The Dictatorship

We wrote the guide to fighting Trump’s first presidency. Here’s how we’ll stop his second.

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2024

We wrote the guide to fighting Trump’s first presidency. Here’s how we’ll stop his second.

If there’s one universally accepted truth in the modern age, it’s that sequels suck. And Trump 2.0 will be no exception. Trump takes office with a plan to institute the worst parts of Project 2025. He’ll be enabled by a judiciary packed with right-wing ideologues and congressional majorities stacked with MAGA foot soldiers. He intends to take full advantage of the impunity the Supreme Court has given him.

But Trump winning with under 50% in a single election does not give him the right to govern as a dictator, nor does it mean American democracy is dead. Ordinary people can organize themselves to block Trump’s attacks, break MAGA’s political strength and build a winning majority coalition.

Fascists and their ilk want us to believe we’re alone and powerless.

We know because we’ve seen it before. In 2016, we wrote the Indivisible Guide to demystify how Congress works and help folks organize locally to fight back against the Trump agenda. It went viral and inspired thousands of “Indivisible” groups that would go on to help save the Affordable Care Act. In the 2018 elections, those groups helped take back the House of Representatives with the largest popular vote margins for a midterm in the history of the republic.

Many Americans are upset and scared — and perhaps even taking a break from the news. But they are also determined. They want to do their part to protect their family, their neighbors and democracy. While Trump 2.0 and the world are different, we’ve learned a lot from working with the Indivisible movement over the last eight years, so here’s our advice to those Americans on where to begin.

We start by coming together. Fascists and their ilk want us to believe we’re alone and powerless. As historian Timothy Snyder recently observed“They want you to be alone. Nobody is going to fix this alone. That’s not how this works.” Even the most capable individuals lack the power local, organized groups possess. Forming or joining local volunteer associations of like-minded Americans where we live, like an Indivisible group, is the basis for everything else we can hope to achieve in this period.

Once your group is established, it’s time to pick your targets. Trump wants us to believe that the presidency is all-powerful, but that’s false. Political power overlaps between local, state and federal elected officials, all of whom need votes to get re-elected. No matter the region, at least some of these officials will be ripe targets for influence. Your groups’ power comes from your ability to either support or be a real pain in the butt to those elected officials. That power can be wielded to get them to hold off the harms of Trump 2.0 or face political consequences.

What, more specifically, can we hope to achieve? As we lay out in our new guide, there are four big things:

First, we can stop, stall or blunt some of the worst of what’s to come from Congress and the White House.
Second, we play hardball in the cities and states where Democrats have power to fight back and protect our communities.
Third, we can protect election infrastructure in swing states to make sure a 2028 election actually takes place.
Fourth, we can limit some of the harm that is coming for us, our neighbors and our families.

Not every strategy or tactic will work for everyone everywhere. But each of us will have a role. Think of it as a giant national pro-democracy team — some of us are playing offense, some are playing defense, but we all need to play our part.

We’re not going to lie: This is a lot of work.

Sound impossible in this new era? Well, we’ve already seen one pressure campaign work just this week. Republicans in Congress tried to fast-track a bill that would have increased Trump’s power to target nonprofit organizations. Many Democratic members of Congress were poised to stand aside and let it happen, but a wave of calls to their offices pushed them to take a stand and block the bill. Is it enough? No. Did we do some good for our democracy? Damn right we did.

We’re not going to lie: This is a lot of work. It’s going to take a lot of us to do it, and that’s why leadership in this moment must come from regular people, not just politicians. Elected Democrats will need our encouragement, support and cajoling to find their spines and fight back. Elected Republicans can and must break with MAGA or be held accountable for the harm they cause.

If we all tap into the power we have in every corner of our country, we can blunt the damage of Trump 2.0 as we build toward a win in the 2026 midterms. Our country is on the brink, but working together we can live to fight another day.

Leah Greenberg

Leah Greenberg is the co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. She was previously a human trafficking policy advocate and served on the staff of Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.).

Ezra Levin

Ezra Levin is the co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible. He was previously an anti-poverty advocate and served on the staff of Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tx.)

The Dictatorship

Court denies request to immediately block DOJ ‘slush fund’

Published

9 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Court denies request to immediately block DOJ ‘slush fund’

Jun. 10, 2026, 6:14 PM EDT

A federal judge in Washington has denied a bid Wednesday brought by a watchdog group to immediately block the Justice Department’s “anti-weaponization” fund, for now choosing to trust the department’s assertions that it is not moving forward with the fund.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled immediately, denying Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked the Department of Justice from taking steps to create the fund.

Throughout the 30-minute hearing, the DOJ reiterated that the administration was not moving forward with the nearly $1.8 billion fund, which seeks to compensate individuals who allege they have been politically targeted or victimized by the DOJ.

Andrew Block, the only lawyer present for the government, repeatedly cited Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s June 2 congressional testimonyin which he said the administration was “not moving forward” with plans to create the fund.

Leon indicated he agreed with the DOJ’s position that the case appeared to be moot, saying he was not persuaded there was an issue for the court to decide regarding the creation of the fund. He issued a stern warning to the DOJ, saying, “Don’t play possum with this court!” — meaning he does not want to be deceived.

The plaintiffs argued Blanche’s testimony did not amount to an official cancellation. Nikhel Sus, CREW’s attorney, said Blanche “refused to memorialize that rescission,” or in other words, put it in writing. Sus said that was “highly unusual.” Leon responded, “This whole case is highly unusual to say the least.”

