Democrats are deeply divided on how aggressively they will resist President-elect Donald Trump and his allies. While some are taking a conciliatory approach to the upcoming Republican trifecta, others are pledging to use every available legal and legislative tool to thwart their policies.
It’s a moment that those in the resistance camp – many with larger political ambitions – have been preparing for behind the scenes for months.
The preparations have been aided by Project 2025, a conservative blueprint that outlines the policy hopes of the incoming Republican administration, from cutting environmental regulations to announcing a national abortion ban.
Blue States have launched a “Trump corrections” program that is expected to come under attack from the federal government and have beefed up a team of lawyers to fight the new administration in court.
Now, insurgent Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, have a message for the latest iteration of the Trump era.
“Breaking the law is something (Trump) can’t stop. It’s part of his brand and part of what he does,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is expected to run for governor in 2026. In an interview. “If he doesn’t break the law, there’s nothing we can do about it and he will be a law-abiding president. But we don’t expect that.”
These hostile counter forces are just one part of the Democratic Party. As Democratic leaders strategize how to confront Trump when he re-enters the White House with full control of Congress. Some governors are taking a less combative approach, expressing a willingness to work with the incoming president on certain areas, at least for now.
Here’s a look at the pillars of the movement that have come together to undermine Trump and his allies, Democratic governors, attorneys general and affiliated interest groups.
pasha
Newsom is expected to solidify his position as a leading Democrat fighting the federal government. Newsom and Trump are longtime enemies. And that race is likely to intensify as Trump re-enters the White House and Newsom lays the groundwork for a potential 2028 presidential run.
Newsom has already begun positioning California as a bulwark against the looming Republican trio. Two days after the election, he called a special session of the state legislature to protect California initiatives Trump is likely to target, such as civil rights protections and climate policies.
In addition to Newsom, keep an eye on a newly formed bipartisan group aimed at combating the “threat of autocracy” launched by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. Both governors said they were talking with other Democratic and Republican lawmakers about joining the effort, which would have its own staff and researchers.
“You come for my people and you come through me,” Pritzker told Trump at a post-election press conference.
Polis founded the group while praising Trump’s choice of provocative Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and talking about the complex balancing act that governors will have to face in the coming years with Trump in power.
Don’t discount newcomers either. Governors who took office after Trump’s first term are joining the ranks of the resistance effort. But they are acting less overtly than some long-serving governors.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has launched a program to address “policy and regulatory threats” from the Republican administration and pledged to increase cooperation with the state’s attorney general to protect “the fundamental freedoms of New Yorkers.” But she also called Trump to ask for federal funding for major projects across the state.
And Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a former state attorney general who burnished her profile by repeatedly suing the Trump administration, has largely retreated from the national spotlight since she left office. After Trump’s election, she returned to MSNBC to call for “once again being vigilant about the rule of law,” and vowed that state police would not follow Trump’s plan for mass deportations.
Attorney General
The Democratic attorney general’s office was caught off guard when Trump banned Muslim travelers from entering the United States early in his first term as president. They rushed together to file lawsuits in several states, ushering in an era of intense litigation between the states and the federal government.
The office will never surprise you again.
“Now we have a little more time to reflect on this, and it’s not as new as it used to be,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, the first Trump administration member to successfully withhold law enforcement grants over state opposition. Subject to the immigration regulations attached thereto.
“We will be more prepared for this,” Weiser said in an interview. “We know a little bit more about the nature of what’s going to happen.”
Consider Bonta of California, Ellison of Minnesota, Matthew Platkin of New Jersey, and Letitia James of New York, among the likely leaders of the litigation movement. “I didn’t run for the attorney general’s office a second time to sue Trump. That’s not why I’m here,” Ellison said at a recent press conference. “But if he violates people’s rights, we will sue. It’s as simple as that.”
Also keep an eye on new attorneys general from states that have played big roles in previous lawsuits against Trump, such as Dan Rayfield in Oregon and Nick Brown in Washington.
These offices will use their large staffs of lawyers to challenge almost every move the Trump administration makes. In the days following the election, some offices issued open casting calls to expand their ranks of litigators, posting on Linkedin, “The need for the best and brightest lawyers to join us has never been greater.”
But while attorneys general may have more practice suing Trump this time, they face institutional and political challenges that could make it difficult for them to win in court. That is, a more conservative Supreme Court that Trump was instrumental in shaping. The president-elect also has the support of more Republican lawmakers who will likely use their majorities in both chambers to pass legislation to replace state law.
Interest group
Democratic governors worried about their own political futures may not want to be the face of the fight against Trump on all fronts, but interest groups who make that their sole mission may be willing to practice scorched-earth tactics to sabotage the administration.
Democracy Forward, a liberal legal organization launched during the first Trump administration, plans to continue its work challenging federal regulations, this time armed with a much larger staff and a war chest of millions of dollars. Board members include Democratic legal heavyweight Marc Elias and Ron Klain, President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff.
There will be a lot of conflict surrounding abortion. Trump has promised to veto a national abortion ban if it hits someone on the desk. But Ohio Senator-elect JD Vance told reporters on the campaign trail that a Republican administration would defund Planned Parenthood, saying, “I don’t think taxpayers should be funding late-term abortions.”
Political groups supporting abortion rights (EMILYs List, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Reproductive Freedom for All) issued a post-election memo saying they would “hold Trump and all anti-abortion politicians accountable.” I promised. Because of what they have already done and what they plan to do in the future to destroy reproductive freedom.”
On the immigration front, the American Civil Liberties Union fired its first warning shot at the Trump administration by filing a lawsuit Monday seeking more information about how authorities can quickly expel people from the United States. I did it.
Trump officials are considering how to structure executive action to withstand legal challenges from immigrant rights groups. It’s a strategy to avoid the pitfalls of Trump’s first term, as civil rights groups and state attorneys general successfully delayed implementation of various versions. Muslim travel ban.
Watch the work of climate groups like EarthJustice and the Sierra Club as they prepare for the ongoing reversal of dozens of environmental rules covering everything from air pollution limits to drilling in protected areas.
EarthJustice, which has sued the Trump administration more than 130 times and won most of the court decisions, said in a statement after Trump’s election victory that “we are now stronger and more ready.” “We will meet Donald Trump in court.”
