I had thought that shortly before, or on January 20, 2025—inauguration day, or within a short time thereafter, Democratic Party affiliated [i] progressive academics, [ii] think tanks, [iii] litigation shops, [iv] state attorneys general, and [v] other office holders . . . would bring lawsuits against Trump based on the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Presidential (Domestic) Emoluments Clause.
It has been two weeks since Trump-47’s inauguration, and, as far as I know, not one such lawsuit has been filed.
I am
surprised.
Moreover, I do not know why the President’s many well-resourced opponents have not gone down this path. After all, during Trump-45 they covered themselves with self-praise which a fawning media regularly regurgitated—even when they had very little substantive to show.
I could speculate on why we see the current inaction. And maybe one day, I will return to that issue and to speculate.
But right now, I think the bigger story is that the national press is not pressing these groups (i.e., the parties which had brought the Emoluments Clauses cases during Trump-45) for any rationale explaining their current inaction. And that tells you something about where our media is.
Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘I was promised a left-wing litigation Gotterdamerung ... and all I got was this lousy shirt,’ New Reform Club (Feb. 3, 2025, 2:44 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2025/02/i-was-promised-left-wing-litigation.html>;
