Since President Donald Trump took office in January, Colorado has joined over a dozen lawsuits challenging the president’s policies and executive orders, notably in the areas of gender transition, illegal immigration, and tariffs.
Judges have suspended or halted several of these orders. The administration has also won in other areas. Many of the cases are expected to land before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately.
AmeriCorps
Colorado, which Democrats dominate at the state level, joined roughly two dozen states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s orders to cancel grants and place AmeriCorps staffers on administrative leave, which the challengers described as aprelude to dismantling the agency. In Colorado, grants from the agency are managed by Serve Colorado, and the money goes to several groups, including the Colorado Youth for a Change, United Way of Southwest Colorado, and Colorado State University,Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a news release.
Tariffs
On April 23Gov. Jared Polis and Weiser announcedColorado would join a multistate lawsuitto block President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on more than 90 countries. China has retaliated in response, while other countries have agreed to negotiate with the U.S. Polis said the tariffs will hurt Colorado exports in several industries, particularly in agriculture, where he has stressed that beef is one of the state’s major exports. The Trump administration argued that the tariffs would remedy decades of trade imbalance, under which other countries have taken advantage of lower barriers to enter the American market while keeping theirs high.
Federal Trade Commission
On April 18Colorado joined 21 other state attorneys insupporting two Democratic federal trade commissioners, whom Trump fired.
Social Security
On April 16Colorado joined 20 other states to block what they described as“erratic management and unlawful layoffs“ in the Social Security Administration. On April 25the Trump administration reclassifiedgovernment employees, making them easier to fire. The Trump administration has argued that the firings are necessary to shrink the federal government, which it described as ripe with bloat, fraud, and waste.
Affordable Care Act
On April 14Colorado and several other states filed motions to intervenein a lawsuit seeking to defend the accessby Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients to the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. The states want to stop attempts by the White House to repeal rules created during the Biden era.
Libraries and museum
On April 4Colorado joined a coalition of 20 other states in suingthe Trump administration over its directive to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, the Federal Mediation, and Conciliation Service, and four other agencies to eliminate programs and reduce their functions to the minimum mandated by law. The lawsuit claimed that translated to “gutting operations — statutorily mandated or not.”
Voting registration
On April 3Colorado joined 19 other states in filing a lawsuit against Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the federal Election Assistance Commission for whatthey insisted is an “unconstitutional“ order to modify the national voter registration formand require documentary proof of American citizenship. The administration said the change would help “protect Americans’ voting rights and guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error.”
Public health grants
On April 1Colorado joined 23 other states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit, whichalleged that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “illegally“ terminated $11 billion in public health grantswhose funding approved Congress during the pandemic. The administration said the COVID-19 pandemic is over and the federal health agency will “no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.”
Department of Education
On March 13Colorado joined 20 other states tostop the Trump administration from dismantling the Department of Educationand firing 50% of its workforce. The administration said closing the department “would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them.“ Critics said the department’s “evisceration“ will harm “Coloradans, undermine our education system, and create chaos.“
Perkins Coie
On March 12Colorado joined attorneys general from 20 other states in arguing that the president’sMarch 6 executive order on the law firm Perkins Coie is an “attempt to exclude certain lawyers and certain viewpoints from reaching a court of law.“ A federal judge criticized the Justice Department for the executive order. The judge is still considering whether the executive order is unlawful. The Trump memo revoked the security clearance of people working for the law firm and asked agency heads to terminate contracts with the company. The White House accused the law firm of working with “activist donors“ to“overturn popular, necessary, and democratically enacted election laws, including those requiring voter identification.”
K-12 teacher preparation grants
On March 6Colorado joined a multistate coalition to challenge a Trump order thatterminated $600 million in grant funding for K-12 teacher preparation programswhich the House claimed have become vehicles to “train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies,“ such as “critical race theory,” “social justice activism,” “anti-racism” and “instruction on white privilege and white supremacy.“ In Colorado, federal funds account for $2.8 million in funding, and critics said defunding the programs would have a direct, negative impact on Colorado schools, particularly in rural areas.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
On Feb. 20Weiser joined 23 other states to stop the Trump administration fromdisbanding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. On Feb. 9Trump ordered the bureau to stop all ongoing work.
Gender transition services
On Feb. 19Colorado joined alawsuit to invalidate Trump’s order to end federal funding to medical institutions that provide gender transition services. Critics of the order said it would “result in irreversible physical and mental health harms for transgender youth.“ The administration said medical professionals are “maiming and sterilizing” impressionable young children by performing irreversible surgical and chemical interventions by providing them with “puberty blockers” — drugs that suppress sex hormones during puberty — or performing sex change operations.
‘Birthright citizenship’
On Feb. 13Coloradojoined a coalition of attorneys general and the city of San Francisco in applauding a federal judge for granting a preliminary injunction against Trump’s orders. The case on birthright citizenship is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Medical research
On Feb. 10Colorado joined 21 other states tosue the Trump administration for cutting funds that support medical research at universities and research institutions.The administration’s plan for a 15% cap on all “indirect costs“ will cut more than $4 billion in federal funding for biomedical research across the country. CU Anschutz officials estimated the campus will lose $74 million in annual funding if the cuts are enacted.In announcing the cuts, NIH said it needs to “carefully steward grant awards,“ noting that, of the $35 billion it spent in fiscal year 2023, about $26 billion went to “direct costs“ for research, while $9 billion was allocated to “overhead“ expenses through the indirect cost rate.
Department of Government Efficiency
On Feb. 7Colorado joined 19 attorneys general in filing alawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing certain information from the Treasury Department and Social Security. On Feb. 8a judge sided with the 19 states, saying DOGE could not access sensitive data in the Treasury Department.
Federal funds
On Jan. 28Colorado filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration toreverse the president’s order to freeze federal funds. On March 6Colorado secured a court order to restore federal funding.
