presidency. grant was a famous civil war general who won the white house in 1868. his campaign slogan was, let us have peace. issues during grant's first 100 days included reconstruction, the payment of civil war debt, voting rights, and the fight against the k.k.k. watch american history tv's series "first 100 days." saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span2. announcer: c-span shop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our latest collection of c-span products, apparel, books, home decor and accessories. there's something for every c-span fan. and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. shop now or any time at c-spanshop.org.

>> democracy is always an unfinished creation. >> democracy is worth dying for. >> democracy belongs to us all. >> we are here in the sanctuary of democracy. >> great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. >> american democracy is bigger than any one person. >> freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected. >> we are still at our core a democracy. >> this is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom. continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by skye perryman, president and ceo of democracy forward, here to chat with us about legal efforts to challenge the trump administration's agenda. welcome to "washington journal." guest: thank you for having me. host: talk about what your group

does, when you were founded, and how you are funded. guest: democracy forward is a legal organization that believes the promise of democracy is open to everyone but that the courts have an important frontline role to play in protecting people's rights and communities across the country. our organization was founded in the wake of the 2016 election. in early 2017, when we started seeing the trump-pence administration at the time take a number of actions that were deeply harmful to people in communities. there were obviously things like the muslim ban which captured headline attention and there were many legal challenges in an attempt to stop the destructive policy. but under the radar, the administration was doing a range of things at federal agencies that were undermining people and communities.

in some instances, our democracy at the whole like when they set up the suppression commission that sought to collect data on individual voters across the country. our organization was started to add legal capacity to ensure people's rights were protected at the federal level. after january 6, 2021, we began expanding our efforts to counter far-right extremism in state and local communities. now with the federal landscape changing and with the way we are seeing the trump administration operating, seeking to accelerate project 2025 and other harmful policies for people and communities across the country, we are also focused on ensuring people's rights are protected through our legal actions. host: how are you funded? guest: we are funded by individuals in communities across the country. there is a way that you can donate on our website.

we also are grateful for philanthropic support. that is going to be grants from foundations in communities as well. host: what is your overall legal strategy when it comes to reacting to the trump administration's actions? how do you choose which cases you are going to pursue? guest: we know the trump administration's playbook. there have been a few surprises which we will talk about including his installation of elon musk and doge across the federal government seeking to undermine the way our government functions for people. we know the playbook. we saw it in the first administration. we saw it in project 2025. our strategy is to counter that playbook. we want to make sure if this administration does things that harm people and communities in those things are unlawful that there are swift legal challenges brought. you saw us immediately be able

to get into court when the administration froze essential services across the country with the spending and funding freeze, in a matter of hours getting a court order to ensure people's services were not disrupted. it is sort of meeting the shock and awe approach of the administration with swift legal challenges that ensure people and communities have their rights protected. host: you mentioned elon musk and doge. what are the legal concerns you have about this arrangement and the actions the group has taken so far? guest: there are a host of legal concerns and there are a host of human concerns. i have concerns about both of them. you asked about the legal concerns. i will start by saying doge has been operating in a nontransparent manner. we have a lawsuit filed to try

to force transparency requirements that federal law requires the american people get to know about their government and who is influencing and advising the president. we believe they have violated a range of those transparency and accountability protections. even beyond that now, this institution or these actors, elon musk and others, are violating things like the privacy act that protects the privacy of individuals across the country that prohibits the government from invading that privacy, that personal information. they are operating in a way that violates our federal protections against arbitrary and capricious government seeking to go in and even brag about how they are going into brake shop across the federal government paired we have a host of concerns but we are having the courts are beginning to check this behavior , especially with the court

order the attorneys general were able to secure yesterday with respect to treasury data. host: you had a meeting with senate minority leader chuck schumer recently. he posted on x about the legal work you all are doing to protect the american people. what was the nature of this meeting? will you be working directly with democrats on your legal challenges moving forward? quickly are a nonpartisan organization. we invite anyone in this country -- guest: we are a nonpartisan organization. we invite anyone into our work because this is a moment that is not about one political party. it is not about one political perspective. it is about the country. it is about our people and communities across the country. it is about the future this nation will have. we make ourselves available to

