In the more than three years since we founded Democracy Forward, we’ve fought to hold the Trump administration accountable for breaching basic tenets of good government with scores of unlawful and corrupt actions.
This year, a devastating pandemic, a reckoning over systemic racism, and unprecedented attacks on our democratic institutions presented enormous challenges for the country — and, unfortunately, more opportunities for government corruption. But as COVID-19 brought life as we knew it to a standstill, forcing all of us to quickly adapt, we kept up our fight on behalf of people harmed by this administration.
In 2020, we worked with a diverse (and large) coalition of partners to fight for good government and honest policymaking:
We filed 27 new lawsuits against the Trump administration — bringing our total to 139(!)
Suits on behalf of 24 organizations, 12 individuals across the U.S., 6 unions, 2 tribes, and 1 major city.
We notched significant wins for millions of people doing their best to provide a good life for themselves, their families, and their communities:
Asylum seekers, RAICES v. Cuccinelli, USCIS
In a landmark victory — the first to hold that a Trump administration official was unlawfully appointed — we forced the Trump administration to reinstate protections for asylum seekers that Ken Cuccinelli scrapped while unlawfully leading U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Center for Science in the Public Interest, Healthy School Food Maryland v. USDA
We reversed the Trump administration’s rollback of healthier school nutrition standards for a program that helps feed 30 million children nationwide.
Natural Resources Defense Council et al. v. Bernhardt
Our lawsuit led the Department of the Interior to shutter its International Wildlife Conservation Council, which was stacked with trophy hunters and gun advocates ostensibly advising the government on international wildlife conservation.