Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Disney and ABC challenged FCC's early broadcast license review — Disney and ABC filed a federal court challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's decision to initiate an early review of broadcast licenses for eight ABC-owned television stations, despite the licenses not being due for renewal until 2028–2031. Disney argued the review constitutes retaliation for programming and editorial decisions disfavored by the Trump administration. The FCC stated the review was routine regulatory oversight linked to investigations of the company's practices.

Supporting reports

• Supreme Court guts Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais decision — The Supreme Court issued a decision in Louisiana v. Callais that substantially weakened the Voting Rights Act, removing federal protections that had constrained state redistricting practices. The ruling prompted Republican-controlled legislatures in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee to immediately pursue aggressive congressional redistricting aimed at fragmenting Black voting blocs and concentrating Democratic voters into fewer districts. The decision marked a major shift in voting rights jurisprudence and triggered the subsequent wave of redistricting efforts across the South.
• Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee legislatures pursue aggressive congressional redistricting — Following the Louisiana v. Callais decision, Republican-controlled legislatures in four Southern states moved rapidly to redraw congressional maps with the explicit goal of fragmenting Black voting communities and concentrating them into fewer districts. The redistricting efforts were pursued despite impending primary elections, signaling the priority placed on diluting Black electoral power. The actions represented a coordinated partisan response to the Supreme Court's weakening of federal voting rights protections.

Supporting reports

• Democratic National Committee sues Trump administration over taxpayer-funded campaign ads — The Democratic National Committee filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, October 8, 2026, challenging the Trump administration's use of taxpayer funds to broadcast campaign ads promoting President Trump. The ads, costing over $12 million, allegedly violate federal law prohibiting use of congressionally appropriated money for "publicity or propaganda." The complaint names Trump, the White House office, the Office of Management and Budget, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection as defendants, alleging they violated the Administrative Procedure Act and misused public funds for self-aggrandizement during the midterm campaign season.

Supporting reports

• Federal judge voids DOJ policy collecting state voter rolls — US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled that the Trump administration's Department of Justice policy of collecting unredacted state voter rolls to cross-check against a federal immigration database violated federal privacy laws and exceeded DOJ authority. The policy, adopted under Trump's election integrity executive order, had already removed US citizens from voter rolls and risked further disenfranchisement. Sooknanan found Congress, not the federal government, controls voter roll maintenance. The lawsuit was brought by Common Cause after roughly 18 states complied with DOJ requests in May, providing voters' names, birth dates, addresses, and partial identification numbers.

Supporting reports

• Judge orders Tennessee to preserve evidence after Christa Pike survives lethal injection — Christa Pike, 50, survived two lethal injections of pentobarbital in Tennessee's execution chamber on September 30, 2026. She was declared brain dead but regained consciousness on Tuesday, October 7, speaking and expressing confusion and anger. Pike remains hospitalized, shackled to her bed despite medical staff requests for restraint removal, with severe arm injuries and pneumonia. On October 8, Judge I'Ashea Myles ordered Tennessee state officials to preserve all evidence from the execution chamber, after Pike's legal team accused the state of concealing evidence relevant to potential future legal challenges.

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• Complaint filed — New Mexico Wildlife Federation v. U.S. Department of the Interior — On October 8, 2026, conservation and border-region organizations filed suit in federal district court challenging the Department of the Interior's April 2025 transfer of approximately 110,000 acres of New Mexico public land to the Department of Defense for border security purposes and the Army's subsequent designation of the land as a restricted national defense area. Plaintiffs allege the land transfer violates the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Constitution's Army Clause, and seek vacatur of both the transfer order and the Army's designation orders, plus injunctions barring further implementation.

Supporting reports

• Complaint filed — Common Cause v. Department of Homeland Security, et al. (S.D.N.Y. 1:26-cv-08882) — Common Cause, Alabama House candidate Robert Hunter, SEIU Local 32BJ, and its PAC filed suit in the Southern District of New York challenging a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract with a marketing firm to produce and air national television advertisements featuring President Trump. The ads, funded through an Office of Management and Budget reapportionment of Customs and Border Protection appropriations, began airing Sept. 23, 2026, and are labeled "Paid for by the U.S. Government." Plaintiffs allege the ads violate the Purpose Statute and the publicity-or-propaganda ban, constitute arbitrary and capricious agency action, and violate the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee by providing competitive advantage to Trump-aligned candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief, vacatur of the apportionment and contract, a temporary restraining order, preliminary and permanent injunctions, and recovery of expended funds.

Supporting reports

• US Supreme Court hears arguments in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County climate liability case — The US Supreme Court began oral arguments on October 5, 2026, in Suncor Energy Inc v County Commissioners of Boulder County, a case in which fossil fuel companies Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil seek to block state-level climate damage lawsuits. Boulder County officials sued the companies in Colorado state court in 2018 to recover costs of climate-related disasters. The oil companies argue federal law pre-empts state court jurisdiction; Boulder argues the Constitution permits state climate litigation. A ruling is expected in summer 2027. The case could affect dozens of similar climate suits nationwide.

Supporting reports

• Governor Bill Lee suspends Tennessee executions and orders independent inquiry — In a November 2025 deposition, Frank Strada acknowledged that he had not followed several key recommendations from a 2022 Tennessee-commissioned independent report on lethal injection procedures. Specifically, he failed to hire a full-time employee or consultant with pharmaceutical expertise to provide guidance on lethal injection processes and failed to hire a full-time employee or consultant to assist with locating lethal injection drug sources. These omissions left critical gaps in oversight and expertise.