The United States government was designed as an elegant system of checks and balances. Power is negotiated among federal, state, and local authorities, as well as among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
However, during his second term, which began in 2025, President Donald Trump has frequently bypassed both federal and state authority to advance his own agenda for the nation. As cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles struggle to protect their citizens from government overreach, the question has arisen: Who can actually stop a president?
In Cleveland, the answer to this question shapes lives. It determines whether food reaches the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, whether MAGNET can help local manufacturers compete, and whether federal dollars flow to neighborhood development corporations in Union-Miles and West Park.
A year after Trump’s inauguration, some checks and balances are still effective, but others have failed.
The courts: mixed results
Federal judges have blocked some of the administration’s most aggressive moves. Four judges ruled against the executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, calling it unconstitutional.
Courts also stopped a sweeping freeze of federal funding in late January 2025 that threatened everything from AIDS research to infrastructure projects. This forced the administration to withdraw funds on a case by case basis, rather than in one mass effort.
But these victories tell only part of the story. In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts are not authorized to issue nationwide injunctions beyond what is necessary to provide relief to parties in a case. The legal issue in question was an executive order that restricted birthright citizenship, as protected by the 14th Amendment.
This makes it much harder to halt executive actions nationwide. The court overwhelmingly sided with the Trump administration in 2025, creating a pattern where lower courts block actions, but higher courts often reverse those wins.
For Cleveland, this legal back-and-forth has meant uncertainty. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank lost 553,000 pounds of food valued at $1 million when deliveries scheduled between April and July were canceled due to sudden federal cuts to Department of Agriculture food purchase programs.
Planned Parenthood’s Cleveland clinic closed after Title X funding was frozen. Even when courts intervene, the damage often happens before relief arrives.
Ohio sides with Trump
Democratic attorneys general in 22 states have filed 71 lawsuits against the administration, but Ohio is not among them.
Attorney General Dave Yost joined 17 other Republican attorneys general supporting the birthright citizenship executive order, arguing it would save states money. While Democratic attorneys general meet regularly to strategize legal resistance, Ohio’s top lawyer Yost has aligned with the administration on key policies.
Congress: Legislators stand aside
While Trump defunded whole agencies, cut spending, fired federal workers, and launched trade wars, congressional oversight disappeared.
With the legislature under Republican control, Democrats have minimal leverage. For example, when Democratic members of Congress tried to conduct oversight visits to immigration detention facilities, the administration secretly re-imposed a policy blocking unannounced visits, forcing lawmakers back to court.
Cleveland Rep. Shontel Brown (OH-11) has pushed back in statements and interviews by criticizing the administration’s decision to pull funds from Ohio workers. In a December 2025 press release, Brown called Trump “the greatest threat to Ohio manufacturing,” citing “reckless tariffs” and the funding freeze. After $175 million in Manufacturing Extension Partnership funding was frozen in April, Congressional pressure forced the administration to release it. When funding was frozen again in December, pulling money from six Ohio centers, the same pressure didn’t work.
Even when members fight back, the administration usually wins in the end.
What is actually working
According to Just Security’s litigation tracker, challengers have won 184 cases while the government has won 95, with 235 cases still awaiting rulings. Courts remain the most effective check on executive power but require a great deal of time, money and resources.
When Cleveland nonprofits warned they could not keep their doors open without Community Development Block Grant money, the city eventually received its usual $28 million, but only after threats and uncertainty had taken a toll on community leaders.
So far, wins against the Trump administration have been defensive and often temporary. Trump signed more than 215 executive orders in 2025, outpacing Biden’s entire four-year tenure. Each challenge requires resources, time and coordination that most communities don’t have.
The lesson
Can the president be stopped? The answer is unclear. Courts can slow things down, but they can’t stop everything. States can resist, but only if they want to. Congress can investigate, but only if the majority party cares to check its own president.
Cleveland residents have watched federal dollars disappear from food banks, health clinics, and neighborhood programs. When checks and balances on federal power fail, local communities absorb the impact.
