Vermont AG Urges Crowd to Stay Strong

At standing-room-only Hinesburg event she outlines what she and her counterparts across the country are doing to protect our rights

Sep 10, 2025

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark being introduced as speaker Tuesday night. Listen to Clark’s remarks by playing audio below. (Photos by Geoffrey Gevalt)

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Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark told a Hinesburg audience Tuesday night that her office has filed or been a part of 27 suits against the White House — “so far” — as she and Democratic counterparts across the country fight “federal overreach and the unconstitutional and illegal acts by the current administration.”

As a result, her office has clawed back “tens of millions of dollars” for Vermont, she said, money that was authorized by Congress but withheld from the state for everything from education to disaster relief.

Clark, invited to speak by Hinesburg Resist, told the more than 135 people crowded into the Hinesburg United Church, “every single time the Constitution is violated, and the sovereign state, our beloved Vermont, is harmed, I will sue, to protect Vermont, to protect the democracy of the United States of America and to protect you, Vermonters.”

Charity began by saying “it is true: America elected Donald Trump to be president, and he does have the right to install his vision for the country in place. But he does not have the right, because no president has the right, to violate the United States Constitution or our federal laws. And that is where my office comes in, because as attorney general, it is my job to uphold the Constitution and to take action if the Constitution is violated by the federal administration.

“In fact, I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, and these past eight, nine months, I have thought of that oath every single day.”

Clark pulled no punches.“President Trump has shown utter contempt for the rule of law we hold sacred — the Constitution, Congress's authority, and the sovereignty of our brave little state. The common threat of all of his violations are difficult to ignore. The theme seems to be to consolidate power in himself, in the White House, in the presidency.

“But this is America, and in this America, we believe in the rule of law, in the three branches of government. We believe in the sovereignty of the state, in federalism, in the separation of powers, because no man is a king in this country. We have no kings. And I always like to add, we have one queen, and that's Beyoncé.”

But Clark admitted that “we're on the defense; we're fighting for the rights that we already have. And it's a shame. And it's unfortunate that I've had to spend my time doing this kind of work instead of fighting for the problems we see here in Vermont.”

Clark said the 27 suits that her office has filed, often with other Democratic attorneys general, “have a wide variety of topics: attempts to dismantle the federal government, inventing fake emergencies to justify wild tariffs, and usurping environmental laws, voter disenfranchisement, encumbering grants with illegal DEI bans and immigration requests, violating Americans' data privacy and unconstitutionally withholding money that Congress rightfully appropriated.”

And she said the actions by the Trump administration seem to fall into four themes:

“Number one … trying to do something the Constitution says someone else is supposed to do, like Congress or governors. I'm thinking about spending the taxpayers' dollars; that's Congress's job, that's their responsibility, the power that was given to them, or the governor's job, like trying to deploy the National Guard to places. Well, the governor gets to decide that.
“Number two, the attempts to diminish the power of the powerful like Harvard Law School, big fancy law firms, the states, a powerful nonprofit, and of course, the judiciary.
“Number three … trying to corner the powerful into agreeing to something they don't have to agree with.
“Number four, I call it a general category of shenanigans. And basically in that category are all the things that involve the Trump administration overstepping the role that the president has, trying to do things, the president's not supposed to be able to do.”

Clark closed her remarks by encouraging people to stay active and informed:

“You came out tonight, you're holding up signs, you're volunteering in this way,” she said. “Exercise your fundamental rights, your freedom to speak up; attend a protest; petition your government; write op-eds in your local paper; support the free press; buy a banned book; organize a carload of friends and go volunteer at some other election. … Lean in.”

She also said she knew that people were anxious, worried and she tried to reassure the standing-room only gathering.

“We are Vermonters, and we have to remember what that means. It means we weather storms together, we shovel out our neighbor's car, we muck out their basement when there's a flood, we fought for bodily autonomy, for all people, for our right to make our own private healthcare decisions.

“We fought for civil unions; we fought for marriage equality. We welcomed our Afghan allies and our Cambodian refugees here to Vermont as our neighbors. We speak our minds; we try to do what's right.

“These are the Vermont values — that despite what's happening in Washington, we can stand up and live those values every single day and through that act, the positivity, the reassurance and the recommitment to the Democratic system we are a part of.

“So I want to say to you, do not despair. Our country is strong.”