11/16/20
During President Donald Trump's four years in office, his administration has sparred in court with state attorneys general over nearly every issue. Among the topics: the "travel ban"; the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA; family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border; the "national emergency" declaration to build the border wall; international student visas; student loan protections; clean water rules; transgender health care protections; automobile emissions; a citizenship question on the 2020 census; U.S. Postal Service operations; and Obamacare. If it seems like a lot, it is. A review of litigation against federal agencies during the Trump administration shows that state attorneys general have filed 138 multistate lawsuits since he took office, according to data compiled by Paul Nolette, a political scientist at Marquette University in Milwaukee who studies the office of attorney general. It's a sharp increase from Trump's predecessors, including Barack Obama, whose administration was sued 78 times during his two presidential terms, and George W. Bush, whose administration was sued 76 times during his two terms. "The number of AG lawsuits is off the charts," Nolette said. "These days, they're really ready to go, as in once a regulation is finalized, within a week, sometimes within a day or two, the lawsuit is filed. They're ready to run with it."
California's Democratic attorney general, Xavier Becerra, has been part of the most multistate lawsuits, according to Nolette's data. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, whose state has been a plaintiff in dozens of cases against the Trump administration, said the White House adopted extreme positions that in her view flouted laws and required consistent action. "We had to be there under this administration as the president and his enablers engaged in conduct that was illegal and unconstitutional and did harm to residents of our state," said Healey, a co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which supports the Democratic attorneys general of 24 states and Washington, D.C. These chief legal officers have a range of powers at their disposal and mandates to protect their states' rights, enforce their laws and defend consumers, which helps explain why they have clashed so often legally and politically with the Trump administration, experts say. "The AGs have really come into their own," Nolette said. "They're taking full advantage of their institutional power. According to Nolette, Trump hasn't often succeeded in the courts, and state attorneys general have won 79 percent of their lawsuits, with about 60 more still undecided.
