A New Playbook for Democracy: Lessons from the States in 2025
2025 was a challenging year for democracy, right from the start. The administration exploited federal funding, waged political prosecutions, and used the military and federal agents to police our communities. Americans experienced things on U.S. soil that have never happened in many of our lifetimes, reminding us that we can’t take our democratic norms for granted.
In 2025, however, we also saw the powerful, collaborative, persistent ways that pro-democracy leaders showed up for the American people.
Governors, attorneys general, election officials, and law enforcement leaders demonstrated that they are fearless about defending the rule of law, protecting their residents, and standing up for state power and authority under the Constitution. In an era of encroaching threats, states and their leaders continue to be the last line of defense when the federal government betrays its commitments to the public.
States and their pro-democracy allies accomplished a lot in 2025, but there is more to be done in 2026. States United will continue to work right alongside them.
Here are some reflections we’re carrying into the new year.
Protecting the rule of law and vital state funding
Democracy works best when the federal government and state governments work together to provide for the health, well-being, and safety of Americans. But in 2025, the Trump administration continually broke promises and pulled the rug out from under state officials, exposing their residents to great uncertainty and harm.
The avalanche of destructive federal actions began on Jan. 20 and never let up. By the end of January, the Office of Management and Budget had already attempted to freeze the flow of trillions of dollars in congressionally approved funds for state services that millions of Americans rely on.
A coalition of more than 20 state attorneys general quickly came together to sue—forming a nimble, multistate network of AGs who kept the momentum going all year.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, who co-led the funding lawsuit, made the stakes clear: “States everywhere receive billions in federal grants that support public safety, education, transportation, the environment, and more. If this funding pause is allowed, its devastating impact will be widespread and dangerous, as these programs touch many Americans in one way or another, whether they realize it or not.”
States got much of their funds released, and federal courts condemned the administration’s slash-and-burn approach to governing: “One cannot set one’s house on fire and then complain that the firefighters smashed all the windows and put a hole in the roof trying to put it out,” wrote a district court judge, ruling against the administration’s funding freeze in March.
@AZAGMayes / X
In 2025, state leaders brought more than 65 cases against the administration, accruing pivotal wins along the way, including injunctions and other rulings that favored the states and slowed the administration’s attacks on the rule of law. But the work didn’t only happen in court.
Leaders like Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul held town halls around the country to hear directly from constituents about the impacts of the administration’s actions on their daily lives. Leaders like Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield kept residents informed about court victories and the dollars saved from fighting for their states. This is the kind of leadership that breaks through to the American people and helps them understand what is going on and who is fighting for them.
As states navigated this challenging year, we worked nimbly and quickly to provide legal analysis, research, and communications resources on a host of breaking issues that impacted states—including funding freezes, federal workforce cuts, and tariffs.
Defending the integrity of the military and state authority over local law enforcement
Throughout 2025, there has been backlash to the administration’s attempts to send National Guard troops into U.S. cities. The un-American prospect of a U.S. president directing soldiers to go after “the enemy within”—within our own communities and neighborhoods—was unpopular, unsustainable, and unconstitutional.
When President Trump called for deployments against the wishes of state and local leaders, without demonstrating any real need for such actions, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said Trump’s plan “is unnecessary, unlawful, and makes Oregonians less safe.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, “Donald Trump’s effort to deploy troops in American cities is not normal.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a “brazen abuse of power.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said, “They’ll have to go through me.” And Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said: “I don’t think our Guard should be used against our own people. I don’t think the military should be used against our own people. In fact, it’s unconstitutional.”
As local leaders challenged the deployments in court, States United partnered with Vet Voice Foundation and senior retired military leaders to submit amicus briefs in California, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. Elevating the perspectives of veterans helped contextualize what was happening in cities across the country, as they warned that politicized deployments risked harming the nonpartisan reputation of the military and the morale of servicemembers. The National Guard’s mission and training is not to police fellow citizens.
In October, States United CEO Joanna Lydgate spoke with Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, about these perspectives. In December, as a federal district court ruled on the deployment of troops in D.C., we held a press conference with Protect Democracy about the consequences of continued deployments.
Americans think the president should not be able to federalize the National Guard against a governor’s consent, States United polling shows, and multiple courts have agreed.
“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” a district court judge wrote in October, blocking federalization and deployment in Oregon. The administration is “effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops,” another federal judge wrote in December, ordering an end to the deployment in California.
As States United continues to track National Guard deployment litigation, our research into Americans’ attitudes on deployments makes it clear that in taking National Guard troops away from their homes and missions, the administration is on the wrong side of history.
Advancing free, fair, and secure elections
On the elections front, state and local officials are facing an increasingly adversarial administration.
