As we continue our look back on 2025, we must not forget the role played by unexpected heroes, the people and institutions we never imagined standing up to a budding dictator. It has been far easier to go along to get along, to cut deals with the regime, or simply to remain silent. But when the chips were down—as they’ve been all year—some critical players refused to be bluffed, bullied, or badgered into subservience.

Two Media stars: In vivid contrast to CBS, ABC, and Washington Post (to name just a few of the enablers who disgraced the profession), stalwart defenders of the First Amendment emerged from unexpected places. When kicked out of briefings and excluded from the press pool for refusing to adopt the ludicrous “Gulf of America” nomenclature for the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press—a studiously apolitical newswire that eschews editorializing—held its ground and sued in February. (The appeals court just heard argument). “The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” AP’s lawsuit stated. “The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”

Even more remarkable, the tiny nonprofit Media Matters stood up to a flood of specious litigation after it accurately described X’s practice of featuring ads next to neo-fascist and White nationalist posts. It filed suit against the FTC in June challenging its investigation. In a critical victory, a federal court in August held that the FTC could not open an inquiry into Media Matters. “U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ruled Aug. Aug. 15 that the FTC’s probe of Media Matters, ‘purportedly to investigate an advertiser boycott concerning social media platforms,’ represents a clear violation of the group’s freedom of speech.”

The Fed’s Chairman: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has received his share of criticism about the Fed’s record on inflation, but no one can dispute that he stood up to Donald Trump’s brazen threats, efforts to politicize the Fed, and even an illegitimate attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook. He even publicly rebutted in July Trump’s false claim about a renovation of the Fed’s building. In his quiet and firm way, he refused to be intimidated, and kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism of Trump’s inflation-producing tariffs. That’s why Trump is replacing him.

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