Six Months of Attacks & Executive Orders

Civil Rights 08.25.25

“What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise.”  

— U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan 

Over its 75-year history, The Leadership Conference has witnessed many early initiatives of new administrations. None have been as chaotic, cruel, and confusing as the first six months of President Donald Trump’s second term.  

But while governments change, our priorities do not:  

  • We believe our nation must honor equal protection for all of its people, view its diversity as its strength, and strive to be a place where all can live, work, and study as free and equal people.  
  • We are prepared to stand with and for all people in support of the rights guaranteed in our Constitution and laws, and to resist any attempt to discriminate against, oppress, scapegoat, or marginalize any members of our communities, including efforts to thwart laws that protect their rights, welfare, and well-being.  
  • We will oppose any efforts by the administration and Congress to dismantle or undermine civil and human rights and intend to meet every challenge with the values and principles that animate our cause.  

The choices that elected officials make will go a long way in determining whether an America true to its promise of equal justice, equal opportunity, and mutual respect exists for everyone – or for only some. The choices this administration has made in its first six months makes clear its disregard for policies that promote inclusion and respect for the basic rights of every person in America. 

We stand for something else: “an America as good in practice as it is in promise.” 

Our strength as a nation lies in our history of welcoming people from around the world and of righting the wrongs of our past as we strive for a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible society in which we see our fates as linked together.  

To underscore just how connected we all are, on April 30, 2025 – The 100-day mark for the administration – The Leadership Conference sponsored an event on the escalation of threats against various institutions in the first 100 days. The event addressed the impact of this administration’s executive, administrative, and investigative attacks on civil society, including direct service providers, advocates, educational institutions, legal service providers and law firms, civil rights organizations, public safety sectors, and philanthropy. It was an important opportunity to join together across sectors to show unity in the face of these attacks.  

We also released an open letter to the American people and pledge to take action endorsed by more than 170 civil rights organizations, in addition to compiling nonpartisan public mobilizations across the country marking the first 100 days of the administration and May Day. 

Unfortunately, the next 100+ days proved to be no better, as the American people continued to face unprecedented attacks on every front. Last month, an authoritarian presidency demonstrated its willingness to deploy the U.S. military against its own people in Los Angeles. A sitting congresswoman and a labor leader faced criminal charges. A sitting U.S. Senator was violently thrown to the ground and handcuffed for merely trying to ask a question during a press conference. The American people were warned by the president that anyone who protested in Washington, D.C on his birthday – without distinguishing between lawful and unlawful activity – was “going to be met with very big force.” 

With each passing day, the number of law firms, private charities, and universities that might end up in the crosshairs of this administration grows. These efforts are intentionally designed to target and attempt to silence, disempower, and/or dismantle various sectors of society. 

Now, in this challenging moment of renewed threats and deep division, we are releasing a timeline of the Trump administration’s first six months, available chronologically and by issue.  It includes more than 200 actions, including executive and judicial nominations The Leadership Conference has opposed because of the nominees’ anti-civil rights records. 

The threats are dire, but we draw power from our decades-long legacy of courage, resilience, and hope. We will continue to work with the coalition to help highlight the need for policymakers to do what is right for our nation and all of its people.  

Here is a snapshot of other resources that make the concerns and impacts on real people urgent and clear:  

  • National Employment Law Project has released a source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration. 
  • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has documented the Trump administration’s flurry of measures to radically reshape the federal government and their impact on low- and moderate-income people and the programs people use to help meet their essential needs. 
  • National Women’s Law Center has analyzed how the Trump administration has moved quickly to advance an extremist and deeply harmful agenda that puts women and girls at risk. 
  • Human Rights Watch has cataloged 100 of the Trump administration’s executive policies, orders, and actions that pose significant risks to the human rights of people living in the United States and around the world. 

The Leadership Conference is the oldest and largest civil rights coalition in the nation and has coordinated the lobbying efforts on behalf of every major civil rights bill signed into law since the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Many of these laws are now under assault.  But together, we can protect the progress and civil rights gains this 75-year-old coalition has worked so hard to achieve. We must:  

  • Ensure that every voice and every vote counts to make the promise of democracy real for all;  
  • Demand a fair and independent judiciary that works for all of us;  
  • Protect and value immigrants and refugees of all backgrounds;  
  • Transform the criminal-legal system into one that keeps communities truly safe; 
  • Create pathways for people to invest in their future;  
  • Choose safe and inclusive schools for our children;  
  • Pursue new opportunities without fear of discrimination;  
  • Provide access to and affordable, high-quality health care and housing for all; and  
  • Ensure that every person can access the technology, information, and data necessary to participate in democracy and meaningfully contribute to their communities.  

In the weeks, months, and years ahead, we must come together to advance these goals and resist policies that undermine civil rights and democracy. This fight will require our broad and diverse coalition that spans racial, economic, and social lines – a reflection of “we the majority” – to ensure no group is left to face these threats and actions alone.  

“An America as good in practice as it is in promise”—that’s why The Leadership Conference is still on the job.