The First 100 Days

President Trump signed nearly 40 executive orders on his first day back in the White House — more than any other president in American history. Many of these orders targeted the rights of immigrants, LGBTQ people, and more without regard for constitutional protections or respect for the democratic process.

Executive orders are limited tools. The president can use them to direct a federal agency on how to implement a statute, but executive orders can’t override federal laws or the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU has challenged many of Trump’s orders, and several have already been blocked by the courts.

• Executive order to end birthright citizenship: BLOCKED
• Executive order to restrict access to gender-affirming health care for people under 19: BLOCKED
• Executive order to expand fast-track deportations without due process: SUED
• Executive order to shut down asylum at the border: SUED
• Executive order to restrict gender-affirming care in federal prisons: SUED
• Executive order to ban accurate passports for trans and intersex people: PARTIALLY BLOCKED

On January 27, President Trump froze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans that fund a vast array of critical services, and that Congress has already approved. Many non-profits, universities, and public health officials immediately challenged this order, and the fight continues today. We know that under both the Constitution and the Impoundment Control Act, the president cannot withhold congressionally-approved funding without congressional authorization. Previous administrations have tried and failed to push similar measures, and despite what the president wants us to think, this attempt is no different.

Under the Constitution, Congress — not the president — has the "power of the purse,” which means the legislature decides what funds should be spent and where. That hasn’t stopped Trump from threatening to withhold vital funding to coerce states into compliance. Just two days into his presidency, President Trump threatened to block financial assistance to states that pushed back on his demands and to cut off grants to sanctuary cities. This is unconstitutional.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seized access to multiple federal computer systems that house the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans — our bank accounts, health records, and Social Security numbers — opening our personal information to enormous cybersecurity vulnerabilities. DOGE is also reportedly using artificial intelligence (AI) to decide whether to cut certain critical public services and programs. The ACLU immediately submitted 40 urgent FOIA requests seeking transparency on DOGE’s access to our data and urged Congress to conduct immediate oversight of DOGE’s actions.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began transferring noncitizens from immigration detention facilities in the United States to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and holding them there without access to legal representation or communication with the outside world.

On February 12, the ACLU sued the Trump administration to gain access to the people being detained in Guantánamo to provide them with legal assistance. On March 1, the ACLU sued again to stop these unlawful transfers. No U.S. law authorizes ICE to detain people in foreign countries, including at Guantánamo.

The Trump administration issued an executive order imposing sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). These sanctions violate the First Amendment by prohibiting human rights advocates, scholars, and other Americans from speaking with the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor, including by providing legal advice, expert analysis, and evidence.

Under the executive order, people in the U.S. who’ve devoted their lives to seeking justice for the victims of atrocities—like the genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya people, or gender-based violence committed against Afghan women under the Taliban—could face stiff penalties simply for exercising their constitutional right to engage and advocate with ICC investigators and prosecutors.

On April 10, the ACLU and the ACLU of Maine sued on behalf of two human-rights advocates who have been forced by the executive order to stop working with the ICC and have had to indefinitely pause their efforts to hold leading rights violators accountable for horrific crimes.

The Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter threatening to cut schools’ federal funding if they engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives — a brazen attempt to intimidate schools and a blatant attack on free speech and academic freedom

On March 5, the ACLU and the National Education Association sued the Trump administration to stop the memo's implementation. On April 24, a federal judge ruled for our clients and blocked the Trump administration from enforcing this unlawful directive.

The Trump administration spent February and March issuing a flurry of executive orders attacking law firms and lawyers that had brought legal challenges against President Trump and his policies. These orders are a dangerous and unprecedented tactic that aim to stop the legal profession from taking on causes and clients the president dislikes.

Four firms — Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey — have sued the administration. In April, the ACLU filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale in their lawsuits pushing back on Trump’s illegal executive orders.

The Trump administration is gutting scientific progress, compromising public health, and stifling innovation and creativity.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a reckless purge of federal research grants. Hundreds of research projects — many of which have been underway for years and that represent thousands of hours of work and billions of dollars in investment — were abruptly cancelled. NIH justified the first wave of grant cancellations by vaguely citing connections to “gender identity” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion”. The ACLU represents researchers, public health and research organizations, and a workers union in a lawsuit to challenge the politically driven cancellations.

