On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States. After taking the oath of office, President Trump began signing executive orders pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, implementing Schedule F to reclassify civil servants as political appointees, dismantling executive agencies like USAID, freezing federal funding and more. Many of his executive actions have faced legal challenges.
On this page you will find real-time updates of the litigation, Lawfare's weekly livestream series, documents related to the actions, Lawfare's four trackers which follow the legal challenges to administration actions, and analysis of President Trump's executive actions and the litigation challenging them. Use the buttons below to navigate the page.
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Find real time updates of Lawfare’s coverage of the Trump administration’s legal challenges, on Bluesky or below:
Every week, Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sits down with Lawfare contributors for "The Trials of the Trump Administration," a live discussion on the legal challenges to President Trump's executive actions.
Lawfare Analysis
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Iran Will Retaliate in the U.S. We May Not See It in Time.
Historically, the U.S. has managed to thwart Iranian operations on its soil. Now, this administration may have us unprepared. -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, March 13
Listen to the March 13 livestream as a podcast. -
Lawfare Live: The Trials of the Trump Administration, March 13
Join the Lawfare team at 4 pm ET for a discussion of the litigation surrounding the Trump administration. -
Anthropic Sues Defense Department Over Supply Chain Risk Designation
The frontier AI firm’s civil suit brings the dispute over its two ethical limitations to the Northern District of California. -
Lawfare Live: The Trials of the Trump Administration, March 6
Join the Lawfare team at 4 pm ET for a discussion of the litigation surrounding the Trump administration. -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Feb. 27
Listen to the Feb. 27 livestream as a podcast. -
Lawfare Live: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Feb. 27
Join the Lawfare team at 4 pm ET for a discussion of the litigation surrounding the Trump administration. -
Lessons From the Minnesota Civil Contempt Case
“The government’s understaffing and high case load is a problem of its own making,” a federal judge observed. -
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, Feb. 20
Listen to the Feb. 20 livestream as a podcast.
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Documents
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Trump Signs Order on DOGE ‘Workforce Optimization Initiative’
The order directs agencies to prepare for workforce reductions and hire one worker for every four that depart. -
Justice Dept. Releases Slate of Memos from Attorney General Bondi
Bondi signed 14 memos on topics ranging from internal personnel matters to potential investigations into current and former civil servants. -
Federal Employee Unions Sue DOGE and the Department of Labor
A coalition of unions seek to block DOGE from gaining access to the Labor Department. -
Trump Issues Memorandum to Detain Migrants at Guantanamo
The president directs the secretaries of defense and homeland security to expand the migrant operations center to “full capacity.” -
Trump Executive Order Targets Transgender Service Members
The order reverses a 2021 Biden administration directive allowing transgender troops to serve openly—which itself had overturned an earlier ban from the first Trump administration. -
Trump Orders Pause on Federal Financial Assistance
The memorandum directs agencies to pause funding and conduct a review of programs implicated by executive orders.