Year One of the Trump Administration

We learned their playbook. Here's the counterstrategy.

The Trump Administration and its allies are taking a deliberate approach

Despite the appearance of chaos, the Trump administration and its allies are following a deliberate governing strategy designed to concentrate power, instill fear, and promote loyalty over the law.

In just one short year, we’ve seen an onslaught of activity from the Trump administration that has strained our system of checks of balances. We saw troops deployed to U.S. cities. Inspectors general fired. Due process abandoned. Tariffs imposed without accountability. Military intervention without deliberation. Friends and allies pardoned or rewarded. And throughout it all, those closest to power profited.

Let’s be clear: this is not just about Donald Trump.

It’s also about the network around him: JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Russell Vought, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and numerous other allies inside and outside of government have enabled these abuses and trampled constitutional limits. This was not the work of one man, but of a network willing to undermine our democracy for profit and power.

2025: A brief timeline of some of the administration’s moves

👉 The pattern from all of this is clear. The Trump administration will:

  • Reward its allies
  • Ignore the law
  • Try to dismantle checks on its power
  • Intimidate and punish its critics

Here's how we push back

Don’t despair and don’t get lost in the chaos

It starts with Congress. 

Congress is designed to be responsive to the people and has real constitutional power, if it chooses to use it.

Focused, sustained constituent pressure, especially in swing districts, can move narrow and already-fracturing majorities and embolden members to assert their authority and hold the executive branch to account.

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger explains why pressuring Congress gets results.

In this election year, pressure on Congress matters more than ever.

If there’s one thing that Members of Congress fear more than Trump, it’s losing their election. With the midterms coming up, Members of Congress are now more likely to listen and more likely to change their positions.

The Congressional Courage Campaign is a national, nonpartisan initiative bringing ordinary people together to urge their representatives to stand up for all of us, and not just the powerful few.

Momentum is on our side. Pressure on Congress works.

Across the country, Americans have been showing up at town halls, in courtrooms, through phone banks and in the streets.  This collective courage is making a difference.

It’s why Congress has felt compelled to remove harmful and unpopular provisions from bills, and why we’re starting to see growing signs of independence, for example in votes to reassert authority over tariffs and war powers.

Now is the time to turn momentum into lasting pressure and force our representatives to do the right thing.

Will you sign up to press your representative to:

Hold the Executive Branch accountable

Uphold and defend the Constitution

Serve the people they represent