Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a Michigan Democratic Party delegation breakfast on day four of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 22, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
In the wake of Republican Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is helping to lead a new initiative that aims to protect state-level democratic institutions against federal overreach.
Polis, a Democrat with two more years in his term, is co-chairing Governors Safeguarding Democracy, alongside Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who also is a Democrat.
“We founded GSD because we know that simple hope alone won’t save our democracy. We need to work together, especially at the state level, to protect and strengthen it,” Polis said during a call with reporters on Tuesday.
The two governors did not offer details on who else is part of the initiative, though they emphasized it’s nonpartisan and said they have engaged in outreach to Republican governors across the country.
A spokesperson for Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not provide a comment by press time after being asked if she will be part of the group.
Whitmer has been a fierce Trump critic and was a key surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, but she struck a conciliatory tone when asked by reporters Tuesday about working with Trump in his second term.
“Obviously, there will be areas in which we don’t agree. I don’t agree with anyone on everything, and so that’s not going to be a surprise. But you know, we have worked with the Trump administration before. We’ll figure out how to work with the Trump administration, going into this last two years of my term,” said Whitmer after a Veterans Day event at the Michigan Capitol.
The action items are vague. Pritzker described the goal as one to “leverage our collective strength, experience and institutional knowledge to drive policies that protect the rule of law” among the states.
“We’ll design and implement affirmative strategies to protect the rule of law and deliver for people in the states. We’ll work to reinforce key state institutions to protect executive agencies, elections, state courts and other democratic bodies. Then we’ll develop playbooks to enable governors and their teams to anticipate and swiftly respond to emerging threats,” he said.
When fully implemented, the initiative will be a “peer opportunity for governors to learn from one another on best practices and policies,” Polis said.
GSD was born out of anxiety that a second Trump presidential term will erode democratic institutions and roll back federal protections for such areas as the environment, health care and civil rights. Some observers worry about possible threats to the integrity of the nation’s election system, independent judiciary and overall civil society. Trump himself pledged to be a “dictator” on the first day of his term to enact campaign promises, and former top staffers in the first Trump administration, such as John Kelly, have said he fits into the definition of fascist.
The new Trump administration is planning an unprecedented mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, an effort that would involve use of the National Guard. Pritzker said the challenge this poses to states is “exactly the kind of question this group would be considering.”
Polis agreed that such a policy would likely not be allowed under the federal code that governs the National Guard and that, as governors, they would not cooperate.
“In terms of safeguarding democracy, making sure that the U.S. military is not used for police actions domestically and is used to defend our freedoms abroad is very consistent with our Constitution, as well as the law,” Polis said.
GSD will be supported by Governors Action Alliance, a new nonpartisan organization, and funded by philanthropic donations. Neither Pritzker nor Polis disclosed donors.
Michigan Advance reporter Kyle Davidson contributed to this story.
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