The First 100 Days: A Multi-Front Attack on the Constitution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, media@acslaw.org

Washington, D.C.  – The American Constitution Society today released the following statement in response to the new administration’s first 100 days in office:

“The first 100 days of the second Trump administration have been defined by governance predicated on intimidation, retribution, and rejection of accountability.

From day one, the Trump administration has misused and stretched beyond its legal breaking point the president’s authority by issuing executive orders and taking actions that run roughshod over the rule of law. The administration has flouted the separation of powers by usurping the role of Congress and the courts and attempting to intimidate judges. It has violated bedrock constitutional rights. It has sought to seize for the executive branch exclusive authority to determine what is legal and what is not legal, what is constitutional and what is not.

On Inauguration Day, the country was greeted with executive orders aimed at ending birthright citizenship, attacking free and fair elections, undermining longstanding non-discrimination efforts, and denying the existence of transgender people.

These were quickly followed by executive orders and actions intended to override congressionally enacted laws and appropriations to reshape the government workforce and defund programs and agencies.

The administration has targeted universities’ academic freedom and the free speech rights of their students and faculty. It has also targeted individual law firms and lawyers for punishment because of the clients they represent and their efforts to provide equal opportunities for lawyers from communities that have been historically underrepresented in the law profession.

In direct contradiction to established Supreme Court precedent, the administration has moved to strip civil rights and civil liberties from immigrants living in the United States, including those who are lawfully present here under student or worker visas, asylum or temporary protected status, and as lawful permanent residents.

There is scarcely an article or amendment to the Constitution that this administration has not sought to warp or outright trample. The constitutional separation of powers defined by Articles I, II, and III, the First Amendment’s right to speech, association, and assembly, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments’ right to due process and equal protection, and the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel have faced particularly unrelenting attacks.

Legal scholars, political scientists, and watchdog groups are already warning about the erosion of our democratic institutions and undermining of the constitutional order. If these and myriad other unlawful orders and actions are allowed to stand, our Constitution will be in tatters.

The unlawfulness of so many orders and actions, and the acquiescence of too many—both inside and outside of government—make clear that this has been the first 100 days of a constitutional crisis. We will only endure this crisis if the leaders and people of the United States stand up together. That is why ACS and its network of lawyers and law students have and will continue to oppose this lawlessness and demand accountability.”

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org.