It’s Time for the States to Start Investigating Trump
Democratic-led state governments can hold the aspiring autocrat’s feet to the fire.
CAN ANYTHING STOP the Trump administration from breaking the institutions of our federal government? ‘No’ seems to be the answer. Donald Trump holds all the cards, we are told, and all of his cards appear to be Trump cards. And wherever we look, the other branches of government are rolling over to make way for this president.
There is, however, a major force in American politics, untested so far in this administration, with the power and authority to hold our reckless commander in chief accountable.
States have the right—and the obligation—to investigate the Trump administration. And they don’t have to stop there. They can propose constitutional amendments, federal legislation, and state legislation. All this and more they ought to do because Trump’s second term is spiraling out of control. Scandals threaten American health and democracy on practically a daily basis: Trump canceling vital cancer and vaccine research, promoting bogus claims that Tylenol causes autism, engaging in blatant cronyism and corruption, and weaponizing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to indict a former FBI director as political retaliation.
Democrats at the national level face mounting pressure to act but lack the formal power needed to take action. Republicans control both chambers of Congress and remain completely subservient to the president. Prosecutors are being purged from the Department of Justice while Trump looks forward to three more years of appointing judges to federal courts.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has become a rubber stamp for Trump’s lawless regime. Six Republican-nominated justices dominate the Court, three owing their seats to Trump, plus at least one who is arguably corrupt. Whether from fear, corruption, partisanship, or genuine belief, they’ve used shadow docket rulings and emergency opinions to enable Trump’s rampage.
And so it falls upon the states to lead the resistance. Over twenty states have Democratic governors, and in over ten states the governor is a Democrat and Democrats also control the legislature.
State investigations offer powerful tools for accountability. Our constitutional system allows states broad investigative authority to surface facts, compel testimony, and recommend constitutional amendments and legislation. Crucially, these investigations can perhaps provide evidence for state criminal prosecutions that Trump cannot pardon because presidential pardons only cover federal crimes. Even if Trump were to pardon all his cronies for federal offenses, they may remain vulnerable to state prosecution.
State investigative commissions are well-established constitutional tools. State governments have long created commissions to examine critical national and constitutional issues.
Utah’s Commission on Federalism (2013) investigated the proper balance between federal and state power, with authority to recommend constitutional amendments and legal challenges to restore “functional federalism.” Massachusetts’s Citizens Commission on Campaign Finance Reform (2018) investigated money in politics and proposed a constitutional amendment affirming that corporations lack inalienable rights and that campaign spending can be regulated. California’s Reparations Task Force (2020–23) developed comprehensive recommendations for federal reparations action for African Americans.
These commissions demonstrate states’ authority to investigate federal issues, propose constitutional amendments, and recommend national policy changes. They exemplify what’s needed now to counter Trump’s abuses.
State commission powers do vary, but in some states properly constituted bodies can take sworn testimony, issue subpoenas, and compile factual records of Trump’s corruption. They can also produce reports that guide future investigations, constitutional amendments, legislation, and criminal prosecutions.
Multiple commissions across multiple states, investigating Trump scandals, would generate sustained headlines, reset the political agenda, and put pressure on Trump’s allies. In addition, parallel investigations from different states would make it much harder for Trump and his allies to retaliate; there is safety in numbers.
Democrats must mirror GOP tactics. Republicans currently run a House committee investigating former President Joe Biden’s “Mental Decline Cover-Up.” Notice how their framing assumes guilt from the start. Democrats should adopt identical framing approaches for Trump investigations.
The goal is relentless pressure through coordinated state action since Democrats at the federal level currently have no powers of investigation.
With that in mind, here are some ideas for potential state investigation commissions. For each of these investigations, the basic framework for the output of the commission would be the same. Each should involve:
hearings, public testimony, and a report documenting the abuse and/or challenges;
recommendations for constitutional amendments, or federal and/or state legislation to ameliorate these challenges; and
other actions as appropriate—referrals for state criminal prosecutions, for example.