brief lawmakers when asked on the legal challenges, the concerns we are seeing, what we are hearing from people and communities, and we will continue to do that at the federal and state level. host: recently, president trump gave his assessment of elon musk's actions and also accountability for them. let's listen to a bit of that and i will get your response. [video clip] >> they are finding tremendous waste. really waste more than anything else i think you could say. probably fraud and abuse could be added to it. waste, fraud, and abuse. they are finding tremendous amounts of really bad things. bad spending. you have been reading and writing about some of it frankly and some of the things they have been doing is just terrible. elon cannot and will not do anything without our approval. we will give him the approval where appropriate.

where not appropriate, we will not. he reports in, and it is something he feels very strongly about. i am impressed because he is running a big company. has nothing to do, if there is a conflict, we will not let him get near it. he has a good instinct. he has a team of talented people. we are trying to shrink government and he can probably shrink it as well as anybody else. host: your response? guest: there is nothing about efficiency happening right now. going into agencies and taking individual personal information about the american people, your personal financial information, health care information, wage information, that is not a fast track to government efficiency. dismantling services across the country. red and blue communities, big cities and rural areas. that is not efficiency.

this is an effort, we are seeing unprecedented effort in this country to have unelected and unaccountable billionaire and individuals seeking to infiltrate the united states government and do things that are harmful to all of us regardless of your political persuasions. i will say efficiency in government is incredibly important. we need our government to do better. but what we know and what data shows is the quickest way, the fast track to a more corrupt government that does not run on time or work for the people is a government like what you are seeing now where loyalty is the calling card of the day, where civil servants are being attacked, people who have served and engage in public service for this country under democratic

administrations, republican administrations, they are being attacked. and where there is an effort to install loyalists in our federal government as opposed to those who work for the people. this is a smokescreen for what appears to be a very corrosive and harmful private agenda and there is not anyway we will accomplish a greater and more effective government that works for the people this way. host: there have been a variety of many actions taken by the trump administration so far that have resulted in legal challenges. some have been successful, some are still in progress. i want to talk about one of them. the administration argued for a temporary pause in funding while it examines spending practices. this was a statement from the former acting director of the office of management and budget. i should say we have now a current acting omb director who was confirmed thursday night. back in januab was saying,

in the interim, to the extent permissible, f agencies must trily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all feral financial assistance and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive o this will provid administration time to review agency programs and deter the best uses of funding for those programs consistent with the law and the president's priorities. this created a lot of backlash. what is your take on the legality of this approach? guest: it is unlawful. we were able to get a court to pause this within 24 hours of the memo. it was callous disregard for the american people. this approach did not do anything to enhance efficiency or create review times or contemplation about federal

spending or our federal government. it shut off things like head start, meals on wheels, resources rural areas rely on, the urban areas rely on, that red and blue states rely on. it was a national crisis. we were pleased to go into court with our client, the national council of nonprofits, which has a membership that is highly diverse. this was the national council of nonprofits, the american public health association that was seeing in real-time the harms to health care. there were reports about medicaid portals being closed. the main street alliance, which is small businesses across the country. and a civil rights advocacy organization. the federal court was able to pause the administration's arbitrary activities and extended that clause last week.

