🌅 Today’s stat: 46

Sunrise Stat
February 11, 2025

As of February 10, nearly 50 lawsuits have been filed related to actions or orders by the Trump administration (the administration has also filed one lawsuit itself). The challenges fall into four main categories: immigration, budget freezes and firings, transgender rights, and January 6 investigations.

So far, at least eight rulings have temporarily paused initiatives or actions by the president and his executive officers. No matter what happens in any of the individual cases going forward, it’s highly likely decisions will be appealed and at least some of the issues end up being decided by the Supreme Court.

Executive orders don’t create law, they set policy, most often directing the appropriate executive agency to “take steps” to carry out a certain policy or directive. Expect to hear words like “arbitrary” and “unreasonable” over the coming months, as many of the challenges to Trump’s orders have been made under a law called the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits actions by executive agencies that are “arbitrary or capricious,” and allows nearly anyone harmed by an agency’s actions to file a lawsuit to block enforcement.