Cooperating states should launch investigations into Trump’s mental and physical decline and the GOP’s attempts to cover up the facts. This commission would investigate and document President Trump’s cognitive and physical deterioration, examine how his administration conceals these issues, and discover who is actually running the country.
A primary goal in such an investigation would be to document Trump’s visible physical symptoms (bruised hands, swollen ankles, altered gait) and his cognitive deterioration (confabulation, speech problems, erratic decisions, inability to complete thoughts). Next, the same commission should look into how the White House misleads the public through inadequate medical explanations and concealment of health information. Finally, this commission could ask the all-important question, Who’s really in charge?—and determine whether Stephen Miller, Susie Wiles, members of the Trump family, or any other figures are making key decisions when Trump is incapacitated or confused.
Trump’s weaponization of the Department of Justice represents another set of political misdeeds begging to be investigated. A commission looking into this subject would study how Trump has corrupted the DOJ for political purposes and develop reforms to prevent future abuse. An important function here would be to document specific instances of political interference, retaliatory prosecutions, cases dropped for political allies, and the general misuse of federal law enforcement. Numerous DOJ lawyers and officials have resigned over Trump’s politicization—they should be interviewed.
Trump administration actions may warrant state criminal referrals for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and civil rights violations. So let’s put that on the to-do list.
Another commission can investigate Supreme Court ethics and independence concerns. The Roberts Court has issued several Trump-favorable rulings that appear inconsistent with established judicial principles such as originalism, textualism, and precedent. So this investigation would seek to determine whether these decisions reflect judicial incompetence, corruption, partisan bias, external pressure, or genuine legal reasoning.
Another line of inquiry: Why hasn’t Chief Justice Roberts more publicly condemned the Trump administration’s targeting and harassment of lower-court judges? There is also the matter that at least one Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, appears to have accepted significant benefits from a Republican megadonor, creating potential conflicts of interest. The people deserve to know which factors influenced the Court’s controversial rulings that so often have favored Trump, particularly on the shadow docket.
An investigation into Trump’s assault on free speech and press freedom would also be valuable. A commission studying this subject would document Trump administration threats against media outlets and investigate illegal attempts to silence critics and control news coverage.
The issue of media intimidation deserves serious consideration. Threats to media executives, networks, and journalists who criticize Trump or his administration ought to be documented.
What pressures led Disney to cancel Jimmy Kimmel? What about threats against other late-night hosts and retaliation against critical news outlets?
This commission could also examine whether TikTok’s restructuring included requirements to support Trump, and investigate similar conditions imposed on other tech companies.
Finally, it should document how Trump’s threats have altered news coverage and corporate decision-making regarding political content.
An investigation into Trump’s extortion and bribery schemes would be another great public service. This commission would examine Trump’s systematic extortion of corporations and law firms, documenting their forced “contributions” in exchange for avoiding blacklisting.
It should specifically investigate the suspicious $16 million payment CBS made directly to Trump’s presidential library and try to learn whether this was tied to merger approval or other regulatory favors. And did CBS consider this a bribe or extortion? Pay-to-play schemes would also be fair game for this commission so other corporations that made payments or provided services to Trump in exchange for favorable treatment or regulatory approval might also be examined.
This administration’s dangerous public health policies should not be left to the side. A commission documenting how Trump’s anti-science health policies are endangering vulnerable Americans would help state governments and future leadership at the federal level develop strategies to eventually counter a great deal of preventable harm.
It could tackle such vital issues as Trump’s anti-vaccine campaign, documenting the administration’s promotion of vaccine misinformation and its projected impact on children and elderly populations. It can also look at the Trump administration’s endorsement of debunked theories (Tylenol-autism links, raw milk safety, etc.) and their influence on public health decisions. Finally, special attention should be paid to how Trump’s policies disproportionately harm elderly Americans, children, immunocompromised individuals, and low-income communities.
