The A.C.L.U. vs. Trump 2.0

The New Yorker Radio HourAnthony Romero, the head of the A.C.L.U., says that the United States is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. “We’re at the Rubicon. Whether we’ve crossed it remains to be seen.”With David RemnickFebruary 14, 2025Photograph by Andrew Harnik / GettyListen and subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google | Wherever You ListenSign up for our daily newsletter to get the best of The New Yorker in your in-box.In Donald Trump’s first term in office, the American Civil Liberties Union filed four hundred and thirty-four legal actions against the first Trump Administration. Since Trump’s second Inauguration, the A.C.L.U. has filed cases to block executive orders ending birthright citizenship, defunding gender-affirming health care, and more. If the Administration defies a judge’s order to fully reinstate government funds frozen by executive order, Anthony Romero, the A.C.L.U.’s executive director, says, we will have arrived at a constitutional crisis. “We’re at the Rubicon,” Romero says. “Whether we’ve crossed it remains to be seen.” Romero has held the job since 2001—he started just days before 9/11—and has done the job under four Presidents. He tells David Remnick that it’s nothing new for Presidents to chafe at judicial obstacles to implement their agendas; Romero mentions Bill Clinton’s attempts to strip courts of certain powers as notably aggressive. But, “if Trump decides to flagrantly defy a judicial order, then I think . . . we’ve got to take to the streets in a different way. We’ve got to shut down this country.”New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.An earlier version of this article misidentified the type of legal action taken against the Trump Administration.

Feb 15, 2025 - 11:26
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The A.C.L.U. vs. Trump 2.0
Anthony Romero, the head of the A.C.L.U., says that the United States is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. “We’re at the Rubicon. Whether we’ve crossed it remains to be seen.”
A man looking away
Photograph by Andrew Harnik / Getty

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In Donald Trump’s first term in office, the American Civil Liberties Union filed four hundred and thirty-four legal actions against the first Trump Administration. Since Trump’s second Inauguration, the A.C.L.U. has filed cases to block executive orders ending birthright citizenship, defunding gender-affirming health care, and more. If the Administration defies a judge’s order to fully reinstate government funds frozen by executive order, Anthony Romero, the A.C.L.U.’s executive director, says, we will have arrived at a constitutional crisis. “We’re at the Rubicon,” Romero says. “Whether we’ve crossed it remains to be seen.” Romero has held the job since 2001—he started just days before 9/11—and has done the job under four Presidents. He tells David Remnick that it’s nothing new for Presidents to chafe at judicial obstacles to implement their agendas; Romero mentions Bill Clinton’s attempts to strip courts of certain powers as notably aggressive. But, “if Trump decides to flagrantly defy a judicial order, then I think . . . we’ve got to take to the streets in a different way. We’ve got to shut down this country.”

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.

The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

An earlier version of this article misidentified the type of legal action taken against the Trump Administration.

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