One of the questions I get asked most often is whether or not you can sue Trump or his administration over things like the weaponization slush fund, the Ballroom, the money lost from restitution ordered by the court to be paid by convicted felons subsequently being waived because of Trump’s pardons, wasted money spent on the Iran war, or taxpayer money flowing to UFC fights at the White House. Rather than answer each DM privately, I thought I’d just share a post with my answer.
Here is the hard truth. As an individual citizen, your standing to walk into federal court and challenge how the government spends money is almost nonexistent. The Supreme Court built this wall in 1923 in Frothingham v. Mellon and has reinforced it ever since. Your status as a citizen and taxpayer does not buy you a ticket to sue. The court calls your concerns a generalized grievance, one that every citizen shares, so no single citizen owns a concrete injury. To get into court you need an injury that is personal to you, traceable to the government’s action, and fixable by a court order.
