Washington has been one of the most aggressive states in challenging Trump administration policies in court.
But it is not one of the 16 states that sued this week to challenge the president’s emergency declaration at the southern border. The declaration allows the president to move money already allocated to other departments and dedicate it to a border wall.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson says he’s still mulling over the question of whether to sue.
Speaking at Gonzaga University today [Friday], Ferguson said Washington must prove that it will be harmed in some way by the declaration.
“We’ve prepared our own lawsuit. We prepared it weeks ago," Ferguson said. "And so I think it is likely we would file our own lawsuit here in Washington state, but a lot of factors go into that. What I can say is weeks ago, I asked my team to start drafting a complaint. That complaint is ready to go if there is harm to Washington state and I think it’s fair to say we’d be likely to file our own lawsuit..”
Ferguson says his office will closely monitor from where the administration will pull money for the border. If it’s taken from Defense Department budgets that include funds planned for Washington, he says the state will sue.