RALEIGH — North Carolina’s Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson has racked up participation in at least 17 lawsuits against the Trump administration over his first 11 months in office.
The cases Jackson entered the state into have had mixed results, with several of the lawsuits still active in various courts.
In the AmeriCorps funding pause case, Jackson joined the suit on April 24, an injunction was issued in June, and on Aug. 27, the Office of Management and Budget released $185 million, rendering the suit moot.
A June lawsuit involving grants to law enforcement agencies was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Also from June, the lawsuit over PBS and NPR funding is still active even though Congress eliminated $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funds this summer.
The U.S. Department of Education freezing $6.8 billion in federal education grants for a review on June 30 occurred the day before the funds were scheduled to be released to states July 1. Jackson issued a press release about joining a lawsuit on July 14, but 10 days later, the department released the funding.
Jackson’s participation in the SNAP lawsuit didn’t have long to make an impact and was preceded the prior day by Jackson issuing a “warning” to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). He also issued a statement on the SNAP case when a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued, as well as a statement on Nov. 3 following the USDA indicating partial payments were coming. The U.S. Supreme Court put the TRO order on hold Nov. 7, and with the federal government shutdown at an end, the Trump administration withdrew its motions and benefits have resumed.
Alternatively, the TRO issued regarding the July FEMA/BRIC funding lawsuit is an example of a partial success that some lawsuits have had.
North State Journal reached out to the N.C. Department of Justice twice for comment on the lawsuits but received no response.
Earlier this year, lawmakers at the General Assembly sought to curb Jackson from entering into these types of lawsuits through Senate Bill 58. The bill, however, stalled out in mid-March and is still sitting in the House Rules Committee.
The bill sought to prohibit Jackson from suing or participating in a lawsuit against the Trump administration in any action that would result in the invalidation of a presidential executive order.
Senate Bill 58’s language would also block Jackson from advancing “any argument as a participant in any action pending before a state or federal court in another state that would result in the invalidation of any statute enacted by the General Assembly.”
Jackson’s lawsuits
The lawsuits below, in chronological order, are broken down by month, followed by the total number of lawsuit announcements. Most of the list was compiled from North Carolina Department of Justice press releases.
January (2): N.C. joins lawsuit against Trump birthright order; Jackson sues to block freeze on federal funds
February (3): Jackson wins temporary restraining order to protect people’s data from DOGE; Jackson wins temporary restraining order to prevent unlawful health care cuts; Jackson supports federal government’s efforts to protect preventive health care
April (2): Jackson sues over unlawful $230 million cuts to North Carolinians’ health care; Jackson wins injunction to support western North Carolina recovery
June (2): Jackson advocates to protect nearly $42 million in N.C. law enforcement funding; Jackson takes legal action to defend North Carolinians’ access to critical information during natural disasters
July (3): Jackson joins lawsuit over federal education funding freeze; Jackson joins lawsuit over FEMA program funding; Jackson challenges lack of transparency in federal spending
August (1): Jackson joins labor union lawsuit
October (3): Jackson moves to prevent reportedly corrupt HPE/Juniper Networks merger settlement; Jackson sues to win back more than $150 million to lower North Carolinians’ energy costs; Jackson sues USDA for withholding more than $230 million in monthly food assistance to North Carolinians, including 600,000 children
November (1): Jackson sues to protect $17 million for N.C.’s emergency management and first responders
