Public Citizen’s 100 Days of Fighting Back Against Trump’s Campaign of Destruction

Since the Trump administration came into power nearly 100 days ago, we at Public Citizen have been advocating, organizing, and suing to stop the onslaught of illegal and destructive behavior. Below are the top highlights of our fight to preserve safety, wellbeing, and democracy for all Americans.

LITIGATION

Public Citizen has filed a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration to halt unlawful actions that threaten the wellbeing of Americans – from the unlawful sharing of private information to the dismantling of entire agencies mandated by Congress. Here is a breakdown of our lawsuits:

1. On January 20, within minutes of Donald Trump taking office, we, alongside a partner group, filed a lawsuit against his administration demanding his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which requires balance and transparency in federal committees.
2. On February 3, on behalf of the Alliance for Retired Americans, American Federation of Government Employees, and Service Employees International Union, we filed a lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop the Treasury Department from illegally sharing Americans’ information with Elon Musk’s DOGE.
3. On February 4, we sued the Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of Doctors for America, to reverse the unlawful deleting of critical health information from government websites.
4. On February 6, we and our co-counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees against the Trump administration for unlawfully dismantling the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
5. On February 7, representing the University of California Student Association, we and co-counsel sued the Department of Education for giving DOGE access to students’ and borrowers’ private information.
6. On February 10, representing AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and Journalism Development Network (JDN), we filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for the unlawful freezing of foreign assistance funding and issuance of stop-work orders for life-saving humanitarian work.
7. On February 13, we and co-counsel sued the Trump administration for unlawfully attempting to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a critical organization that protected everyday Americans from scams and returned billions of dollars to American consumers.
8. On March 7, with co-counsel, we sued the IRS on behalf of immigrant rights organizations to prevent the unlawful sharing of tax data with ICE to further Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
9. On April 4, representing the Association for Education Finance and Policy and the Institute for Higher Education Policy, we filed a lawsuit challenging the unlawful dismantling of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
10. On April 8, we brought a lawsuit on behalf of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington against Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for unlawfully taking down a public database that shows how the administration is allocating taxpayer funds.
11.  On April 14, we sued the government on behalf of environmental groups seeking to restore online climate and environmental justice data tools removed from federal agency websites.
12. On April 15, representing three impacted non-profit organizations, we filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s unlawful termination of congressionally-authorized international labor rights programs.

For a breakdown of clients, co-counsels, and the latest on all these legal cases, check out our lawsuit tracker here.

ADVOCACY & EDUCATION:

Calling out Trump’s Grift and Corruption

Facing the most corrupt administration in history, Public Citizen called out Trump’s ability to self-enrich, along with his family, through the selling of his meme coin, and acceptance of a $40 million Amazon deal to license a documentary for the First Lady. We also released a tracker for the endless corporate conflicts of interest among his appointees, and called out the administration’s efforts to undermine corporate accountability. This includes stopping enforcement action against 100+ corporate wrongdoers.

Opposing Trump’s Dangerous Cabinet Picks

Public Citizen has vocally opposed Trump’s unqualified and dangerous Cabinet picks, drawing attention to their deeply problematic records, including Trump sycophant Kash Patel at the FBI, corporate lackey Scott Bessent at Treasury, anti-science quack RFK Jr. at HHS, and more.

Spotlighting the Harms of Trump’s Executive Orders

Public Citizen has methodically spotlighted and responded to Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) that harm American citizens, from his day one deregulation blitz and undermining our voting rights, to enhancing the risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and worsening environmental destruction/speeding up climate catastrophe.

Protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security

As Trump and his allies look to undermine social security, privatize Medicare and gut Medicaid, Public Citizen worked with members of Congress and with grassroots partners to call out these efforts and highlight that Medicare for All is the real reform needed to guarantee health care for everyone in the country.

Exposing the Harms and Cronyism of Trump’s Tariffs

With Donald Trump waging a war on working people in America and across the world through the misuse of tariffs, Public Citizen engaged Congress and the press to break down the anti-immigrant intent of these policies. We also issued a report on the cronyism entailed in Trump’s tariffs, and released a press memo explaining how Trump’s tariffs are a shakedown on behalf of Big Tech.

Leading the Fight Against Deregulation

Public Citizen called out the lunacy of Trump’s “one-in-ten-out” executive order, mandating the wholesale elimination of regulations that keep Americans safe. We also launched one of the first trackers accounting for the use of Congressional Review Act resolutions (or CRAs) to repeal commonsense regulations that Americans depend on. We have also advocated against anti-regulatory legislation like the REINS Act, the Midnight Rules Relief Act, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, the GOOD Act, and the Reorganizing Government Act, among others. Public Citizen remains committed to ensuring these dangerous bills never become law.

Sounding the Alarm on Trump’s Withdrawal From WHO

When Donald Trump announced his intent to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Citizen issued a report outlining the importance of continued U.S. support for and participation in WHO, not just for the world’s sake, but specifically for the safety of Americans as well.

MOBILIZATION:

Public Citizen has been organizing and mobilizing with partners across the country, holding meetings and press calls, and participating in protests. The largest of these mobilizations was the ‘Hands Off’ rally, co-organized with our partners at MoveOn.org, and Indivisible, drawing more than 100,000 people to Washington, DC, and more than a million across the country.

Watch our co-president Robert Weissman move the crowd at the DC rally.