there will be more briefing. this is an example of arbitrary behavior by this administration that is not only troubling from a legal perspective, it is troubling from a human perspective because this is not serving anyone. you saw the white house come out scrambling after the court ruled. members of congress were having to mobilize because their communities were not getting what they needed. i think the courts provided an important check. i think this is a preview of how this administration is going to operate. what we are seeing is they are not operating in a way that is making people's lives better in the day to day but operating in a chaotic way causing uncertainty and harm to people preyed some are still not getting funding because you cannot just turn on and off

switches like the government sought to do. i think this was a real troubling activity the trump administration relied on. i was pleased we were able to help communities across the country get relief. host: i should also mention the trumpet administration later rescinded the memo. you mentioned some of the issues are ongoing. let's go to our callers. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. let's start with martin on the line for republicans. caller: good morning, folks. could our president takes the 80,000 agents and audit the federal government? there is a lot of entitlement programs that have rules and

regulations such as also with social cure diction -- social security with people who are dead and not following rules for getting money. is there any way our president could use those agents to help us review all of the programs? guest: the concern is we are seeing the president is saying they want to undermine civil servants across the government, people who do not work for any particular political ideology or any particular party, but those that swear an oath to the constitution. we are really concerned about what we are seeing with how the president is seeking to purge the civil service. we have a range of resources available for civil servants or those concerned about this. i do think there is important

work for everyone in federal government service. the president, congress, others, to evaluate the way our government is operating. but we are not seeing that type of evaluation happening. we are seeing a shock and awe approach against the american people and essential services that are really important as well as an effort to seek to hollow out and undermine civil servants across the country in positions from the irs but also any other agencies. that is what we have been focused on at democracy forward. host: we have a question receivedia text message. does democracy forward plan on challenging the trump administration for halting sexual assault training in the military due to trump's executive order when he throughout dei? guest: we have already policy challenging two executive orders that seek to target

accessibility but also seek to target people for using and expressing their first amendment rights. that case is pending in federal court in baltimore right now on behalf of a really diverse coalition, the american association of university professors, the national association of professionals in higher education, restaurant workers in america, and the city of baltimore. we already have that court challenge moving. the promise i will make to those asking, will we challenge, what is the challenge going to become of the promise i make to you is that if this administration and when this administration takes actions undermining the rights of people in this country, we will do everything in our power to ensure there are swift legal responses in court. we are building support with communities across the country in order to do that. host: donald is in south bend, indiana, on the line for democrats. good morning.

caller: i have no problem with government finding agencies and everything. i have no problem with that. that is what i think they should do. but i think congress should do this. i do not think someone like elon musk has contracts with the government should be messing around with my personal data in treasury. that scares me. one more thing. i know this may sound kind of kooky, but this is what i am scared about elon musk. he is doing something. when trump's term ends, he is doing something to hold the country hostage so trump could get a third term or something like that. i do not trust elon musk. hey, congress, your abdicating

your role to this man. get some backbone and get him out, and do your job. thank you. host: ms. perryman, any response? guest: americans across the country are concerned about elon musk, their privacy, and their communities. we are in court what is an unlawful and harmful regime to install an unelected person and have them go through and take information that is the american people's. we have a number of lawsuits pending against this very thing. the lawyers are working night and day to ensure this very corrupt regime will be held accountable. host: james is in mississippi on the line for independents. caller: good morning. how you doing?

host: good, thanks. caller: i have a problem with elon musk and president trump because i remember when they was talking about the rich persons with the democratic party, a billionaire. every day, they talked about how he was connected with the democratic party. now elon musk gave up $200 million-something to vote for president trump. you have two or three other billionaires joining his team. you have the supreme court judges who did what they did. like i said, i believe he won but he only won because i'm the women's vote -- because of the women's vote. could you speak more about the power of the women's vote and

why you think women supported president trump? host: james, i should say skye is joining us to chat about the legal challenges. if you want to talk about women voters, you can. james also mentioned the supreme court. i am hoping you can also talk about the role of the supreme court in all of this. guest: we know the courts are a frontline right now. they are the place people and communities have to resort to, unfortunately. it is sad we have a situation in the country now where we have a president that said he was not going to implement project 2025, he said that by the way to voters across the country, including women voters the caller referenced. within days has accelerated this deeply problematic project. we know conservatives, liberals, and independents all disapprove of project 2025, which is why he

