It’s easy to describe California’s steady stream of lawsuits against the Trump administration— 16 so far this year and at least 120 during his first term—as political grandstanding. The state is dominated by Democrats, who are opposed the GOP president’s policies so they are using whatever tools they have to gum up the works. Most of the federal briefs filed by California during the Biden administration supported the Democratic president’s objectives.

California isn’t unique in this regard. Texas’ Republican attorney general filed at least 100 lawsuits against the Biden administration and we can’t find many examples of it filing any similar lawsuits during either Trump term. Although this process at times appears unseemly, we celebrate the underlying system of federalism that enables

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