State Attorneys General Ask Courts to Preserve Biden-era Gun Control Measures
The New York Times
Days before Trump returns to office, the legal fight with Democratic state officials over his agenda has begun.
More than a dozen state attorneys general, all Democrats, asked on Thursday to join federal legal efforts to preserve two Biden-era gun control policies, a signal of partisan legal fights to come as President-elect Donald J. Trump returns to power.
The two policy shifts are different. One would require buyers at gun shows to undergo a background check, a rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that is almost sure to clash with the views of Mr. Trump, who promised in a campaign speech to the National Rifle Association to “roll back every Biden attack on the Second Amendment.” The other, to ban a kind of trigger that can make a semiautomatic weapon fire like a machine gun, is similar to a policy that Mr. Trump embraced in his first term when he banned so-called bump stocks, which achieve the same purpose.
But the intervention is the first sign that partisan legal fights are likely to begin on Day 1 of the Trump White House, despite the wishes of some Democratic politicians who have called for a more cooperative stance toward the incoming administration after four years of incessant fighting in Mr. Trump’s first term.
“We know it’s a very real likelihood, based on what the president-elect has said, that his Justice Department won’t defend these rules,” Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin of New Jersey said in an interview, referring to Mr. Trump, who becomes president on Monday. “States like New Jersey will be harmed.”
After Mr. Trump’s victory in November, some Democrats called for compromise where possible. The move by the attorneys general shows they are more than ready to go to court to block Mr. Trump’s aggressive agenda, as many did during his first term.
Mr. Platkin’s office led a motion filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for North Dakota as well, this time to intervene on behalf of a group of undocumented immigrants. That case, which began as a lawsuit by 19 Republican states against the Biden administration, challenges a policy that allows some undocumented immigrants already legally authorized to stay in the United States to also receive subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
The $114.5 billion spending plan anticipated $2 billion less in asylum seeker costs, but also called for an additional $550 million for nonmigrant shelters.
The former mayor of New York is at risk of forfeiting his sole remaining home, a Palm Beach apartment, and World Series rings to election workers he defamed after the 2020 vote.
Out of desperation and a need for social bonding, volunteers have banded together to help Altadena residents.
Mr. Adams, who is facing a federal corruption indictment and was denied public matching funds, said his totals show “my base of support is still there.”
The dispute, which some critics say tests the church’s autonomy, reached the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday for arguments.
Donald Trump’s pick for the agency’s director seems likely to win some Democratic support for this nomination, but how much is unclear.
Mrs. Obama also declined to attend the funeral of Jimmy Carter last week, which would have put her face-to-face with Mr. Trump.
For Black residents, Altadena represented something more than suburban living. It was a foothold in generational prosperity.
Child care, housing costs and public safety were the New York governor’s top issues as she outlined her policy plans for the year and for a re-election fight in 2026.
Governor Walz’s party has lost control of the Minnesota Legislature and faces mounting criticism as a budget deficit looms.
The bus monitor was acquitted of the more serious manslaughter charges she faced. She was on her phone and had earbuds in when a child seated behind her was strangled by a wheelchair’s harness.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy will unveil priorities for his last year in office during his State of the State address on Tuesday.
The report, which said the special counsel’s office stood “fully behind” the merits of the prosecution, amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of the president-elect.
The man and his son, who both used wheelchairs, called for help in evacuating from the Eaton fire in California. They were found dead later that day, and now their family is asking what happened.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday signaled her plan to include related legislation in her budget proposal, saying she hoped to limit distractions during the school day.
Early data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suggests that traffic has dropped around Manhattan’s core.
Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, will announce a major plan to address homelessness after a series of violent attacks on the subway.
As state legislatures convene, they face the same political polarization seen in Congress. Some are in near-deadlock.