Washington state prepares to push back against Trump
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Governor-elect Bob Ferguson gives a victory speech Tuesday in Seattle. Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Elected officials in Washington state, where Democrats largely prevailed in this week's election, say they're preparing to take action if a second Trump administration infringes on people's rights.
Why it matters: Lawsuits filed by states — including three dozen led by Washington — stalled some of President-elect Trump's agenda during his first term.
Zoom in: Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson told reporters Thursday that his team has been studying Trump's campaign promises for months and has been going "line by line" through Project 2025, a 900-page wish list developed by some of Trump's closest allies.
- Many of those proposals, if implemented, would be "an assault on reproductive rights, health care access, environmental protections, to name just a few," said Ferguson, who was elected this week to become Washington state's next governor.
What they're saying: "We knew from our extensive experience during his first term that we would need to be prepared from Day 1 if he were elected," Ferguson said of Trump.
- Ferguson said advance preparation was one reason his office was able to quickly file a lawsuit halting Trump's first travel ban in January 2017, shortly after Trump first took office.
- "We will do everything in our power to defend the rights of Washingtonians," Nick Brown, the state's incoming attorney general, told reporters Thursday at a joint press conference with Ferguson.
The other side: The Washington State Republican Party criticized Ferguson Thursday as having "spent more time filing frivolous lawsuits" against Trump than "protecting victims of crime."
- "I encourage Mr. Ferguson to reconsider his approach. To grow beyond his petty, partisan obsessions with Donald Trump," Jim Walsh, the state GOP party chair, told Axios Thursday.
Zoom in: Ferguson said he's particularly worried Trump may try to remove protections for LGBTQ Americans. or use the 1873 Comstock Act to restrict access to abortion and birth control.
- There's also the possibility of a new Trump administration weakening or eliminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects certain immigrants from deportation, he said.
What we're watching: Trump's team may be more prepared for legal challenges this time around, Ferguson said — and a more conservative Supreme Court could make it more difficult for states like Washington to prevail.