Gov. Ferguson requests nearly $5 million in budget proposal for federal litigation

Gov. Bob Ferguson’s proposed budget includes nearly $5 million in funding to pay for the state’s lawsuits against the Trump administration.

The request, included in the proposal released by Ferguson last week, would earmark $4.7 million in funding to the attorney general’s office for “federal administration litigation.” If approved by the Legislature, the funding would be a slight uptick over the $4.5 million provided to the attorney general’s office in fiscal year 2026.

“The federal government has taken unprecedented actions affecting the rights of Washingtonians, including funding for many important services. Washington has been a leader among states challenging these federal government actions,” the governor’s proposal states. “Funding provided enables the Office of the Attorney General to continue defending the rights and services of Washington residents.”

About a quarter of the way through the second Trump administration, Washington has been among the most active states challenging federal policy. The frequent lawsuits continue a trend set during the first Trump administration when Ferguson, then serving as state attorney general, sued the federal government nearly 100 times.

Over the past 11 months, the state filed or joined 49 lawsuits against the Trump administration to protect more than $15 billion in at-risk federal funding over the next decade. Of the lawsuits, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is either leading or co-leading 19.

“The tie that binds all of these cases together is Washington state’s resilience in the face of unconstitutional or illegal actions to protect the best interests of our state and the people of our state,” Brown said as he announced a lawsuit in early December. “And we will continue to do that every day, and fight and challenge those unlawful actions.”

In their request for funding, the attorney general’s office wrote that “Arbitrary and illegal funding pauses and cuts have been a common strategy by the federal government and have led to frequent litigation.”

At the current pace, Brown appears likely to comfortably surpass the number of lawsuits filed by then-Attorney General Ferguson against the first Trump administration. Between January 2017 and January 2021, the state filed or joined 99 lawsuits against the federal government, with Washington leading 39 of the cases, according to a tracker maintained by the state attorney general’s office.

With more than three years until the next president is sworn into office, the attorney general’s office believes the challenges will continue. In their request for funding, the attorney general’s office wrote that “the pace of litigation likely will increase as agency heads and appointees become more familiar with their positions.”

While much of the litigation remains ongoing, the attorney general’s office has successfully secured millions in funding for the state.

In August, a coalition of state attorneys general reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education following a multistate lawsuit to restore $7 billion in federal funding the Trump administration had withheld. The agreement restored nearly $137 million in federal K-12 and $13 million in federal funding for adult education and workforce development programs.

In October, Brown filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency over the cancellation of a $7 billion grant program to encourage clean and solar energy. Under the program, Washington would have received $156 million.

Brown filed a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development last month, alleging the agency illegally placed conditions on the Continuum of Care grant program, which would reduce how much funding can be awarded to permanent housing. According to the governor’s budget, the changes threaten $120 million in grant funding for permanent supportive housing in high-need counties and $25 million in grant funding for rural counties.

The litigation against the EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development is ongoing.

Brown filed the state’s first lawsuit against the administration, which challenged President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship through an executive order, the day after Trump was sworn into office.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear oral arguments in a separate case challenging Trump’s executive order, which has never gone into effect.