50501 FRIDAY BRIEFING | JANUARY 1, 2026
225 executive orders. 552 lawsuits. 55,000 protests. The year in totals. Our articles this week in review.
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TL;DR
This week closed out a year of overreach with some clarity. We traced the pardon economy and detention pipelines being built. We documented why the economy felt worse than many headlines have been claiming. We named Trump’s administration’s favorite tactic: exhaustion… and we shared the antidote. We put 2025’s totals up for you to review: 225 executive orders. 552 lawsuits. 55,000+ protests. 25 state legislative seats flipped (Republicans flipped none).
Monday: Pardons, Warehouses, and the War on Watchdogs
A growing “pardon-shopping” ecosystem. Warehouse-style detention facilities near logistics hubs systems for throughput, not due process.
And visa bans targeting European anti-disinformation researchers, reframing oversight itself as a “threat.”
Read the full post here: Monday’s post
Tuesday: Why the 2025 Economy Felt Worse Than the Headlines Said
"The economy is fine"… while grocery bills climbed, insurance premiums spiked, and homeownership drifted further out of reach.
We walked through the timeline in Tuesday’s post: tariff whiplash that made sure of uncertainty. A federal shutdown that broke economic measurement. And a housing market where the median first-time buyer is now 40 years old.
Read the full post here: Tuesday’s post
Wednesday: Vecna (& The Administration) Wants You Tired
New Year’s Eve we followed they hype: A Stranger Things parody that named what this year ran on: exhaustion.
The administration's most effective tool is exhaustion. And the response isn't a single dramatic act, it's consistency. Showing up, staying connected and doing the boring work that outlasts the news cycle.
“The gate doesn’t like flashlights. Neither do dictators.”
Read the full post here: Wednesday’s post
Thursday: As 2026 Begins: A Data-Led Look Back at 2025
Welcome to 2026. In 2025 there was:
225 executive orders signed.
~1,500 January 6 defendants pardoned.
552 legal challenges filed.
55,000+ protest events nationwide.
25 Republican-held state legislative seats flipped by Democrats.
Republicans flipped none.
2025 showed us capacity.
2026 needs us to keep building on consistency, together.
Read the full post here: Thursday’s post
Where We’re Standing
History tends to move in two directions at once.
This week traced both. On one side, a system taking shape: pardons distributed like currency, detention scaled like logistics, oversight reframed as threat. On the other, a counter-record assembling itself in courtrooms and statehouses and public squares, 552 legal challenges, 25 legislative seats turned over, tens of thousands of Americans who decided that showing up was important for democracy and our freedom.
The administration has spent a year building infrastructure designed to outlast our attention spans. But movements have always been built the same way: one documented fact at a time, one local race at a time, one person who keeps making good trouble.
Join Us In The Free America Walk Out
On January 20, 2026 at 2 PM local time, we walk out of work, school, and commerce as a visible refusal to normalize the construction of a coercive state.
Do this today (2 minutes):
Commit: FreeAmeri.ca
Calendar it: Jan 20, 2026, 2 PM local
Text two people: “Jan 20, 2 PM local. Free America Walk Out. I’m going. Will you?”
Please share this to help us get the word out:
First Friday of 2026. How are you entering this year as an activist? How will you be making a difference for our country this year?
💙 Blue with The 50501 Movement | fiftyfifty.one
I hope someone in organized Resistance is planning an alternative 250 celebration?! Maybe PHilly!! ?Make Thumps hideous ‘rassalin and self worship no different than a Mar a Lago party.
What does TR;DL stand for?