President Donald Trump speaks at an event at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher) The defining feature of American life in 2026 is elites getting away with everything. President Trump rakes in billions in broad daylight because he believes he’s above the law. Elon Musk rigs markets because he has already bought the politicians who would stop him. Masked ICE agents are still killing people on camera without repercussion. The Epstein Class gets protected, not prosecuted, by the would-be attorney general himself, Todd Blanche.
Victims of corporate greed get sent to arbitration purgatory. And victims of civil rights violations go somewhere even more hopeless: the Supreme Court, which just spent another term ruling for corporations, rigging elections, allowing more money to flow into politics, and handing even more power to Trump.
Why has the top tier of our two-tier justice system become so untouchable? Because politicians of all stripes have for decades underinvested in meaningful accountability mechanisms, and the captured Roberts Court has systematically gutted the ones that do exist — most obviously in its horrific presidential immunity decision. America says it believes in the rule of law, then fails to enforce or update those rules, at least as they apply to the powerful. After all, that’s what happens when the powerful make the rules.
But there’s also an opportunity here. Overwhelming majorities across parties now want real solutions to the corruption that is making their lives more expensive and less free. The leaders who provide those solutions have voters to gain. And those who don’t will yet again be tarred as weak and feckless, rendering their substantive agendas dead on arrival.
To escape the corruption doom loop, restore faith in a broken system, and truly move forward, the pro-democracy movement must, at long last, deliver accountability. No more Garland-esque delays. No more Chickensh– Clubs. And no more political prosecutions, either. Just legitimate, whole-of-society accountability that gives the movement the credibility, power, and political space to expand the tent and rebuild the country.
Here’s what that looks like.
First, yes, the next administration must prosecute those who committed the most serious crimes, from insider trading to blowing up fishing boats. There are high hurdles, no doubt, including federal immunity and the too-broad pardon power. But those hurdles are not insurmountable, and failure to try is unacceptable. A coalition that sues to take Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center, but then shrinks from charging him for actual crimes, is not a serious one.
Of course, we must bring these cases fairly, constitutionally, and with lessons learned from the tragedies of mass incarceration and the current weaponization of the Justice Department. We will not become those we despise, targeting perceived enemies without evidence or process. Local prosecutors like Mary Moriarty in Minneapolis are already leading by example here, bringing righteous, by-the-book cases against the ICE agents who terrorized her city.
Crucially, though, this agenda cannot rely on prosecution alone. Lasting change means not concentrating power in law enforcement but distributing it across the political landscape, from Congress to the states to the people themselves. It also means forgiveness and reconciliation for those who earn it — including those finally disillusioned with MAGA.
Take Illinois, which stood up a groundbreaking commission to document and broadcast ICE overreach in Chicago, employing top notch investigators, social scientists, former federal prosecutors, and broadcast news consultants. Like a handful of other states, Illinois also passed laws banning ICE masks and creating legal avenues to sue rogue federal agents under state law.
Every pro-democracy state should create those commissions and pass those laws, signaling well before 2029 that accountability is coming, and that those considering off-ramps should take them now. The next pro-democracy president can then follow suit, wielding federal agency enforcement power to meaningfully tackle public corruption and break corporate power over our lives nationwide.
Congress also has a massive role to play. If the Democrats win either chamber in November — or Republicans finally distance from Trump — they must not only expose corruption through oversight hearings, but strengthen their own powers and capacities, including enforcing contempt of Congress charges when Trump officials inevitably defy subpoenas (like they defy court orders now). Congress can package its oversight findings for federal enforcement down the road, and also cooperate immediately on cases with state and local partners, non-profit litigators and ethics watchdogs.
Congress should also reempower everyday Americans to confront their government directly. The reason we haven’t seen a slew of civil rights cases by victims of ICE or DOGE or Palantir is because the Supreme Court has made those cases virtually impossible to win. It has invented a series of made-up “doctrines” and “immunities” that all serve to protect the elite inside and outside government. Congress can fix much of that. And before the Roberts Court — which, as a reminder, has a corruption crisis of its own — inevitably overturns these reforms, Congress has the power to prevent that as well.
In the end, the menu of options is lengthy, but the vibe shift is even more important. It’s also do or die. The 2024 election proved that policy wins alone did not snuff out fascism. Instead, shortchanging accountability has led directly to our current waking nightmare. So, although many well-meaning folks would like to simply move past all this unpleasantness, it is destined to return yet again — maybe for good — unless we make accountability mean something again.
Somil Trivedi is advocacy director and senior counsel at Court Accountability.
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