BUFFALO, N.Y. — In just three years, the Trump administration holds a distinction above all other modern presidencies in the number of times it has been sued over its policies by multistate coalitions.
Multistate coalitions suing the federal government is nothing new.
But the number of suits being filed is increasing according to a data base, compiled by Marquette University political professor Dr. Paul Nolette.
The data base also keeps track of the disposition or current status of the cases and indicates, as one might expect, that both major political parties have engaged in what might be called the “lawsuit playbook.”
Among other things, it shows there were 53 such actions during President Obama's last four-year term, 75% of which were led by Republicans.
The same data base shows that after just three years of the Trump presidency, there have already been 98 lawsuits filed, 92% of which were brought by Democrats.
The data also indicates that the greatest number of court actions have come from New York where State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, insists the court actions she’s taken or joined in on with other attorneys general (who are also almost exclusively Democrats) are not motivated by politics, but are aimed at “defending the rights of New Yorkers.”
However, even before she was elected, James vowed to investigate President Trump during campaign ads where she called him illegitimate, incompetent, and an embarrassment “who should be charged with obstructing justice.”
Speaking with WGRZ-TV, James never directly answered our question regarding how much the state has spent in terms of taxpayer resources involved in suing the President.
But she did indicate that as long as the president’s policies don’t mesh with the comparatively more progressive agenda of New York’s elected leaders, the lawsuits are likely to continue.
“It's an honor and a privilege and I make no apologies for standing up on behalf of New Yorkers and we're gonna continue to do that in the next three years," she said.