A new coalition of nonprofits came together overnight to challenge a seemingly sweeping order from the Trump administration last week pausing trillions of dollars in federal funding. They succeeded in blocking that order, at least for now.

It's the start of what nonprofits expect will be a deluge of court actions, as civil litigation promises to be a powerful tool civil society groups plan to use to push back on President Donald Trump’s policies.

“There will be an avalanche of litigation to stop unlawful activity,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which brought the nonprofit coalition’s suit against the federal funding freeze. A judge ruled Monday to allow their lawsuit, one of many filed in the first weeks of the new administration, to move forward and extended a temporary restraining order.

More than a dozen federal lawsuits have already been filed against President Trump and his administration by a wide range of nonprofits, from several Quaker organizations to the consumer rights group Public Citizen to New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support.