While Trump has claimed to “make America great again,” America’s innovation advantage is taking a major hit. Yet another commission could document how Trump’s anti-science policies are destroying American technological leadership and calculate the economic damage from his assault on research and innovation.
Also on the agenda would be Trump’s targeting of higher education institutions, proposed restrictions on academic freedom, and threats to major research universities.
Trump’s immigration policies are preventing top scientists, engineers, and researchers from coming to America, driving talent to competitors like China. This commission would ask why and calculate lost GDP, reduced competitiveness, and weakened cybersecurity resulting from Trump’s anti-innovation agenda.
Just as the Trump administration has “flooded the zone,” to use a phrase that Steve Bannon likes, so should the state commissions, taking the fight to major policy initiatives wherever laws are being broken. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, is illegally detaining American citizens under Trump’s policies. Disturbing reports show masked ICE agents seizing citizens on the street and demanding proof of citizenship, despite having zero legal authority over U.S. citizens, and detaining them, sometimes for days. This is unconstitutional detention. No American should be forced to carry a passport or a birth certificate to avoid unlawful detention by federal agents.
A state commission really ought to take up this issue of citizen kidnappings and document cases where ICE has seized and detained citizens on suspicion of them being in the U.S. illegally. It should investigate whether these illegal detentions stem from any directives to ignore citizenship status. And since detentions of this kind deprive citizens of constitutional rights and violate due process, instances of unlawful imprisonment, and other civil rights abuses against detained Americans should be carefully documented and publicized.
Furthermore, since citizen kidnapping shouldn’t qualify as an “official act” deserving immunity, this commission should identify ICE agents and officials for potential state prosecution.
Another state commission ought to take up the issue of Trump’s January 6th coverup and the corrupt pardons he issued upon returning to the White House.
Here the administration’s efforts to rewrite the history of January 6th and silence discussion of the attempted coup would be duly aired. Trump’s unprecedented pardons of January 6th rioters, including his possible use of autopens to mass-pardon violent criminals who attacked police, legislative staff, and our democracy, would be investigated. This commission should also collect testimony from injured police officers, legislative staff, and families of those maimed by Trump’s pardoned rioters. Expert witnesses should be brought in to offer testimony on how Trump’s pardons of coup participants violate all historical norms and democratic principles.
Finally, because the GOP has refused to acknowledge the heroism of the police and other members of law enforcement who defended our democracy on January 6th, this commission ought to consider recommending an appropriate memorial in Washington, D.C., for those heroes in a prominent location.
States can mix and match these investigations based on their legal structures, priorities, and resources. Nor is the list meant to be exhaustive. It’s an overview of possibilities.
Trump will inevitably sue to block these investigations, but that’s potentially beneficial. The litigation itself will focus national attention on his corruption. While courts might block specific subpoenas, it’s hard to imagine even the Roberts Court claiming that governors like Gavin Newsom of California, Kathy Hochul of NY, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Maura Healey of Massachusetts can’t create commissions or task forces to investigate problems in order to recommend constitutional amendments and legislation.
These investigations won’t stop Trump, but they may slow him down. And they would have other benefits:
creating sustained focus on presidential corruption;
collecting vital documentation of crimes;
forcing cronies to be more careful (knowing they might face potential state prosecution);
building platforms for 2026 Democratic campaigns; and
documenting institutional damage for future accountability.
Without documentation, slowing Trump down becomes nearly impossible. If Democrats retake the House and/or the Senate in 2026, these state investigations will give congressional investigators a massive head start with established facts and witness testimony.
The bottom line is that we must document Trump’s destruction of American institutions before his corruption of the federal government becomes complete and irreversible. State investigation commissions represent one of the few tools available to Democrats right now. They should be deployed strategically and aggressively to defend democracy and the rule of law, while they still can be.
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