Grassroots Preview: Courts Step Up

Now It’s Our Turn

Hank Kalet Sep 3 ∙ Preview

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U.S. Army Soldiers from the District of Columbia National Guard position vehicles outside Union Station in D.C. as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Joint Task Force District of Columbia on Aug. 15, 2025.
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Courts Step Up. Now It’s Our Turn.

The federal courts have been doing their job as a bulwark against autocracy, but whether they ultimately will be effective is up to an active resistance because it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will play by the rules.

I know I keep coming back to this fear, but we are at a precipitous moment in which we are watching American institutions one after the other abrogate their responsibilities — either by acquiescing to Trump or pulling punches. Congress is in the hands of Republican sycophants; the Democratic Party suffers from a kind of institutional sclerosis; and the press — because its internal rules hamstring it when dealing with a lying autocrat, allows the administration to keep pressing with its narrative as if it is all normal.

None of this is, though we have seen elements of it in the past, especially in the post-9/11 era. Trump has supersized this, which is why the courts’ response — especially the Disctrict Court in D.C. — stand out.

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