FEBRUARY 3, 2026

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT - SUNY@New Paltz

Like other DM chapters, Democracy Matters students at the State University of New York @New Paltz have been organizing discussions and lectures on ICE, troops in our cities, and growing authoritarianism. A recent highlight at SUNY was the lecture, class discussion and informal small group meetings with a former national security expert, Steven Cash. Cash heads a new organization, tThe Steady State, that is made up of hundreds of former ambassadors, homeland security, FBI, and CIA professionals. They are sounding the alarm about the growing authoritarianism in American politics. In his lecture, America at a Choice Point: Democracy or Autocracy, Cash vividly detailed similarities between the United States and countries where authoritarian leaders have destroyed democracy.   

QUOTES of the MONTH

“The King is not to be trusted…or in otherwords, that a thirst for absolute power is thenatural disease of monarchy.” January, 1776, Thomas Paine writes of King George III.

 “My own morality. My own mind.   It’s the only thing that can stop me.” Jan. 2026, Donald Trump describes limits on his power: 

IDEAS of the MONTH

  •  February is Black History Month –  Collaborate with other campus groups to organize a lunchtime discussion or faculty panel to learn the lessons of how students and others resisted segregation and built a social movement that changed America.  (see also “Facts You Can Use” below.)

  • Feb 14th – Valentine’s Day – Make Valentines to send to your representatives,urging them to stand up and speak out for democracy. Create your own jingles like “We LOVE Democracy!” or “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, If you love Democracy, fight for it too!“  or  “The time is NOW, the need is Great, saving DEMOCRACY just can’t wait.”   

  • Feb 16th – President’s Day –  Table with “ No Kings” petitions to send to your members of Congress on President’s Day. Write your own petition or use this one:

    • We are [NAME of COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY] students who, on this Presidents Day, urge you to ensure that Congress fulfills its Constitutional role to “check and balance” the power of the presidency. ”No Kings!”

MINNEAPOLIS COURAGE

This month, Mandle turns his attention to the streets of Minneapolis where Trump has revealed his brutal and unvarnished authoritarianism. 
Whatever the specific outcome in that city, the long-term future of ICE , and of similar state violence against American citizens, will ultimately be decided by voters in the electoral arena – both this November and in 2028.

View Mandle’s monthly column:
https://www.democracymatters.org/money_on_my_mind/minneapolis

A NATION DIVIDED
State Voting Laws

A striking contrast exists in citizens’ voting access by state. Between 2021 and 2025, state legislators passed hundreds of new laws. Some made it easier to register, added new polling locations, and expanded mailed and early voting. But other states did the opposite. They made access to the vote more difficult with laws that restricted voter registration, closed polling stations, and limited early and mail voting.

From 2021 through 2024, states enacted 79 restrictive laws reducing voter access, while other states passed a total of 170 expansive laws that increased the ability to vote. But in 2025, the numerical superiority of expansive over restrictive laws ended. In that year, 39 restrictive laws were enacted (the largest number in any year), in contrast to the 30 expansive laws passed by states. 
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-voting-laws-roundup-2025-review

FACTS YOU CAN USE 
Abolishing Civil Rights **

While the country celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King last month, the Trump Administration continued to aggressively turn the clock back on the nation’s civil rights progress. Below are just a few examples from the first four months of 2025:

  • January 20  –  Trump revokes all Biden’s executive orders that advanced racial equity through the federal government.

  • January 20  –  Trump’s executive order ends all DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and accessibility programs, policies, and activities in the federal government.  

  • January 27 – Trump’s executive order specifically ends diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives within the U.S. military.

  • February 5 –  Attorney General Pam Bondi directs the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector and educational institutions that receive federal funds.”

  • February 15 – All federal agencies remove longstanding civil rights-era directives that explicitly prohibit federal contractors from allowing segregated facilities.

  • February 17 – The Department of Education terminates more than $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits that train teachers and education agencies in topics like  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, social justice activism, anti-racism, and white privilege and white supremacy.”

  • February 25 – The Social Security Administration closes its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity.

  • March 14 – Trump’s executive order shuts down the Minority Business Development Agency.

  • March 21 – The Department of Homeland Security eliminates numerous civil rights offices.

  • April 19 – The Department of Justice creates a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to pursue the withdrawal of federal funding from colleges that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

  • April 28 – Trump’s executive order directs federal resources to promoting aggressive policing tactics and further militarizing local law enforcement agencies. 

**For a full 2025 list of the Trump Administration’s attacks on civil rights as well as on gender, immigration, and human rights, see https://civilrights.org/trump-rollbacks/Democracy.