Scoop: ACLU sues Trump at record pace in year one
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A sign is displayed outside of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Washington Legislative Office on May 26, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched its fastest-ever legal campaign against President Trump in his first year, filing challenges at a pace that could double those in his first term, according to an analysis first shared with Axios.
Why it matters: Trump is using executive power at historic speed and scale, and the ACLU has again emerged as his most persistent institutional check.
Driving the news: An ACLU report to be released on Thursday found it's on track to file nearly 900 legal challenges against Trump around immigration, civil rights, LGBTQ rights and voting rights.
- The group filed 434 total legal challenges against Trump during all four years of his first term.
- Already, the ACLU has filed more than 230 legal actions in Trump's first year back in office.
- It claims a 64% success rate in delaying, diluting or defeating Trump policies challenged in court so far, according to numbers shared with Axios.
Zoom in: The ACLU was successful in getting the Alien Enemies Act deportations halted after Trump secretly invoked the 18th-century law to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process.
- The group got the courts to block the use of indiscriminate force against protesters and journalists — and Trump ultimately abandoned plans to deploy National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.
- The ACLU also got the courts to block bans on gender-affirming care in federal prisons.
Yes, but: The U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower-court block on ICE raids that relied on racial profiling, allowing enforcement to resume in parts of the country, in a major ACLU defeat.
- The court also stayed nationwide relief for transgender passport holders, permitting enforcement of Trump's gender-marker policy, in another ACLU loss.
What they're saying: "This is a dangerous time for civil rights and civil liberties," ACLU's chief strategy officer Aletheia Henry tells Axios.
- Henry said the ACLU began preparing for possible legal challenges before Trump won by studying his campaign speeches and Project 2025.
- "Some of these cases will take years and years to fully draw to a conclusion."
What we're watching: The Supreme Court is set to decide on Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship by executive order.
- He signed the birthright citizenship order on Day One, but the ACLU sued within two hours. The courts have kept the policy from ever taking effect — for now.
- The ACLU has also helped pass more than 50 laws in state legislatures aimed at slowing the implementation of Trump's executive orders.
