3 days ago
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison says current executive overreach is new in country's history
Jun. 6---- Although state attorneys general and other agencies are currently prevailing in court rulings against what they argue is executive overreach by the
administration, there is still a concern the targeted agencies and departments — created by
— may be forever damaged by the administration's attempts to dismantle them.
Minnesota Attorney General
says he hopes that is not the case, but he does not know.
"I don't think anybody really knows," Ellison told the West Central Tribune in an interview Thursday after a presentation he gave in Willmar. "Our country's never been through this. I mean, from (President George) Washington until now, we've never had a president who's decided, 'I'm going to wreck the administrative state. I'm going to persecute the press by suing them. I'm going to persecute law firms. I'm going to ignore the courts.' This is new."
Since taking office on Jan. 20 through May 23, Trump signed 157 executive orders, compared to the 220 executive orders he signed during his entire first term in office, according to
For further comparison,
signed 162 executive orders during his four-year term,
signed 277 executive orders in his eight years in office and
signed 291 executive orders during his eight years in office.
During Ellison's presentation Thursday at the League of Women Voter of the Willmar Area monthly "Hot Topics" event, he explained the constitutional way to accomplish what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish — by going through Congress.
"It's true that you can change birthright citizenship if you change the 14th Amendment," Ellison said. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, to end birthright citizenship for certain people born in the U.S., which is currently being challenged in the courts.
"You can even abolish the Department of Education if you introduce a bill in the House and in the Senate, you go through the committee process and then the president signs that bill into law," Ellison continued. "But what you cannot do, and which it is absolutely not conservative to do, is to just get rid of the Department of Education through an edict or proclamation, also known as the executive orders. ... You've got to operate constitutionally."
He said he is not aware of another time in American history when the head of state used unconstitutional action to dismantle every American institution, which he and 23 other
attorneys general are working hard to prevent through lawsuits.
Ellison gave numerous examples of the issues that have been caused by the Trump administration's executive orders, including chaos and confusion.
One of the lawsuits brought forth by the attorneys general is against the Trump administration's tariffs.
Ellison served in the U.S. House from 2007 to 2019, including 12 years on the Financial Services Committee.
"I'm not 100% against tariffs," he said. "I think there are times to use tariffs, but you don't have them on again, off again, 50% today, 100% tomorrow, back down to zero, back up to 50%," Ellison said. "... That is the surest way to ruin the economy."
The Trump administration has also been sued over placing conditions on federal funding if local law enforcement agencies do not enforce immigration laws. Ellison explained that local law enforcement has its own jobs to do and the federal government is responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
"I will not interfere with (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) if you have a judicial warrant to arrest somebody and put them in removal proceedings," Ellison said. "I demand, as an American, that they have due process rights, but I'm not going to get in the way of it if that's the legal process."
Another lawsuit making its way through the courts is regarding the impoundment of federal education funding for K-12 schools that are teaching diversity, equity and inclusion.
He pointed out that Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon was asked if teaching African American history would be a violation and she said that she did not know.
"Well, of course, she doesn't know, because it's not defined in law anywhere," he said. "There is no working definition (of diversity, equity and inclusion) that you can apply across the board as to what they say you can't do."
The Trump administration attempt to force voters to prove their citizenship before being allowed to cast a ballot will affect millions of eligible voters who may find it difficult to produce their birth certificate or or other needed documentation if they have changed their name.
Ellison said he used to be an advocate for a nationwide voting system to ensure uniform voting throughout the country.
"I now no longer think that's a good idea, because the saving grace of this moment is to have 50 different voting systems," he said. " ... In a way, this ended up being a strength, because he cannot just go to some federal voting agency and say, 'Do it my way.' It's state by state."
The Trump administration is also being sued in relation to transgender rights, with which not everyone in the audience would agree, Ellison noted during his presentation Thursday.
When U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened to sue Minnesota over its law allowing transgender youth to play for the sports team with which they identify, Ellison sued first.
He said he believes that youth sports is about hanging out with friends, learning sportsmanship and learning not to quit.
"I believe sports are good for kids, and kids should get to play. That's where I'm coming from," he said.
He is also suing the Trump administration over its threat to pull congressionally-approved federal funding for medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care.
