by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
As appearing in the Daily Sentinel
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Recent reports about the extraordinary number of lawsuits against the Trump administration verify exactly what some of us predicted.
After the 2016 election, it seemed clear that opponents of major policy changes would take their battle to court. That’s because one party had gained control of the White House and both Houses of Congress, leaving the other party with little influence in the legislative branch. After the mid-term elections, the opposition gained control of the House, but not the Senate, leaving a divided government that makes Congress mostly dysfunctional. Congress is the main “check and balance” to the executive branch, so when it cannot act, presidents are empowered and emboldened. That leaves the judiciary branch as the only other means for stopping executive action. It is opponents’ only chance for victory on some issues, and at a minimum, delays implementation of new policies.
A couple weeks after the 2016 election, in this space, I wrote about the certainty of the coming spate of lawsuits against almost everything the new president tried to do. I didn’t have a crystal ball, just listened to what opponents said. Conservation Law Foundation President Bradley Campbell said at the time that environmental advocates expected President Trump to “loosen or eliminate a wide range of federal environmental protections,” and promised that environmental groups would use the courts to try and stop him. They have.
