Legal affairs of the second Trump presidency
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Life and business 45th and 47th President of the United States Tenure
Impeachments Civil and criminal prosecutions |
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At the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidential term, he signed a series of executive orders. Many of these tested his legal authority, and drew immediate legal action. He issued more executive orders on his first day than any previous president. In the administration's first two months, 127 lawsuits were filed against it, according to data from New York University. In his first weeks, several of his actions ignored or violated federal laws, regulations, and the Constitution according to American legal scholars.
Many cases have been brought in response to Executive Order 14158, establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump identified billionaire and tech CEO, Elon Musk, as leading DOGE, although he did not hold the office of DOGE Administrator. Musk began federal cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, shutting down departments and agencies, ending aid, and removing programs, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The Trump administration has claimed that they have wide powers to bypass Congressional oversight, while many others believe these actions to be unconstitutional. By mid-July, a Washington Post analysis found he defied judges and the courts in roughly one third of all cases against him, actions which were described by legal experts as unprecedented for any presidential administration. His defiance of court orders and a claimed right to disobey the courts raised fears among legal experts of a constitutional crisis.
Federal judges found many of the administration's actions to be illegal. By August 2025, several grant terminations and spending freezes were found by judges and the Government Accountability Office as being illegal and unconstitutional. His attempt to remove birthright citizenship was called "blatantly unconstitutional" by Reagan-appointed judge John C. Coughenour, and judges have also described other actions to be unconstitutional such as his unprecedented targeting of law firms and lawyers as part of his wider actions targeting political opponents and civil society.
Multiple analyses conducted by academic scholars and The New York Times found that both Republican and Democratic judicial appointees have found numerous constitutional and statutory flaws with Trump administration policies. On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. CASA that universal injunctions cannot be issued by a federal district court. Following this decision, preliminary injunction may only provide relief for a plaintiff and may not block the implementation of the orders nationwide.