President Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot anywhere in Tuesday’s elections, but he still lost big time, as voters across the country rejected his authoritarian agenda.
President Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot anywhere in Tuesday’s elections, but he still lost big time, as voters across the country rejected his authoritarian agenda.
Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked Trump’s Oregon troop deployment and the White House walked back the president’s threat to defy a court order and withhold SNAP benefits.
Matt Cohen, filling in this week for Jacob Knutson
Trump crashes out after voters reject his authoritarian agenda
Voters sent Trump a clear message Tuesday, electing Democrats and protecting democracy when it was on the ballot in states like California, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Trump took the election losses with grace, pledging to work with newly elected Democrats on policies to help all Americans. Just kidding. The president absolutely crashed out and called on lawmakers to smooth a path for voter suppression measures. “Pass Voter Reform, Voter ID, No Mail-In Ballots. Save our Supreme Court from ‘Packing,’ No Two State addition, etc. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER! ! !” Trump posted.
Speaking at a White House breakfast with Senate Republicans Wednesday, Trump warned that, unless the GOP acts now, Democrats will themselves end the filibuster to pack the Supreme Court and recognize D.C. and Puerto Rico as states.
“They’re going to pick up electoral votes, it’s going to be a very, very bad situation,” Trump said. “Now, if we do what I’m saying, they’ll most likely never attain power, because we will have passed every single thing that you can imagine.”
In a blow to Trump’s power grab, federal judge blocks Oregon troop deployment
A federal court issued a preliminary injunction Sunday blocking the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon, with plans to issue a permanent injunction later this week.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, wrote that the protests in Portland against immigration enforcement actions that the administration cited as an urgent threat that justified deploying the Guard were, in fact, “generally uneventful.”
Video evidence shown in the hearing depicted a few dozen demonstrators, some dressed in inflatable costumes, peacefully assembling in opposition to the administration’s policies — a far cry from the Trump administration’s claims that the city was awash in anarchy and violence.
While the federal government may appeal the decision, the underlying legal issues have already been litigated extensively in the circuit court — and Immergut’s ruling is a massive blow to Trump’s attempted militarization of Democratic cities.
Democracy Docket is tracking the 78 most important Trump accountability lawsuits fighting the administration’s power grabs. Click here to find out which ones have succeeded so far.
White House walks back Trump’s threats to defy court order to withhold SNAP benefits
The White House is walking back Trump’s threat, made after a court ordered the administration to pay SNAP benefits with emergency funds, that he would nonetheless withhold the benefits until Democrats cave in the shutdown fight.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly “handed” to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” Trump posted Tuesday.
“The administration is fully complying with the court order,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference later in the day. “I just spoke to the president about it… [SNAP recipients] need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money.”
Dive deeper: Tuesday’s election results were a resounding win for democracy
There’s no other way to say it: Tuesday was a brutal night for Trump and his axis of antidemocratic actors — and a huge night for democracy, which won big up and down the ballot, Democracy Docket’s Jim Saksa has a full rundown of the biggest takeaways from the night.
Americans registered their disgust with the direction the nation has been heading under Trump’s authoritarian leadership at the polls, electing Democratic governors in Virginia and New Jersey, retaining three Democratic justices on Pennsylvania’s supreme court, rejecting a Trump-aligned measure to restrict mail-in ballots in Maine, electing a New York City mayor who Trump had done everything in his power to stop, and — perhaps most significantly — greenlighting California Democrats’ response to the GOP’s attempts to gerrymander themselves to victory in the 2026 midterm.
In Georgia, Democrats won two seats on the Public Service Commission, the first time they have won a statewide race for a nonfederal office there since 2006. The commission will go from 5-0 Republican to 3-2, providing Democrats a path to taking control in 2026.
And in Mississippi, Democrat Johnny DuPree flipped a state senate seat in a special election, putting the GOP’s supermajority in the chamber at risk. The district was redrawn after Mississippi’s previous legislative map was held to be a racial gerrymander in violation of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) — a stark demonstration of the ongoing importance of the VRA for fair maps, even as it sits in SCOTUS’ crosshairs.
Marc and some of the Democracy Docket team will be at Crooked Con this weekend, where they’ll be joined by many of the biggest names in the progressive and pro-democracy movement. Come say hi!
Odds and ends
Judge orders prosecutors to turn over evidence in case against James Comey: Concerned that the Trump administration sought to “indict first and investigate later,” a federal judge ordered prosecutors to fork over their evidence in the case against former FBI Director James Comey. Magistrate judge William Fitzpatrick gave prosecutors a Thursday deadline to produce all grand jury materials, along with other evidence seized during the investigation of Comey.
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani warns Trump is not above the law: During a press conference Wednesday morning, Mamdani (D) sent a message to ICE agents and Trump: "My message to ICE agents and to everyone across this city is that everyone will be held to the same standard of the law,” he said. “If you violate it, you must be held accountable. There is sadly a sense growing that certain people are allowed to violate that law, whether they be POTUS or ICE agents."
Quote of the week
I’ll just leave this quote here from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about Prop 50 passing in California:
“This should serve as a warning to Republicans who are considering heeding the continuing demands of the White House: it is politically unwise to go against principle and their constituents. If necessary—and with the support of the people—more states will follow California's lead, acting swiftly and decisively to protect Americans’ voice in Congress.”
“We will protect democracy in every part of our nation.”
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