopping in Texas.