The National Endowment for the Arts also imposed a new certification requirement and funding prohibition on grant applications, requiring applicants to certify that they will not promote “gender ideology” in order to be eligible for funding. The ACLU and the ACLU of Rhode Island joined several arts organizations to challenge this certification requirement, which is a violation of their First Amendment Rights.

The Trump administration also began deleting research articles by private doctors that contained certain prohibited terms — like “LGBTQ” and “trans[gender]” — from a government-run website for doctors and medical researchers to share information about medical errors, misdiagnoses, and patient outcomes. A group of doctors from Harvard Medical School sued the Trump Administration, arguing that the administration violated the First Amendment and put patients in danger. The ACLU and the ACLU of Massachusetts joined their lawsuit.

On March 8, ICE unlawfully arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil for his advocacy supporting Palestinian rights at Columbia University. He was the first of several scholars and students the Trump administration targeted for deportation in retaliation for their constitutionally-protected speech. He is currently detained in Louisiana, thousands of miles away from his wife and his newborn son.

On March 17, ICE arrested Georgetown professor Dr. Badar Khan Suri in retaliation for his speech in support of Palestinian rights and his family’s ties to Gaza. For almost two weeks, he was housed in a room without a bed and with a television blaring 21 hours a day.

On March 25, ICE detained Ph.D. student and Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk for co-authoring an op-ed in her school newspaper months prior. She was on her way to an iftar dinner with friends when she was put in an unmarked car and ultimately transported to Louisiana, where she continues to be detained today. All this in retaliation for her protected speech.

On April 14, ICE detained Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi outside of his naturalization interview in retaliation for his activism supporting Palestinian rights. Mr. Mahdawi is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and has lived in Vermont for 10 years. ICE attempted to put him on a plane to Louisiana, but a temporary restraining order compelled the government to keep Mr. Mahdawi in Vermont.

The ACLU and our local affiliates are part of the legal teams for Mr. Khalil, Dr. Khan Suri, Ms. Öztürk, and Mr. Mahdawi, helping them challenge these horrendous First Amendment violations and fighting for their freedom. Dissent is not grounds for deportation.

On March 11, the Trump Administration laid off half of the Department of Education staff. A week later, on March 20, Trump signed an executive order attempting to dismantle the department.

The department has a congressionally-mandated duty to ensure the best education for all students, including those in marginalized communities, students with disabilities, LGBTQ students, and multilingual learners. But President Trump refuses to accept this mandate. Instead, he is attempting an end-run around Congress to dismantle the Department of Education itself; undermining its ability to safeguard these critical protections and weaponizing the department to carry out his political agenda.

On March 14, President Trump secretly invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a centuries-old authority that has never been used during peacetime — to set in motion the swift transfer of hundreds of people to a foreign prison without due process or judicial review, based on the government’s untested claim that they are members of the gang Tren de Aragua.

The ACLU, Democracy Forward, and ACLU of D.C. immediately filed a lawsuit. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) and ordered any deportation flights to return immediately. Despite the court’s verbal and written orders, the Trump administration transferred hundreds of men to a prison in El Salvador notorious for its flagrant human rights abuses and indefinite detention.

The Supreme Court underlined that people targeted for removal under the act are entitled to challenge their removal, including by challenging the interpretation and constitutionality of the Alien Enemies Act, but lifted the nationwide TRO while inviting new lawsuits in places where individuals were being held.

We filed multiple new lawsuits in response. Federal judges in New York, Texas and Colorado granted temporary restraining orders halting any deportations under the Alien Enemies Act in their jurisdictions.

On March 25, Trump signed an executive order attempting to seize from Congress and the states the power to change election rules. If implemented, his executive order could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, particularly voters of color, women voters, naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, voters with low incomes, and first-time voters.

The Constitution specifies that only Congress and the states can set the rules for our elections, not the president. On April 1, the ACLU and several voting rights groups challenged Trump’s executive order, and on April 24, a federal judge ruled in our favor, blocking a key part of the order. Trump doesn't have the authority to change our election laws.