Dozens of activist and legal groups, elected officials, local jurisdictions and individuals have launched at least 49 lawsuits against the Trump administration since Jan. 20 in response to his more than 60 executive orders, as well as executive proclamations and memos, Fox News Digital found.
Trump long has been a legal target, which hit a fever pitch during the 2024 election cycle when Trump faced four criminal indictments, including a criminal trial in Manhattan in the spring of 2024 when he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the four cases, pointing to them as evidence of lawfare at the hands of Democrats working against his political efforts.
Upon Trump’s election win in November 2024, state attorneys general, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James, publicly said they would ready legal battles against the Trump administration for actions they view as illegal or negatively impact residents.
‘We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back,’ James, who repeatedly has leveled suits against Trump, said following his win. ‘And we are prepared to fight back once again because, as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility.’
Just roughly three weeks back in the Oval Office, Trump’s administration has been hit with at least 49 lawsuits working to resist his policies.
Fox News Digital compiled a list of the groups, state attorneys general, cities or states, and individuals who have launched lawsuits against the Trump administration’s executive actions. The list includes the various groups and individuals challenging the Trump administration in court, as well as the executive order or proclamation that sparked the suit.
- New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support; League of United Latin American Citizens; Make the Road New York (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- O. Doe; Brazilian Worker Center, Inc.; La Colaborativa (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- State of New Jersey; Commonwealth of Massachusetts; State of California; State of Colorado; State of Connecticut; State of Delaware; District of Columbia; State of Hawai’i; State of Maine; State of Maryland; Attorney General Dana Nessel for the People of Michigan; State of Minnesota; State of Nevada; State of New Mexico; State of New York; State of North Carolina; State of Rhode Island; State of Vermont; State of Wisconsin; City and County of San Francisco (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- CASA, Inc; Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- State of Washington; State of Arizona; State of Illinois; State of Oregon (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- County of Santa Clara (Executive Order: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship)
- Organized Communities Against Deportation; Brighton Park Neighborhood Council; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Raise the Floor Alliance (Executive Order: Protecting the American People Against Invasion)
- City and County of San Francisco (Executive Order: Protecting the American People Against Invasion)
- Make the Road New York (Executive Order: Protecting the American People Against Invasion)
- Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (Presidential Proclamation Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion)
- Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center (Executive Order: Securing Our Borders)
- Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, American Gateways, Florence Immigrant Refugee Rights Project, Estrella Del Paso, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, National Immigrant Justice Center, NW Immigrant Rights Project, PA Immigration Resource Center, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Center (Executive Order: Protecting the American People Against Invasion)
- Luis Eduardo Perez Parra, Leonel Jose Rivas Gonzalez, Abraham Josue Barrios Morales, and M.R.R.Y (Presidential Memorandum: Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity)
- HIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Community Services Northwest (Executive Order: Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program)
- National Treasury Employees Union (Executive Order: Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce)
- Government Accountability Project and National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (Executive Order: Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce)
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Executive Order: Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce)
- American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (‘AFGE’); American Federation Of State, County And Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (‘AFSCME’) (Executive Order: Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce)
- Public Citizen, Inc.; State Democracy Defenders Fund; American Federation of Government Employees (Executive Order: Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency)
- National Security Counselors, Inc. (Executive Order: Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency)
- American Public Health Association; American Federation of Teachers; Minority Veterans of America; VoteVets Action Fund; The Center for Auto Safety, Inc.; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Executive Order: Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’)
- Center for Biological Diversity (Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’)
- Jane Does 1-2 (Executive action on the solicitation of information from career employees)
- Alliance for Retired Americans, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- State of New York; State of Arizona, State of California, State of Colorado, State of Connecticut, State of Delaware, State of Hawaii, State of Illinois, State of Maine, State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State of Minnesota, State of Nevada, State of New Jersey, State of North Carolina, State of Oregon, State of Rhode Island, State of Vermont, and State of Wisconsin (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, American Federation of Government Employees, AFLCIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Economic Policy Institute (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- University of California Student Association (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- National Treasury Employees Union (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- American Federation of Teachers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, National Federation of Federal Employees (Executive Action related to disclosure of personal and financial records to DOGE)