ran from it on the campaign trail. he has now installed the key architects in the federal government and is seeking to undermine people. many of those policies are unlawful. they are being challenged in the courts right now. eventually, some of those challenges will likely go to the supreme court. this is a supreme court that has had to reject the president's extremism before when he was seeking to overturn an election and on a range of other things. what we will do every day is continue to advocate for people and communities and our constitution in court's, in whatever courts we need to, including at the supreme court. host: another comment or question. while she has much to say about her beof nefarious motives, she is not yet discussewastand fraud already unc. additionally, tal about musk and his team as unelected

yet virtually all department positions within the government are appointed and ected. federal is different from state and local governments. guest: i will just say there are a lot of folks throughout the federal government that are unelected. what we have not had in this country is a president who has installed someone like elon musk who has had no appointments printer is a role for we the people. this administration is seeking to set out communities across the government from their government and seeking to bully federal employees. you want to talk about unelected, federal employees who work and live in all 50 states and the district of columbia, across the country, who do not work for any political party or ideology but who swear an oath to our constitution.

polling shows over 90% of americans want their government to work and be where people in the government are promoted based on merit, not political loyalty. what you have seen in the first 20 days of this administration is an acceleration of a corrupt system seeking to only place people loyal to a particular person or ideology within the federal government and not loyal to the american people. i do not think the american people expected elon musk would be holding their personal information and seeking to export terabytes of data on individual americans for his own purposes. i do not believe that is the way we accomplish efficient government in this country. we know the best majority of americans ree with that. host: cindy in florida asks if yo organization is nonpartisan why she is preaching the

democrats'rhetoric. are there any lawsuits against non-democrats? guest: we want to make sure people in communities are protected across the country. we had litigation pending against the prior administration. we have litigation pending against this administration. we will have more litigation pending against this administration because they operate in a way undermining the people. we are motivated by what we the people in this country need, the rights we have, and seeking to hold government accountable in the courts. host: john is in missouri on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: hi, ms. perryman. it is interesting you point these situations out. since covid shut down our way of

life, it has not fully recovered from that. there has been a lot of spending on the same level. it upsets me your enthusiasm for our countrymen suffering in north carolina, tennessee, and california, i would propose and a minimum 10% of all of your legal fees should be going directly to a community and 10% of all campaign money spent should be directed directly to the local community you supposedly are representing. would to see you do more of american relief. guest: thank you for calling in. at democracy forward, we represent all of our clients pro bono and free of charge. we are not charging fees for our work. i will tell you i completely support obviously and so many

support the importance of ensuring local communities have the resources they need which is one of the reasons why we have had to swiftly react and go to court when this administration sought to shut down essential community services across the country. host: lou is in new york on the line for democrats. caller: thank you for taking my call. as a lawyer, i greatly appreciate what is trying to be done through litigation but i have to say i am pessimistic. this is a huge overreach of executive power. there may be some federal district courts and courts of appeal that are going to see it that way. ultimately, this will wind up at the supreme court printer recent history of the supreme court has been to allow the ever expanding executive power to take over all aspects of government.

i'm extremely pessimistic. i realize litigation will slow the administration down to some extent. but by the time we get to the supreme court, my great fear is this will all be for naught. what are your thoughts? i will take your response off-line. guest: thank you. we do not believe there is one silver bullet to get out of the situation the country is thrust into, a situation deeply harmful to people and communities. litigation is an important role. without litigation, communities would still be going without programs like head start and meals on wheels and essential services. without litigation, musk and doge would still be rifling through data at the treasury department on individual americans. litigation is going to be really important in the immediate term. your concern about the broader place this goes highlights what

we have sought to emphasize a lot which is litigation is one part of the work we need to do to protect our rights and the future of our country. but congress is going to also have to step in and check this runaway executive power. it is going to be incredibly important in the coming months and years that both branches of government check the executive branch if the executive branch and the president continues to operate the way they are operating. i take your call and point. me, this is more reason why the american people need to be demanding more from our lawmakers and also looking to the courts to do what they can do and what we can do in the courts in this time. i do think some of the credibly extreme policies we are having to challenge in court right now will get a reception at the

