Unhappy Constitution Day

The checks and balances created by the Constitution are failing. But the resistance is fighting back.

Sep 17, 2025

The Constitution is under attack, making today’s commemoration of Constitution Day particularly poignant and important.

“On this Constitution Day, we have to acknowledge this unfortunate reality,” Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman said at a press conference this morning. “This president is the most constitutionally hostile president in American history. He’s the most constitution-shredding president in American history.”

But even now, “the Constitution is alive because of what we the people do,” Weissman said. “It’s the millions of Americans who refuse to be silenced by a president and attorney general who seek to stoke fear and intimidation against those who disagree with them politically. That’s why the Constitution is alive -- and those are the people who are the great American patriots of this day.”

“That’s where the hope is, on this Constitution Day,” Weissman said.

At the press conference, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced that he has reintroduced the “Protecting Our Democracy Act,” a package of reforms that would strengthen constitutional guardrails and prevent abuses of executive power.

Schiff acknowledged that his bill doesn’t stand a chance with a Republican Congress and president. But, he said, “When power is returned to the Democrats, this is what we will make law…. We want to make sure that any future administration cannot trample the Constitution the way this one is.”

In a long essay expressing cautious optimism about the resistance, American Prospect co-founder Robert Kuttner explained his “new respect for the genius of America’s Founders”:

After all, each of the major firebreaks against Trump’s tyranny reflects some aspect of the constitutional design. The Founders decided that Congress, not the executive, would be the paramount branch; and that the whole House would face the voters every two years. Though it is taking too long, Congress is beginning to reassert its prerogatives. As the midterms approach, Congress will become even more alert to public opinion, which could well flip one house and further constrain Trump.
The Founders also gave us an independent judiciary. While the Supreme Court has been too beholden to Trump, lower courts have slowed him down and the high court may come around on key decisions.
If Americans have been free to organize and protest without fear of arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention, they can thank the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments that were added to the Constitution at the insistence of the Jeffersonians. And to the extent that state and local governments have become a key part of the resistance, we can credit American federalism, the accidental legacy of separate colonies, which was also explicitly enshrined in the Constitution. To be sure, some of the final document reflected expedient compromises, yet it has an elegant coherence centered on the protection of popular, legitimate rule.
In the era of FDR and LBJ, mostly benign strong presidents, the checks and balances bequeathed by the Founders were a source of progressive frustration; in the Trump era, they have been our salvation. The Founders, after all, designed their constitution as a reaction against King George and his trampling of their historic liberties as Englishmen—and to prevent future would-be kings. They knew exactly what tyranny looked like.

Democracy Forward president Skye Perryman wrote to supporters:

As we commemorate Constitution Day, it is important we recognize the arc of this country is not one that has bent on its own. We must remember who we are – descendants of the revolutionaries, the abolitionists, the immigrants, the freedom riders, suffragists, LGBTQ+ activists – those who have fought and fought and demanded more. People who have not expected quick fixes or short cuts. We are here, and the only way out is through. And that it is the people – We the People, and the commitment of the people through amendment, litigation, protest, and march – who have been responsible for establishing justice and faith in our Constitution.

At a “Constitution and Citizenship Day Summit” on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said too many Americans lack a basic understanding of the limits imposed on the executive branch by the Constitution.

“Do we understand what the difference is between a king and a president?” Sotomayor asked. “I think if people understood these things from the beginning, they would be more informed as to what would be important in a democracy.”

ACLU Legal Director Cecelia Wang will be talking about the Constitution at 6 p.m. ET.

Democracy Docket is holding a Constitution Day conversation tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET featuring Rep. Jamie Raskin among others.

Chicago Remains Under Siege

Despite Trump’s threats, the National Guard has not been deployed in Chicago – at least not yet. After apparently backing down, Trump on Tuesday again renewed his vow to send them in — but who can say if he means it or not? Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responded “I think he might be suffering from some dementia.”

Nevertheless, a blitz of immigration enforcement continues, leaving Chicagoans under siege and increasingly resisting.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a “Right to Protest” executive order on Tuesday, directing local police to protect protesters' constitutional rights even if federal authorities try to restrict some protests.

The Chicago Tribune reported that “elected officials and community leaders on Tuesday urged all residents in the U.S. illegally to stay home as much as possible — and those who can to use their protections to support the city and its most vulnerable as federal operations persist.”

