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Have State AGs Moved From Defending State To Shaping National Policy?

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, right, accompanied by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, speaks during a news conference in Washington, Monday, June 12, 2017, to discuss the lawsuit they filed against President Donald Trump. (Alex Brandon/AP)
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, right, accompanied by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, speaks during a news conference in Washington, Monday, June 12, 2017, to discuss the lawsuit they filed against President Donald Trump. (Alex Brandon/AP)

It took barely a week before a group of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the new president in January — this one to halt President Trump’s executive order temporarily barring some refugees and immigrants from entering the country. Since then, at least 19 state AGs have filed more than a dozen suits — about one every two weeks — challenging Trump’s efforts to loosen environmental rules, undo student loan regulations and more. Do the suits signify a shifting role for state attorneys general?

Here & Now‘s Robin Young addresses the question with Marquette University political science professor Paul Nolette (@ProfNolette), author of “Federalism on Trial: State Attorneys General and National Policymaking in Contemporary America.”

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