‘An Ongoing Coup’: State Officials Fight Back Against Trump And Musk
Attorneys general taking administration’s attacks on federal government to court
As Democrats in Washington DC often have become seen as ineffectual against Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and their agenda of dismantling the federal government, their colleagues in states across the country are working to counter the far-right onslaught.
Musk and a group of young computer-savvy associates have been disrupting and dismantling federal agencies and functions across the nation’s capital, while also gaining access to some of the most sensitive personal information of millions of Americans.
Congressional Democrats have been debating amongst themselves just how much leverage they have against Trump and his ultra-wealthy advisor.
But governors and attorneys general in a number of blue states are taking their fight to the courts and to the American people.
“The actions of the Trump administration in the last three weeks can only be described as authoritarian and dictatorial,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in an online video posted this week by her office. “Every day — nearly every hour — there is some new action or executive order that makes a mockery of the rule of law and the Constitution itself.”
Further west, Washington State’s new Democratic governor called a press conference Thursday with an array of other state leaders by his side to explain the issues at stake and vow that Washington State would continue to oppose Trump and Musk’s plans.
Those plans include Trump’s ongoing mass deportations of migrants, restrictions on healthcare for women and transgender Washingtonians, Trump’s efforts to unilaterally freeze payments from the federal government, and more.
“On my inauguration — which I think was exactly a month ago — promised to work with President Trump where I can, and to stand up to him where we must. That promise still stands,” said Gov Bob Ferguson. “Unfortunately, President Trump is showing very little inclination in working with states that do not agree with his worldview. It has been — to put it mildly — a chaotic first few weeks of his administration.”
He said that his “core message” is that “we are dealing with the chaos coming down from Washington DC, but at the same time preserve our values as a state. And, importantly, we are going to move forward on the issues that unite us as a state,” which includes affordability, public safety, and widen opportunities for all Washingtonians.
When it was his turn to speak, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown had a much more succinct — and direct — message to Trump, Musk, and their allies: “Follow the damn law, it’s not that hard.”
The attorneys general of Connecticut and New York were outside a federal courthouse in Manhattan, celebrating early legal wins against Trump and Musk, particularly that which blocked access to federal payment systems by Musk and his team, saying that such access amounted to the “largest data breach in American history,” as well as putting at jeopardy an array of payments from the federal government on which millions of Americans rely.
“States have a unique role in preserving the constitutional order,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
James also explained the illegality of what Musk and so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, have been doing.
“No one has elected Elon Musk and his minions. And no one has allowed him to have access to this information,” she said. “This is a violation of the separation of powers. The United States Congress [and] the United States Senate have the sole discretion in having the power of the purse, and not Elon Musk.”
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