Harry Litman - Don't Tread on Me, Trump
From the beginning of Trump 2.0, the Trump administration has understood that several of its most extreme ambitions require help from the states. It needs state police to hold immigrants for ICE. It needs state election officials to share voter rolls. It needs state universities to abandon DEI programs, state attorneys general to stand down, state and local governments across the country to stop asking questions and start pulling Trump’s barge.
Allergic to playing nice in the sandbox, not to mention the legal constraints of bossing around other sovereigns, the Trump administration has relied on bluster and strong-arm tactics. It has threatened to cut federal funding, issued executive orders, filed lawsuits, and used the grand-jury process to try to work its will.
Last week, Chief Minnesota district court judge Patrick Schiltz issued a blistering opinion quashing six federal grand-jury subpoenas targeting Minnesota’s governor, two mayors, attorney general, and two county boards. In the process, Schiltz laid down a constitutional marker that reaches far beyond Minnesota and has potential application to the gamut of the fights with states that the feds have provoked.
The subpoenas were part of Operation Metro Surge, the largest civil immigration enforcement operation in DHS history. The administration blanketed the Twin Cities with an over-the-top invasion to find and deport undocumented people. Minnesota, as a state, has an undocumented population that is less than half the national average, but its political leadership is blue.
https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/dont-tread-on-me-trump