supreme court that will lead to permanent relief. i understand that landscape is difficult in many instances and it is going to take all branches of government. host: larry is in utah on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning, america. i want to commend all callers and the tone of the program this morning, first off. it is good to hear and feel. i have a comment and a question. my comment is that the right believes trump is a savior and he will fix everything. the left are sure he is the devil and will ruin it. i would suggest maybe neither is the case and for us to think one or two men can destroy the country or dismantle democracy

by doing a job, it does not seem like you have much faith in the power of this democracy. we are way more powerful and will outlast one man and one presidency. we will do alright. just relax, everybody. host: what was your question, larry? caller: the question. if not this way, how is it done? if there is waste, fraud, and abuse, how do we find it? do you just keep going like we are going? i would suggest that is unsustainable to continue on this trajectory. we are going to be all right. host: let's let ms. perryman respond. if not for the strategy elon musk is doing, how do you think they should be going after waste, fraud, and abuse? guest: people like the inspector

general who have massive staffs installed in large agencies across the federal government to do exactly this, to evaluate and ensure there is not waste, fraud, and abuse, and improper conduct. what this president did in the first days of his administration was fire them. we know the american people want a government that works for them and works better. what we are seeing is an effort to install corrupt loyalists within the administration that have no obligation to the american people and are not looking at where corruption is, they are going in for their own personal purposes, taking data and acting in a very arbitrary manner. my message to the administration is if you are concerned about efficient government, you need to operate in a way that is not

undermining people like the inspectors general whose entire job is to find waste, fraud, and abuse, and help root it out. an important thing to emphasize is the united states moved away from a system based more on political loyal in the 1800's because the government was not operating transparently and not delivering for everyday americans. that led to our nation's civil service. these are men and women who swear in 02 the constitution and not a particular political ideology -- swear an oath to the constitution and not a political ideology. it is concerning they are seeking to remove the check on corruption and installing its own loyalists who are not interested in keeping corruption

at bay. we will see how this plays out. i think communities are feeling the pain already from these decisions. our job as lawyers is to make sure as they continued to violate the law and harm people that the courts are there and can stop some of this. host: janet in oregon is on the line for democrats. caller: hi. i am wondering, the doge created, twofold question. host: quickly. we are just about out of time. caller: has it been legally created? we have heard congress should create any agency. second question, is the government moving too quickly? how is that impacting federal employees as well as citizens with things like medicare, medicaid, and those types of issues? host: was doge legally created and how is it impacting federal workers? guest: we are in court in a

range of lawsuits because of all of the unlawful behaviors and activities of doge. our view is it is not operating lawfully in the courts will eventually have to step in to stop what it is doing. i think what is happening to public servants in this country is generationally concerning. this administration is threatening federal employees and our nation who have done nothing other than work for the american people in jobs, not just jobs in washington but jobs in all 50 states and the district of columbia, doing things like keeping our food safe, evaluating and making sure our water and air are safe, keeping public safety safe and our communities safe. this is the work federal employees do every single day. we are having to be in court on behalf of organizations like the american public health association because they are

rooting out the very people who keep us safe and healthy and ensure our food is labeled correctly, etc. i think this is devastating. at democracy forward, we have helped mobilize to help civil servants and the american people who are concerned about what is happening with their government through our initiative, civil-service strong. it is a place you can go to to learn more about how you can help public servants and what we are doing to stop this administration targeting the people who have helped make our government deliver for people. i encourage you to go and learn more about how we can support our fellow americans in this time, but how we can support the americans that have served the american people. what this administration is

doing is nothing short of devastating. we are in court on over five cases right now to try to stop much of this behavior you see the administration seeking to continue unabated. host: thank you sky >> listening to programs on c-span on c-span radio. tell your smartspeaker play c-span and watch "washington journal," important public affairs and events and weak days listen to c-span any time. c-span, created by cable. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more. including wow!