530 Lawsuits in One Year
At least 530 lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration in 2025. Of the 32 that reached full adjudication, the administration lost 24 of them. That is a 75% loss rate. Democracy Forward’s network of 675 organizations tracked 600+ legal actions and reports the administration has lost more than 70% of the time.
530+ lawsuits filed. 75% loss rate for the administration. $1 billion+ in donations to resistance organizations. The ACLU alone filed 400 legal actions. Courts are holding.
These are not symbolic gestures. They are the primary mechanism keeping the constitutional order intact. Attorneys general won 82% of their cases. Courts blocked the administration 262 times. The organizations below are the reason those numbers exist.
ACLU: 400 Legal Actions, 64% Win Rate
The ACLU has filed 400+ legal actions against the administration, including 139 lawsuits. At the 100-day mark, they had sought emergency relief in 38 cases and won preliminary orders in 27.
Wins that matter right now: A federal court blocked the birthright citizenship executive order nationwide, protecting all children born on U.S. soil. Another court blocked defunding hospitals over gender-affirming care for minors, restoring $6.2 million in federal funding. A Texas court ruled the Alien Enemies Act deportation program fails the “invasion” requirement.
The ACLU raised $79 million online since the election, with an average donation of $79. Annual budget is approximately $220 million. They have 2,175 staff, 7 million members and activists, and are spending $40 million building state offices, $21 million hiring lawyers, and $13 million on grassroots mobilization.
Earthjustice: 150+ Environmental Cases
Earthjustice opened 150+ new pieces of litigation since January 2025. During the first Trump term, they won 85% of 200+ lawsuits. They have 220 attorneys on staff and 600 employees.
Key wins include a federal court in Honolulu ruling against commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, a D.C. court restoring wrongfully terminated climate grants and ordering the USDA to release all data behind the Forest Service Climate Risk Viewer, and a challenge to 80 million acres of Gulf of Mexico oil leases where the Interior Department abandoned environmental review.
They have raised $106.7 million toward a $150 million Counter/Act campaign goal launched in July 2025.
Lambda Legal: $285 Million for LGBTQ Defense
Lambda Legal raised $285 million through its “Unstoppable Future” campaign, the largest single fundraising campaign in LGBTQ movement history. They exceeded their goal by $105 million. Their legal team is expanding 42%, from 36 to 51 attorneys, increasing case capacity by 86%.
Lambda Legal is at the Supreme Court defending transgender student athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson (B.P.J. v. West Virginia). With the ACLU, they won a preliminary injunction blocking defunding hospitals over gender-affirming care. GLAD and NCLR won a temporary restraining order in Boston blocking Trump’s “two genders” order from transferring a transgender woman to a men’s prison.
ProPublica: Investigations That Changed Policy
ProPublica documented that ICE detained the parents of 11,000 U.S. citizen children in seven months. They documented 170+ U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents. Their “End of Aid” series on USAID dismantling won a George Polk Award for international reporting. Their profile of Russell Vought, built on 50 hours of unreported recordings, won a Polk Award for political reporting.
Following their reporting on immigration enforcement, Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was moved out of his role and retired. At the state level, their investigations led to laws reforming Idaho’s coroner system, strengthening police accountability in Louisiana, and banning anonymous child abuse complaints in New York. They operate with approximately 40,000 individual donors and an average donation of about $100.
State Attorneys General: 78% Win Rate
Democratic attorneys general filed 71 lawsuits in the first year and won 40 of 51 resolved cases. Oregon’s AG alone filed over 50. Michigan’s AG brought back $2 billion in federal funding that had been cut.
Notable multistate actions: 22 states plus D.C. sued over the federal funding freeze, led by New York AG Letitia James. Twenty-one states sued to restore CFPB funding. Eight states challenged the birthright citizenship order.
The Rest of the Bench
Brennan Center for Justice: $57.9 million revenue, 40,000 donors. Won a decisive court victory blocking proof-of-citizenship voter registration requirements. Maintains the most comprehensive state voting law trackers in the country.
Center for Reproductive Rights: $65.4 million revenue, 359 employees. Won permanent injunction against Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban. Preserved mifepristone access after the Supreme Court blocked in-person dispensing requirements in May 2026.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Maintains the LDF Trump Lawsuit Tracker. Sued to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education. Challenged the mail-in ballot executive order with NAACP, Common Cause, and Black Voters Matter.
Democracy Forward: 400+ legal actions in one year, including 150+ lawsuits and 250+ FOIA investigations. Coordinates a strategic legal network of 675 organizations.
National Immigration Law Center: Challenging the 75-country visa processing suspension, the immigrant registration mandate, and the expulsion of unaccompanied Guatemalan children.
The SPLC Is Under Attack
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks 1,371 hate and antigovernment extremist groups, was indicted by the DOJ on 11 counts in April 2026. The FBI announced it would no longer work with SPLC. Texas AG Ken Paxton launched a separate investigation. House Democrats characterized the prosecution as politically motivated retaliation.
When a government indicts the organization that monitors hate groups, that tells you something about the government.
How to Support This Work
Every organization listed here accepts individual donations. If you can only support one, pick the one closest to the fight you care about most.
| Focus | Organization | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Civil liberties | ACLU | aclu.org |
| Environment | Earthjustice | earthjustice.org |
| LGBTQ rights | Lambda Legal | lambdalegal.org |
| Voting rights | Brennan Center | brennancenter.org |
| Reproductive rights | Center for Reproductive Rights | reproductiverights.org |
| Immigration | NILC | nilc.org |
| Investigative journalism | ProPublica | propublica.org |
| Racial justice | NAACP LDF | naacpldf.org |
Read more on the Rule of Law hub and the AG lawsuits analysis.