Starting in March, the Trump administration canceled election cybersecurity initiatives, issued a coercive and illegal executive order, then made increasingly threatening demands over the summer and fall to obtain protected state voter data. The Department of Justice is now suing more than 15 states for this information to cross-check registrations against the error-ridden SAVE database, which is notorious for leading to U.S. citizens being removed from voter rolls.
The response from states has been swift, unified, and effective. Nineteen state AGs and other allies sued to stop Trump’s executive order; former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson warned of the order’s “unintended consequences” and said to “let states take the lead on voter verification”; and secretaries of state in Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Vermont, and Colorado were among the many election officials who spoke out on the executive order. In June, a federal judge ruled that “the President has no constitutional duty to prescribe the content of election regulations” and called his order “undue interference.” In September, as the administration’s demands for voter data escalated, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar joined States United in a press conference calling out the unprecedented power grab and how it threatens voters’ sensitive information and ballot access.
And then November saw another free, fair, and secure Election Day in America—thanks to the hard work of election officials and local and state leaders.
States United backed up election officials throughout this turbulent year by providing legal, research, and communications support, filing two amicus briefs defending the Voting Rights Act before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of former Republican governors, tracking the evolving schemes of election deniers, and publishing research about voting by mail, voter turnout trends, voter confidence in elections, and women’s sense of safety at the polls.
It’s clear from our work that Americans don’t want Trump meddling in elections. As we look ahead to 2026, we must be cleared eyed about what we are facing.
Putting public safety front and center
In a year when roving masked federal agents raided communities for mass deportations and the administration usurped authority over state National Guards, local public safety personnel had a lot to navigate. Disrupted chains of command, a barrage of novel legal questions, and a lack of coordination and transparency from federal agencies put unprecedented pressure on police departments who have worked hard to strengthen trust and legitimacy in their communities.
States United was proud to work with 21st Century Policing Solutions to convene a series of regional conferences that brought over 50 law enforcement leaders together to share best practices and resilient responses in charged times. This fall, our team presented at the world’s largest law enforcement convening, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, to invite inquiry and discussion about how to stay the course and remain accountable to communities in the face of uncertainty, drawing on the lessons learned from our regional convenings.
This all comes at a time when public safety and political violence are top of mind for Americans. Our research in 2025 found that Americans trust local law enforcement more than the National Guard to address crime in their communities, that Americans want law enforcement training and practices to remain nonpartisan, and that Americans are concerned about political violence. In October, States United CEO Joanna Lydgate co-authored a Newsweek op-ed with Utah First Lady Abby Cox about moving forward as a nation in the wake of devastating political violence. It has never been more important for our state and local law enforcement agencies to be learning from one another and absorbing best practice for how to protect and serve their communities.
Pushing back against political prosecutions
In 2025, Trump made good on his campaign promise to seek retribution against his political opponents. We saw him use the immense power of the federal government to threaten states and investigate his perceived enemies.
While the president has pardoned many of his allies and supporters—including those involved in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol—he has directed federal law enforcement officials to probe state officials and others with whom he has disagreed, like former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
States United polling shows that Americans vehemently disagree with the idea of the president using the Justice Department to go after his political opponents. In the fall, we gathered an ideologically diverse group of democracy scholars and experts to file amicus briefs to support motions to dismiss the criminal charges against Comey and James. These filings warned how politically motivated prosecutions have been used to target perceived opponents in autocracies or backsliding democracies in other nations.
An independent Justice Department is essential to ensuring that the law is enforced without fear or favor—and is not used to silence those who speak out against the administration or reward those who are loyal.
Understanding Americans’ views on democracy—and why leadership from state and local officials matters
Our research in 2025 revealed that the coalition of Americans who support the rule of law is large and politically diverse.
Majorities of Americans believe the president should obey court orders. They believe he should not send the Department of Justice after his political opponents, or withhold funds approved by Congress. They believe it is more important for all legal votes to be counted than it is for their preferred candidate to win.
Americans also don’t believe that press coverage critical of the president is illegal; they don’t believe judges should be impeached for disagreeing with the administration; and they prefer policies to change through legislation—not unilateral executive orders. They believe in the separation of powers.
These findings tell an important and heartening story for the future of democracy. Americans don’t need to be persuaded to support the rule of law and our democratic norms. They already do. Often, they just want to be reminded of what’s normal and what’s not, and who is doing what to address their concerns.
At a time when trust in government and federal leadership is low, state and local leaders are in a unique position to connect with people as credible messengers on how our democracy functions.
What lies ahead
In 2026, there will be major Supreme Court decisions, likely a continued flurry of federal overreach, critical midterm elections from coast to coast—and at every step of the way, there will be pro-democracy state and local leaders working to deliver for the people in their states.
The story of 2025 is how the states came together to fight back and protect our democracy—and States United is proud to play a role in spreading that message and supporting this work.