Leon asked the government twice why they would not just rescind the order that established the fund. Block responded, “I don’t know,” and pointed again to Blanche’s public statements about the fund’s future.

Both Leon and Sus raised the issue of Trump’s continued public defense of the fund. “It can still be an important issue and also not moving forward,” Block said. “That isn’t a direction to move forward with the fund.”

Although Leon rejected CREW’s bid for an immediate block, he indicated he is still considering its request for a longer-term block against the fund.

A block order from a separate federal judge in Virginia remains in effect until at least Friday.

Fallon Gallagher is a legal affairs reporter for MS NOW.

The Dictatorship

Trump is accelerating our Social Security insolvency crisis

Published

9 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Jun. 10, 2026, 5:50 PM EDT

The date when Social Security’s trust fund is expected to run out of money just got bumped up. The fund is now projected to empty in 2032according to a new report released by Social Security’s trustees.

The new depletion date isn’t an earth-shaking change — it’s only a quarter earlier than the estimate in last year’s report. But it illustrates how President Donald Trump’s policies are degrading a program he promised to never jeopardize — and accelerating an approaching crisis in how our government will assist the elderly and disabled.

The report names three factors that contributed to the earlier insolvency date. One is a declining fertility rate, but the other two drivers can be traced back to Trump: a drop in immigration into the country, and the “substantial effect” of the tax policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill he signed last summer.

Trump’s acceleration of the program’s insolvency comes atop his assaults on the program’s administrative capacities.

Reduced immigration during Trump’s second term — especially when coupled with a declining fertility rate — strains Social Security because the program is funded through payroll taxes. Those come out of people’s paychecks, and fewer workers supporting an aging population means the program receives less revenue. Indeed, Social Security already has been tapping its trust fund for the better part of the past two decades because the program’s costs have exceeded its cash income. And as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities pointed out last yearlast year’s tax cuts were a boon to the rich but a bust for the solvency of the Social Security trust fund.

To be clear, if the fund is depleted, Social Security won’t go belly up. Benefits will continue to be paid out, but there will be a large drop in the amount. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the “average monthly cut would total $500, which is more than what the average retired household spends on groceries each month.”

That would be a huge blow to the budgets of many older Americans. Social Security is a major source of income for most retirees, and roughly 40% of beneficiaries over the age of 65 rely on it for most of their income. And it would mark the destabilization of the sole source of retirement security for most Americans that is supposed to be insulated from ups and downs — unlike 401K plans. As the CBPP has pointed outSocial Security is “most workers’ only source of guaranteed retirement income that is not subject to investment risk or financial market fluctuations.”

Trump’s acceleration of the program’s insolvency comes atop his assaults on the program’s administrative capacities. His cuts to the Social Security Administration have left offices understaffedincreased wait timesand reduced quality of customer service.

Ultimately, Trump is exacerbating a colossal social safety net problem that predates him, and the trust fund will hit dire straits after he has left office. Democrats need to have clear plans for shoring up the program and making it robust for the future — which will require not being sheepish about taxes as a tool for renewing the social contract. And when Republicans try to claim that they, too, are champions of Social Security, all Democrats need to do is point to the truth.

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.

The Dictatorship

Wednesday’s Mini-Report, 6.10.26

Published

9 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* The latest from Northern Ireland: “The family of a man who lost an eye in a knife attack appealed for calm on Wednesday after the incident triggered a wave of anti-immigrant violence in Belfast overnight, with masked men burning families out of their homes and torching vehicles. The appeal ‌came as a Sudanese man appeared in court charged with attempted murder and as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and politicians in Northern Ireland condemned the violence by ‘masked thugs’ that had targeted ethnic minorities.”

* In related news: “The British government hit out at X owner Elon Musk Wednesday, accusing him of whipping up tensions online ahead of disorder in Belfast.”

* The tenuous state of a dubious ceasefire: “Trump said the U.S. is going to hit Iran ‘hard’ today when pressed by reporters in the Oval Office about his statement earlier that Tehran will ‘pay the price’ for taking ‘too long’ to reach a peace agreement. ‘Well, we’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard, resuming bombing,’ he said.”

* The latest casualty figures from Lebanon: “Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon has killed at least 3,666 people, including 131 healthcare workers, and injured more than 11,300 since the U.S. and Israel began their war with Iran in late February, the Lebanese health ministry reported yesterday.”

* The changing nature of modern warfare: “Ukraine is wreaking havoc on unarmored trucks and trains in the battlefield’s rear, using drones with upgraded engines and batteries, integrated Starlink communication systems and new artificial-intelligence capabilities. The ramped-up attacks are causing fuel shortages, complicating troop rotations and reducing Russian military activity on the front.”

* This seems like a reasonable request: “Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee demanded Wednesday that Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for acting director of national intelligence, submit to a full security check before assuming the post, including an examination of his financial holdings and foreign contacts.”

* Some market trends can’t be stopped despite the White House’s best efforts: “Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power. Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said.”

* A bizarre schedule for a nonemergency vanity project: “Federal officials are laying more groundwork to begin construction on President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, sharing additional documents that detail the project’s scope and an aggressive timetable for potentially completing work before Trump’s term ends. According to National Park Service documents posted this month, the administration envisions 20 hours per day of construction on the arch, year-round, in hopes of completing the project within two to three years.”

See you tomorrow.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”