In summary
California is suing the new Trump administration to protect birthright citizenship, stop the mass firing of federal workers and sustain funding for health and science research.
California is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand the power of his office, touching on a vast array of issues that are core to the state’s ability to pay its bills and carry out programs backed by its Democratic leaders.
The Newsom administration is fighting back, having filed dozens of lawsuits contesting the Trump administration’s executive orders, agency decisions and even laws that Trump himself signed.
The lawsuits include cases that contest Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles, seek to restore federal funding, protect civil liberties and uphold bedrock constitutional rights like birthright citizenship.
Nearly all of the lawsuits were filed in coordination with states led by Democrats. Generally, they argue that the Trump administration’s actions are unconstitutional. The arguments often say that Trump exceeded the powers Congress permitted under a specific law. Another common argument is that the Trump administration didn’t follow specific procedures for changing a policy in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Several times courts have ordered the Trump administration to comply with court orders after the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, wrote to the courts that federal agencies were still withholding funding.
California officials used the courts to defend the state during Trump’s first administration, suing the federal government at least 123 times and winning two out of every three cases. The state’s Democratic leaders began preparing for new cases months before Trump took office by writing briefs and setting aside tens of millions of dollars for expected court fights.
Now, in Trump’s second term, the state is filing lawsuits at almost double the pace of his first administration. California has filed more than 50 lawsuits against the administration.
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