What’s being done to fight abuses by the Trump administration?

Many constituents have contacted my office about unlawful and corrupt actions by the Trump-Vance administration. As your representative in Congress, I wanted to share more information about what is being done to fight back. This page will be periodically updated to provide new information - feel free to bookmark it!

For resources for Philadelphians affected by the Trump-Vance administration’s policies, click here.

1. Litigation & Court Cases

Active litigation against actions of the Trump-Vance administration, including the Elon Musk “DOGE” group, includes, but is not limited to:

• 12 states have joined together to sue the Trump Administration to block his chaotic, broad-sweeping tariffs from going into effect, claiming he lacks the constitutional authority to set them. Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Dave Sunday, has not joined this case. You can contact his office here.
• 25 states and the District of Columbia, including Pennsylvania, have joined in a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to unlawfully withhold $7 billion in congressionally appropriated funding from the Department of Education, including $231 million in funding owed to Pennsylvania schools.
• 22 states and the District of Columbia have joined together to obtain a court order against the illegal Trump funding freeze. While Pennsylvania’s attorney general did not join the suit, thanks to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro legal efforts challenging the funding freeze, the $2.1 billion in federal funding that was already appropriated to the Commonwealth has been restored. I applaud this action by Governor Shapiro!
• A similar multi-state coalition is one of the groups suing to block “DOGE” access to the Treasury Department’s payment system that includes Americans’ private information, bank account information and other sensitive data. The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office has also not joined this lawsuit.
• I joined over 170 of my Democratic colleagues in filing an amicus brief for NAACP v. US, arguing that President Trump’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education violates separation of powers and lacks constitutional authority.
• I have also joined nearly 200 of my House and Senate Democratic colleagues in filing an amicus brief challenging President Trump’s sweeping and chaotic tariffs, arguing that they were unlawfully imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
• I joined over 180 of my House Democratic colleagues in filing an amicus brief for three birthright citizenship cases (Trump v. State of Washington, Trump v. CASA, Inc., and Trump v. State of New Jersey) before the United States Supreme Court challenging President Trump’s attempt to change the fundamental constitutional right to birthright citizenship via executive order.
• Employee unions have sued over the “buyout”/ "deferred resignation” offer. Please be advised that federal government appropriations are only funded through March 14, 2025, well before the Sept. 30 funding promised in the “Fork in the Road” email.
• The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) sued the Trump Administration for its unlawful dismantling of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. I joined an amicus brief with over 200 of my House Democratic colleagues in defending this critical agency and hard-working families and consumers.
• I also joined 192 of my House Democratic colleagues in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education in the matter of the State of New York v. Linda McMahon.
• After the Trump administration ordered the cancellation hundreds of National Institute of Health research grants because they were linked to topics like diversity, gender identity, and vaccine hesitancy, a group of researchers filed suit. On June 17, a federal judge struck down these cuts.
• 17 state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, including the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, have filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from imposing unlawful restrictions on grant funding for domestic and sexual violence service.
• Quaker groups sued to prevent U.S. immigration agents from carrying out arrests and searches in houses of worship.
• You can find a more detailed litigation tracker here. You can also visit House Democrats' Litigation/Response Task Force page on ongoing litigation.

(Please note: As the minority in both the House and Senate, Democrats aren’t able to file lawsuits speaking on behalf of either chamber of Congress, or to issue congressional subpoenas.)

2. Legislative Actions 

These include, but are not limited to:

• I introduced the Claws Off Social Security Act alongside Representatives Larson, DeLauro, and Frankel. This bill would protect struggling seniors from President Trump’s new drastic clawback policy, capping clawbacks at 10% of monthly benefits so people don’t have to choose between food, rent and medicine!
• In response to the Trump Administration's illegal blocking of over $231 million in funding for Pennsylvania public schools, including over $28 million for Philly, I joined 150 of my House Democratic colleagues to demand answers for our schools.
• I’ve co-sponsored and signed onto several bills and letters to protect Social Security, an earned benefit nearly 70 million Americans rely on. This includes the Keep Our Field Offices Open Act and the Protecting Americans’ Social Security Data Act, as well as a Resolution of Inquiry compelling answers from the Trump Administration on their backdoor benefits cuts to Social Security.
• I’m co-sponsoring a bill to end the constant economic chaos created by President Trump tariff scheme and reclaim Congress’ trade authority. Congress has constitutional authority over tariffs and other taxes. These policies should be debated and voted on by 535 of the people’s elected representatives, not imposed by one person. Read more about the Stopping a Rogue President on Trade Act here.
• Alongside my Ways and Means Committee Democratic colleagues, I’m also demanding that we hold a hearing immediately to examine the breadth of DOGE’s actions and require Elon Musk and members of DOGE appear as witnesses.
• I co-sponsored an amendment to stop President Trump from illegally withholding or diverting funding appropriated in the Republican-led continuing resolution. You can read more about the details of this amendment here.
• I'm co-sponsoring a bill to protect fired probationary federal workers, ensuring when these employees are reinstated, they will not need to restart their probationary period. You can read more about the first bipartisan anti-DOGE bill introduced in Congress here.
• I’m co-sponsoring a bill to prohibit unlawful access to the payment system of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the Department of the Treasury. You can read more details about the Taxpayer Data Protection Act here.
• I'm co-sponsoring a bill to protect the Department of Education from any efforts to dismantle the agency, ensuring every student receives the free and appropriate public education they deserve.
• I’m cosponsoring a bill to protect USAID, which helps countries recover from natural disasters, prevents the spread of diseases, eradicates poverty, and promotes good governance and democratic reforms, and President Trump and DOGE shut down the agency’s website, closed its headquarters, placed thousands of its staff on leave, and issued a stop work order on most foreign assistance- including life-saving humanitarian aid.
• I’ve joined with Democratic colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee to demand answers on taxpayer privacy about the Musk/ "DOGE" effort.
• I'm co-sponsoring a bill to protect immigrant communities when they are at their most vulnerable, codifying the long-standing policy prohibiting ICE from carrying out law enforcement activity in protected areas such as schools, hospitals, and churches. You can read more details about the Protecting Sensitive Location Act here.
• My office has also created and shared widely this “Know Your Rights” page and shareable graphic on what you can do if ICE comes to your home or business. (If you missed it, you can follow my social media and sign up for my e-newsletter.)
• House Democrats have a caucus-wide effort to push back on Trump administration abuses, which includes making “clear to House Republican leadership that any effort to steal taxpayer money from the American people, end Medicaid as we know it or defund programs important to everyday Americans, as contemplated by the illegal White House Office of Management and Budget order, must be choked off in the upcoming government funding bill, if not sooner.”
• You can also visit House Democrats' Litigation/Response Task Force page on current legislation.

This list is not comprehensive, so if you have a concern not listed here, you can contact my office here.

(Please note: As a member of the House of Representatives, I don’t get to vote on confirmations in the Senate. You can find contact information for Pennsylvania’ s senators here: Sen. John Fetterman; Sen. Dave McCormick. If you have family or friends in another state who want to contact their senators, they can find all senators’ contact information here.)

3. What Citizens Can Do: Stay Informed and Engaged!

• You can stay informed by following my updates on social media:

  YouTube | Bluesky | Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | Threads 

  (And if you’re following on Facebook or Instagram, I also provide some updates on my stories.)

• You can sign up for my e-mail newsletter (just click here!)