- American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 3707, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, National Association of Government Employees, Inc. (Executive action related to Office of Personnel Management directive on deferred resignation offer to federal employees)
- Gwynne Wilcox, former National Labor Relations Board member (Executive action related to removal of independent agency leaders)
- State of New York; State of California; State of Illinois; State of Rhode Island; State of New Jersey; Commonwealth of Massachusetts; State of Arizona; State of Colorado; State of Connecticut; State of Delaware; The District of Columbia; State of Hawai’i; State of Main; State of Maryland; State of Michigan; State of Minnesota; State of Nevada; State of North Carolina; State of New Mexico; State of Oregon; State of Vermont; State of Washington; State of Wisconsin (Executive action related to the temporary pause of grants, loans and assistance programs)
- National Council of Nonprofits, American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance, SAGE (Executive action related to the temporary pause of grants, loans and assistance programs)
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Attorney General Dana Nessel on behalf of the people of the State of Michigan, State of Illinois, State of Arizona, State of California, State of Connecticut, State of Colorado, State of Delaware, State of Hawai’i, State of Maine, State of Maryland, State of Minnesota, State of New Jersey, State of New York, State of Nevada, State of New Mexico, State of North Carolina, State of Oregon, State of Rhode Island, State of Vermont, State of Washington, and State of Wisconsin (Executive Action related to the reduction in indirect cost reimbursement rate for research institutions, such as National Institutes of Health)
- American Foreign Service Association, American Federation of Government Employees (Executive order: Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid)
- National Treasury Employees Union (Executive action related to the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
- Maria Moe, transgender federal inmate (Executive Order: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government)
- Jane Doe; Mary Doe; Sara Doe, transgender federal inmates (Executive Order: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government)
- Nicolas Talbott, Erica Vandal, Kate Cole, Gordon Herrero, Dany Danridge, Jamie Hash, Koda Nature, and Cael Neary, transgender U.S. military members or those seeking to enlist (Executive Order: Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness)
- Commander Emily Shilling; Commander Blake Dremann; Lieutenant Commander Geirid Morgan; Sergeant First Class Cathrine Schmid; Sergeant First Class Jane Doe; Staff Sergeant Videl Leins; Matthew Medina; and Gender Justice League (Executive Order: Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness)
- PFLAG, Inc and American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, Inc. (Executive Orders: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation)
- State of Washington, State of Minnesota, State of Oregon, Physician 1, Physician 2, and Physician 3 (Executive Orders: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation)
- Ashton Orr, Zaya Perysian, Sawyer Soe, Chastain Anderson, Drew Hall, Bella Boe, and Reid Solomon-Lan (Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government)
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Inc., Adelphi Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Richmond Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Executive action related to immigration enforcement in places of worship)
- John and Jane Doe 1-9, employees and agents of the FBI (Executive Order: Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association; seven John and Jane Doe plaintiffs (Exectuive Order: Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government)
- National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education; American Association of University Professors; Restaurant Opportunities Centers United; Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, Maryland (Executive Orders: Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity)
- Doctors for America (Executive order: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government)
Amid the flurry of lawsuits against Trump and his administration, Democratic elected officials and government employees have spoken out against the orders and the Trump agenda overall.
Democrats and government employees also have staged protests as the Department of Government Efficiency investigates various federal agencies as part of its mission to cut government overspending and weed out corruption and mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
‘That’s not acceptable,’ House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declared in January. ‘We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We’re going to fight it in the streets.’
‘We will see you in the court, in Congress, in the streets,’ Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said at a rally outside the Treasury Department earlier in February.
‘We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it,’ Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said at the same rally.
Trump joined Fox News’ Bret Baier for an exclusive interview ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday, where he was asked about a lawsuit filed by attorneys general to restrict DOGE and its chair, Elon Musk, from accessing the Treasury Department’s systems and a judge temporarily blocking the DOGE team from the data.
‘Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that?’ Baier asked Trump in the interview clip. ‘And does that slow you down and what you want to do?’
‘No, I disagree with it 100%,’ Trump said. ‘I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there.’
‘We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going,’ Trump said when asked about what DOGE has found while auditing federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and corruption.