The New York Times wrote about the pushback in one neighborhood:

At the Mexican Independence Day parade on Sept. 6, which at least briefly drew hundreds to the streets of Pilsen, Mexican cowboys known as charros passed out “know your rights” fliers. People wore bright orange whistles around their necks, where they would be handy to warn others if ICE raids were to unfold.

As ABC7 reported, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem showed up in the Chicago area on Tuesday for a photo op, watching and filming as combat-ready law enforcement officers backed up by military helicopters broke through the front door of an Elgin home and arrested four people – two of whom it turned out were American citizens.

Illinois state Sen. Cristina Castro told ABC7 it was all a show for Noem. "She can go to hell. Don't come to my community. Go to hell," Castro said.

Philanthropy Pushes Back Pre-Emptively

More than 100 philanthropies issued a letter Wednesday pushing back against a threatened Trump administration attack on left-leaning funders in the name of Charlie Kirk.

“We reject attempts to exploit political violence to mischaracterize our good work or restrict our fundamental freedoms, like freedom of speech and the freedom to give,” the letter stated. “Attempts to silence speech, criminalize opposing viewpoints, and misrepresent and limit charitable giving undermine our democracy and harm all Americans.”

What Should Congress Do?

Democrats have political leverage for once as Republicans need their votes for an upcoming spending bill.

Andrew O’Neill, Indivisible’s national advocacy director, said in a statement that “Democrats must deny this wanna-be king the blank check Republicans are writing for him. Any bill receiving Democratic votes must meaningfully constrain Trump’s illegal weaponization of the budget to rob our services, militarize our cities, and terrorize our communities.”

David Dayen, editor of the American Prospect, asked: “What Would a No Kings Budget Look Like?”

He largely endorsed this list of 10 laws that Congress should demand as part of any debt or appropriations deal. It comes from Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute and includes such provisions as:

Declarations of National Emergencies Should Be Approved by Congress
National Guard Should Not Be Used for Political Suppression
Protect Inspectors General, our independent federal watchdogs

This Week in Lawsuits

A federal appeals court blocked Trump from removing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
A federal judge ruled that the Office of Personnel Management acted illegally when it directed the mass firings of 25,000 probationary workers at six agencies for fabricated performance issues. The agencies won’t be required to reinstate the terminated workers, but will have to update personnel files to clarify that they were not fired for cause.
A federal district court in California issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security from brutalizing journalists, legal observers, and protesters in Southern California.
A broad coalition of faculty, staff, students, and labor unions filed a lawsuit alleging Trump is illegally attempting to exercise “ideological control” over the University of California.

More Judicial Revolts

The office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro keeps having to drop felony charges against people it accused of attacking National Guard troops – evidently because local grand juries refuse to play along.

Reuters reporter Brad Heath posted on social media about two more such cases on Tuesday.

And the Huffington Post reported that Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh on Tuesday dismissed a third case, in which prosecutors had filed felony charges against someone who allegedly spit at National Guard members.

Sharbaugh “seemed visibly annoyed during the Tuesday hearing, saying the U.S. Attorney’s Office had been wasting the court’s time with felony charges that went nowhere.”

“The way this is supposed to work is the U.S. Attorney’s Office does its due diligence,” Sharbaugh said.

In Defense of Virtue Signaling

Critics sometimes refer derogatorily to protests as empty “virtue signaling.” But author Andrea Pitzer reclaimed the phrase in a recent newsletter post.

“Virtue signaling matters in profound ways. Do you stand for anything? If so, how would anyone tell?” Pitzer asked.

Standing up for what you believe in as often as you can opens the door for others to imagine what they could do, too. It strengthens the courts that are trying to uphold the law… It reassures vulnerable communities that people around them might have their backs….
These next few months will be critical, as the administration tries to consolidate its power against opposing voices. Ideally, those who are least vulnerable will take the greatest risks. And whether you plan a complicated operation or community effort, or maybe you just join in someone else’s project at the last minute, you never know what kind of impact you’re going to have.

Heroes of the Resistance

The New Republic is publishing a series of inspiring stories of people who have stood up to Trumpism. They include:

End Notes

Attorneys general from nine states are promising “we will do whatever it takes” to protect transgender students and their right to learn in a school environment free from discrimination and hostility.
The Washington Post reported on the “walking school buses” that D.C. neighbors have set up to help kids get to class during an influx of federal immigration agents.
This TikTok video shows Illinois State Sen. Karina Villa running ICE out of her West Chicago neighborhood.