State attorneys general and governors must continue to resist any domestic military deployment not backed by judicial approval or bipartisan congressional oversight.
Preserve Press Access
At the Pentagon and White House, credential revocations and new access rules are already limiting visibility⁸. The ACLU and press coalitions are in court to challenge retaliatory restrictions. If those cases succeed, investigative accountability remains viable. If they fail, secrecy deepens — and with it, impunity.
Sustain Nonviolent Mass Mobilization
The October 18 protests were massive¹. But they must continue — and grow. Research shows that movements with sustained, broad‑based participation apply pressure not just to elected officials, but to courts, donors, bureaucrats, and the media². Movements delay, and sometimes reverse, consolidation.
“You don’t defeat authoritarianism by calling it out,” said movement strategist Heather Booth. “You defeat it by making it ungovernable.”¹³
Together, these measures define the battle lines of 2025.
The next 90 days are the hinge. If the Supreme Court limits the White House’s reach, and if Schedule F lawsuits succeed, then democracy may yet stagger through the fire and into 2026 with enough structure intact to recover. But if the Court sides with the administration, and agencies begin mass firings under Schedule F, the presidency will hold the tools to remake enforcement, oversight, and the civil service in its own image.
By then, elections alone won’t be enough. And so the streets remain.
In Portland, a boy held a handmade sign: “If no one is above the law, prove it.”
Nearby, a woman sat on a milk crate, playing a cello through a cheap amplifier. Her notes cracked in the wind. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. A man passed by, still wearing a frog hat, and shook his head.
The sound drifted between buildings and faded into the drizzle. From city to city, that same music — defiant, imperfect, human — carried across streets still wet from the night before. The protests had ended, but the echo had not.
No Kings, the sign said. Seven million marched. Four point nine remain.
The sky above was empty. No jets. No crown.
— October 20, 2025
Bibliography
1. Axios Chicago. “No Kings” Day of Action Coverage (Oct. 18, 2025). Reports over seven million participants across 2,600 U.S. locations and describes Trump’s AI‑generated fighter‑jet video depicting him wearing a crown and dumping excrement on protesters.
2. Chenoweth, Erica. “The 3.5% Rule.” TEDx Harvard (2019). Explains that nonviolent resistance movements mobilizing ≥ 3.5 percent of a population have historically never failed.
3. White House. Executive Order 14215: “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” (Feb. 18, 2025). Subjects independent commissions (FTC, SEC, Fed, etc.) to White House OIRA review.
4. White House & OPM. “Restoring Accountability to Policy‑Influencing Positions” (Jan. 20, 2025). Reinstates Schedule F authority under new title “Schedule Policy/Career.”
5. ProPublica. “The Shadow President.” Oct. 17, 2025. Profiles OMB Director Russ Vought and his role implementing Project 2025 and agency purges.
6. Supreme Court of the United States. Trump v. Slaughter (Docket No. 25‑108, Dec. 8, 2025). Case testing the constitutionality of firing independent commissioners at will.
7. AFGE v. OPM. Federal District Court (D.C., May 2025). Temporary restraining order blocking mass civil‑service firings under Schedule F.
8. ACLU v. Department of Defense. District Court (Feb.–Oct. 2025). Challenges press credential revocations and retaliatory restrictions on coverage.