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16 ¦ FEBRUARY 1, 2021 NEWS

‘Ready for a Fight’: Republican
AGs Prepare to Take On Biden

By Jacqueline Thomsen

Adam Piper, Executive Director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, speaking during the

F Association’s Fall National Meeting in Orlando, FL, on November 10, 2020. Courtesy photo
or the past four years, Democratic state attor- True to their word, the first Republican lawsuit
neys general have filed suit after suit against the against a Biden action was filed in Texas last week,
Trump administration. But with President Joe as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged
Biden in office, it’s Republican state leaders who will a 100-day freeze on deportations that the Biden ad-
take on the new administration. ministration implemented during his first day in
The Republican Attorneys General Association office.
began prepping for a potential Biden administra- On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton—
tion in September. And the GOP suits are likely to appointed to the federal bench by then-President
start back up again as Democratic challenges drop Donald Trump last year—granted a temporary
off, particularly as Biden has undone a number of restraining order against the policy, blocking it
Trump policies and issued his own orders during nationally. He ruled that Texas was likely to suc-
his first days in office. ceed in showing the memo violated immigration
“The attorneys general are ready to utilize all law and that it was issued arbitrarily and capri-
available means to combat any potential federal ciously.
overreach that we see,” Arkansas Attorney General The results of that first legal challenge against the
Leslie Rutledge said. new administration is likely a harbinger of lawsuits

CONNECTICUT
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