Democratic governors and attorneys general are dusting off their offices’ playbooks against newly elected President Donald Trump’s policies, but they know it could be a tougher battle if he returns to power for a second time.
Trump’s campaign promises included mass deportations of people in the country illegally, and his history includes rolling back environmental regulations and pioneering abortion bans by appointing three new Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade .
All this puts liberals on edge – and they believe that organized resistance is necessary.
Democratic state officials are positioning themselves to implement it.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called a special legislative session last week to boost work to “Trump-proof” laws in the nation’s most populous state.
The Democratic governors of Colorado and Illinois on Wednesday announced a nationwide effort to name governors who protect democracy.
Here’s a look at how states fared against Trump’s policies last time and how things could go in his second term.
The Democrats stopped or adjusted a number of policies last time
Over the past two decades, challenging the policies of the opposing president has become an important part of the attorneys general’s job.
It peaked during Trump’s first term, with 160 indictments against the government in multiple states in four years, according to a tally by political scientist Paul Nolette of Marquette University.
That was twice as many files as President Barack Obama’s administration dealt with in twice as long, almost all of them from Republican Party attorneys general. Republicans have filed 142 against President Joe Biden’s administration.
Multi-state legal actions against Trump’s policies were successful 94 times.
Some victories were fleeting. For example, Democrats initially convinced the courts to block the president’s ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld this.
Other victories concerned relatively mundane topics. One case prompted the U.S. Department of Energy to file a petition urging regulators to stop delaying regulations on ceiling fan efficiency.
There are also roles for governors and legislators. For example, during Trump’s first presidency, California and some other states passed laws limiting how much local authorities could help federal immigration officials.
On the other hand, Trump may need help from Republican officials to implement his policies. For example, he could ask governors to activate the National Guard to carry out deportations that he has said would begin the day he is sworn in.
There are now important differences in the legal landscape
Bob Ferguson, Washington’s Democratic governor-elect and current attorney general, said at a news conference last week that Democratic attorneys general offices have been in contact for months to discuss how to roll back Trump’s policies.
He said it was relatively easy to defeat Trump’s administration in court early in the Republican’s first term.
“They were often sloppy in the way they rolled out their executive actions. And that opened up opportunities for us to prevail in court,” Ferguson said. “This time I expect we will see less of that.”
James Tierney, a former attorney general from Maine who teaches at Harvard Law School in the office, said, “What’s different is a much higher level of sophistication on all sides.”
Ferguson will be one of the few people who served as attorney general at the start of Trump’s first term and will be governor in his second term. None of the 2017 Democratic attorneys general or governors will have the same job by the time Trump takes office on January 20.
The courts have also become more conservative since Trump came to power — largely thanks to his efforts. Trump appointed 245 judges to federal courts, including three to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The battle will not only take place in the court
Marquette’s Nolette said Democratic attorneys general will be involved in the “entire life cycle” of the policy.
They will have staffers submit comments opposing proposed regulations that government agencies develop to enforce and interpret laws — and then file suit if and when those regulations take effect.
The offices are likely to be aggressive in challenging new federal laws as unconstitutional. Nolette said the most fruitful action could be if they go to court over executive actions — something he said could especially come into play with immigration actions.
“By their very nature they are often legally vulnerable,” he said.
Nolette said there are other ways attorneys general can exercise power over federal policy besides challenging federal actions.
One of these is filing lawsuits and reaching settlements with companies. States have used this approach to force the drug industry to change practices around opioids, for example without any form of federal legislation or executive action.
And while states cannot make treaties, they can do things like sign international climate agreements.
If the federal government scales back enforcement in areas such as environmental laws, states could also increase enforcement of similar laws.
Political ambitions are also at play here
The Democratic officials leading the charge against Trump could get time in the spotlight that could help them land future political jobs.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta will likely be at the center of the action this time.
Several other Democratic officials, including Attorneys General Letitia James of New York and Josh Kaul of Wisconsin — whose voters favored Trump in 2016 and 2024 — have held news conferences or issued press releases about their commitment to combating Trump’s policies.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday announced a new effort called Governors Safeguarding Democracy, funded by donations to help states protect the rule of law — something some Democrats have said is danger will come with Trump as president.
“We founded GSD because we know that simple hope alone will not save our democracy,” Polis said in a conference call with reporters.
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.
