Behind the scenes, one of President Donald Trump’s top nemeses is scoring major victories and leaving the president on the defensive. The Atlantic reported Monday the details of a highly organized, remarkably effective “legal resistance” to Trump’s ongoing efforts in his second term.
Former ethics czar, impeachment prosecutor, and frequent thorn in Trump’s side, Norm Eisen, “has pursued more than 100 legal matters” against Trump, according to the report.
With strong leadership counterbalancing a divided Democratic Party, Eisen has mobilized a coalition of lawyers, advocacy groups, unions, and state attorneys general to mount fast and aggressive legal challenges that have knocked down many Trump initiatives.
Eisen’s campaign operates on multiple fronts, coordinating legal strategy calls with a diverse group—including former Obama administration attorneys, Democratic communications strategists, and neoconservative critics. Their shared goal: to stop Trump’s worst actions and keep the public informed about ongoing litigation.
While Eisen’s group has taken on over 100 lawsuits, the broader resistance is making lawsuits great again, with an initiative bringing 384 complaints. So far, 130 of those suits have successfully blocked Trump's efforts, with dozens more still pending.
Eisen believes the legal battles are just beginning.
“All of our lawsuits tell stories,” said Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers. “But you can’t ask the judge to do all the work. If you want to prevail, you have to put real stories and real harm in front of the judge.”
The most recent Trump victory was about firing federal officials at the Department of Education, whom Eisen said, Trump has no power to fire because it's a congressionally crafted program. Lower courts won each case, but the Supreme Court decided in Trump's favor.
“He did not win that round. We did not win either,” Eisen told The Atlantic, “but we held our own, and that in itself is a victory.”
Meanwhile, Trump continues to generate more lawsuits.
"Aggressive tactics by ICE have spawned new cases, as has the deployment of federal officers and National Guardsmen to crack down on crime in D.C," the report said.
Eisen is also preparing a lawsuit against Trump to challenge the financial benefits he and his family have received since taking office. The report concludes, “The battle, in short, is just beginning.”
“The demand for lawyers willing to defend people from the government is exponentially greater today than it was on day one,” Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s president, told The Atlantic. “We believe the next 200 days are going to be even more significant than the first 200 days.”