In life, you don't really know when you're being tested.

We are in a test right now.

We're in a test as a nation, and I think we're in a test as a profession.

And the only way we get through it is by believing that we can have an impact and that we can

keep doing things that slowly but surely get us through that period.

I'm Mark Joseph Stern, and this is Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the

Supreme Court. Donald Trump's second term has laid bare how many seemingly principled people are actually cowards.

The president has launched an all-out assaults on independent institutions in a bid to punish his enemies and purge his opponents from civil society.

His autocratic consolidation of power is no surprise.

After all, he campaigned on it.

What is startling is how many of his targets have surrendered without a fight.

Law firms and universities and even paramount are bending the knee,

caving to Trump's shakedowns and funneling money to him and his family.

And parts of the government that used to be independent, like the National Labor Relations

Board, well, the president has taken them over to, with the help of appliance Supreme Court.

But try as he might, Donald Trump has not yet

taken control of the entire government or cowed all his foes into submission. Some law firms

and universities are fighting back. Some corporations refuse to kiss the ring. And blue states have

been a critical bastion of defiance against the president's escalating power grabs.

That's where Democratic attorneys general have challenged Trump at every step.

Within their own borders, they've protected rights that are under siege, and they've joined together

in lawsuits to check this administration's lawless overreach.

...