These local leaders won’t go quietly
As President Donald Trump pushes the limits of executive power — from threatening programs for low-income students to wielding tariffs like political cudgels — some Democratic state officials are pushing back. Hard. Here are three striking examples of that resistance just this week:
Maine’s governor refuses to flinch
Gov. Janet Mills has never been one to back down from a fight — especially not with Trump. When he called her a “dictator” during a 2020 visit to Maine, she replied: “I have spent the better part of my career listening to loud men talk tough to disguise their weakness. That’s what I heard today.”
Flash forward to 2025, and Trump is once again targeting her state, this time over transgender student-athletes. Proposed administration cuts threaten state school lunch programs, and the Social Security Administration even briefly suspended a contract that helps new parents sign up their babies for Social Security numbers.
Mills’ response? Total moral clarity:
“This isn’t just about who can compete on the athletic field,” she said in a statement. “It’s about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law. I believe he cannot.”
That kind of clear-eyed courage, especially when kids’ basic needs are on the line, matters more than ever.
California takes Trump to court
If California were its own country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world. That also means it has a lot to lose if Trump’s tariffs tank the economy. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta isn’t taking any chances.
Bonta has filed suit, arguing that Trump is abusing the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to bypass Congress and impose tariffs unilaterally. Tariff authority belongs to Congress, not the Oval Office. But with Republican lawmakers largely staying silent, Bonta is stepping up.
As he put it, you can’t invent “bogus national emergencies” to grab power.
Washington state schools double down on diversity
Trump’s threat to cut off federal education funding to states that won’t eliminate diversity programs isn’t going over well in Washington state.
In a letter to the administration, state Superintendent Chris Reykdal emphasized diversity and inclusion are “core values” in Washington schools, and said he would not capitulate.
Even though his schools rely on Title I funding for low-income students, Reykdal made it clear: The rights of kids come first.
Around a dozen states have so far refused to go along with Trump’s directive to gut DEI programs in public schools.
These are just three stories, but they signal something bigger.
And while Trump may be trying to centralize power in Washington, he’s running headfirst into a patchwork of governors, attorneys general and state officials who are just as determined to defend their communities as he is to punish them.
This week, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said something out loud that many of her Republican colleagues are likely too afraid to admit: We are all afraid. … And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And that’s not right. But that’s what you’ve asked me to do and so I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability.
I was genuinely surprised to hear the senator acknowledge this dynamic on camera. Murkowski has broken with Trump before: She opposed his deep cuts to the federal workforce, and she criticized him for distancing America from the war in Ukraine. She knows what it means to be targeted by Trump and survive, having beaten a Trump-backed challenger in 2022. She’s not up for re-election until 2028, which does give her a bit of political breathing room. But that doesn’t make her words any less significant. She declared publicly what so many Republicans are whispering behind closed doors: Retaliation is real. And the fear of speaking out is paralyzing. Her comments reminded me of something I read in Garry Kasparov’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “How America Can Avoid Becoming Russia.” For those in Washington, it’s not an option to pick your battles, he notes, because “when fighting for democracy, you never know if there will be another day.” Kasparov also argues that all Americans should back the small number of Republicans willing to stand up to Trump and “promise to support them against Musk’s threats to fund primary challenges if they defy him — and to raise millions against them if they don’t.” I don’t know if that’s something many Democrats will end up doing. But we all need to remember that democracy can’t be taken for granted. And right now, the fight for it has to be loud, unapologetic — and yes, even a little uncomfortable. Meet Nathan Sage, the first Democrat to jump into Iowa’s 2026 U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Joni Ernst. A Marine and Army veteran, mechanic and small-town sports announcer, Sage isn’t your typical political hopeful — and that’s exactly the point. In his launch video, Sage talks about growing up poor, watching places across Iowa get “abandoned,” and fighting for a Democratic Party that “people like me will actually want to be a part of.” Now the executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Sage is channeling frustration with a “rigged” economy and talking directly to to working-class voters who feel left behind — by both parties. Iowa is a long shot for Democrats. But we are in unprecedented times. Veterans are worried about losing their jobs and their benefits. Tariffs could hurt Iowa soybean farmers. Republicans with power aren’t speaking out against Trump. And Sage is the right person to tell that story.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden. Recommended
A story you should be following: Sen. Murkowski gets honest about retaliation
Someone you should know: Iowa U.S. Senate candidate Nathan Sage
