Dem attorneys general use new media to mount Trump resistance [View all]

Source: The Hill

04/02/25 7:55 AM ET


Court proceedings might often unfold behind closed doors, but the Democratic attorneys general challenging President Trump’s expansive agenda want to bring their work to your feed. Democratic attorneys general are turning to new media to mount their resistance to Trump 2.0, using untraditional means to win in the court of public opinion while waging legal battles in courtrooms across the country.

“This is an opportunity for us to ensure that the federal government is held to account when they violate the rights of our respective states and the residents of our states,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told The Hill, citing the burst of legal fights brought by attorneys general. “We just thought it was more important than ever to make sure that people are understanding, like, ‘What does an attorney general even do?’”

At least nine legal challenges to major Trump administration actions have been brought by coalitions of Democratic attorneys general across the country, targeting federal aid freezes, efforts to nullify birthright citizenship, mass government worker layoffs and Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Meanwhile, the top state legal officers have flooded online platforms with their victories, swipes at Trump and pleas to keep the faith while lengthy litigation moves through the notoriously sluggish judiciary. “Legal processes are slow, complex and opaque,” said Ioana Literat, a professor at the Teachers College of Columbia University who studies online political expression. “So, these efforts then show a growing recognition that legal resistance … must also be culturally legible.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5226682-dem-attorneys-general-new-media/