New Hampshire is being left out of lawsuits blocking Trump actions. The Supreme Court might accelerate that trend.
For Manchester School District, the largest public school district in New Hampshire, the indefinite funding pause is blowing a more than $3 million hole in the budget for next year. That could jeopardize an enrichment and college-accessibility program for underserved students, support for the district's sizable English learner population, professional development, and more, according to Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel. On Friday, the administration told lawmakers it would release funds related to after-school programs, but other program funding remains in limbo and the funds haven't yet arrived.
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Chmiel said the district is considering mounting its own legal challenges in the state's absence, but that would further strain the budget.
'The pinch just keeps getting tighter and tighter,' Chmiel said. 'So our board is going to have to look at it and decide, do we want to take on a lawsuit or preserve a student resource? These are really tough decisions, and it's really hard to look at that map and see all the other states light up and we're blank. All around us, they're participating.'
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Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte's administration
In late March, the Trump administration
The cuts hit four main areas,
Susan Stearns, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire, said the chaos of the cuts and constant concern about what could be coming next from the federal government has made the work her group and others do to provide behavioral health support challenging.
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'I think for all the states that haven't joined some of these lawsuits, it's probably going to lead to some challenging decisions,' Stearns said. 'I would love to say the dust has settled and things are going to be smooth sailing from here on, but I would not feel comfortable saying that.'
She emphasized her group and its peers would nevertheless keep serving New Hampshire and reiterated that the 988 suicide and crisis hot line remains operational for anyone who needs it.
In April, the Trump administration
But Lakes Region Conservation Corps, operated by the Squam Lakes Association in Holderness, N.H., and other local conservation partners, was not spared since New Hampshire didn't join the suit.
remains uncertain.
The organization had 15 full-time and 12 part-time service members who have provided environmental education to 3,000 people, maintained over 100 acres of trails, and been heavily involved in removing invasive plant species like Milfoil from the lake to maintain it as an outdoor attraction.
Squam Lakes Association has been able to tap into its reserves to maintain its current corps, but the long-term stability and scope of the program are still in doubt, its executive director, EB James, said in an interview earlier this month.
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He said Ayotte had told the group she was seeking to work with Washington to get the program back, but watching nearby AmeriCorps programs in Vermont win back funding through litigation was bittersweet.
'At some levels it was heartening to see it was going back for them,' James said. 'At our level, we were very unhappy to not be included in that, and the bar to participate in that was very low.'
The court's June ruling, which was a side decision of a broader suit to block President Trump from abolishing birthright citizenship,
potentially left open some avenues for groups seeking to block federal policies. That included
filing class-action litigation and challenging policies under federal procedural laws. But those are more complicated lawsuits, and legal scholars believe state attorney general cases could be one of the fastest ways for opponents of Trump's actions to get quick protections in court.
Republicans are generally loath to cross Trump, and even when they object to his actions, they've tried to lobby for reversals behind the scenes rather than sue. Some legal observers doubt that even with narrower judicial rulings, that would change.
'Will they feel it? Yes,' said James E. Tierney, a former Democratic attorney general from Maine and director of Harvard's attorney general clinic. 'Do I think a Republican AG will therefore jump in and join? I think the answer is no.'
In New Hampshire, the state attorney general is nominated by the governor. Ayotte has yet to put forth a nominee,
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An ally of Ayotte's acknowledged the new legal landscape could squeeze the state but defended her approach.
'It's going to put more pressure on appointed and elected attorneys general and governors to look hard on what cases to bring,' said Steve Duprey, a former Republican national committeeman and close friend of Ayotte. 'I think prudent ones are picking their shots and on the first instance, trying to work with the administration. ... I have no doubt whatsoever that if the administration was doing something she couldn't resolve that she thinks hurts New Hampshire, that she'll stand up for New Hampshire.'
Tal Kopan can be reached at
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