CT vs. US: Tong files ‘unprecedented’ challenges to Trump actions

CT Examiner – Friday, January 16, 2026
By Charlotte Harvey

Connecticut and other Democratic-led states filed an extraordinary number of lawsuits against the federal government in 2025, challenging the administration’s actions and fighting for a variety of causes from clean air and drinking water to transgender rights to opposing the weaponization of the Department of Justice.

As of Dec. 1, 2025, Attorney General William Tong joined 39 lawsuits against the federal administration in the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second term — a pace of legal challenges that Tong said was unprecedented.

Tong said that the administration is trying to intimidate and prompt anticipatory compliance among the states, and that the lawsuits are necessary to protect Connecticut residents and counter power grabs by the executive branch.

“We didn’t set out to say, ‘We’re going to sue him every day so we can get up to 35 by October,’” Tong said in an interview. “We are compelled to sue because there have been at least 35 — but many more — offenses to the Constitution, to our rule of law and the guardrails. All of these things have been so threatened in such a profound way that we’ve had to act.”

The lawsuits by Connecticut and other states are part of a battle over federalism and political power, challenging the ability of the executive branch to change laws and funding decisions made by Congress and disputing the reach of the federal government’s authority over states and their residents.

The lawsuits run the gamut through current political battles including public health, the environment, immigration, diversity programs, transgender rights and more.

The first lawsuit challenged the president’s executive order eliminating birthright citizenship, signed on Trump’s first day in office. Other lawsuits have challenged the dismantling of the Department of Education or the tariffs on foreign goods levied by the president. A great portion of the cases concern the withholding of funds already allocated to states or changing the conditions under which states can receive that funding.

To Tong and other coalition members, these lawsuits represent a response to a government violating the Constitution and the principles of federalism and the rule of law. At the heart of the lawsuits is the fight for the rights and sovereignty of the state of Connecticut against federal overreach, as well as the separation of powers.

“Federalism is the essential principle of our country,” Tong said. “It’s kind of where it all starts.”

In the lawsuits over federal funding, Tong said the executive branch is usurping the powers of Congress by revoking money already appropriated or seeking to add restrictions not included by lawmakers. This has included the targeting of DEI programs.

“To say, ‘we’re not going to give you money unless you do what [you’re] told with respect to integration or diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging is just absurd,” Tong said.

The president is not a monarch, and his power is not absolute, Tong said.

“It’s not abstract or conceptual that we have no kings and we don’t bend the knee,” Tong said.

Vincent Candelora, the state legislature’s Republican House minority leader, said he believes Tong is acting in good faith, but he questioned whether the cases will be successful and worth the money being spent on them.

“I think he is attempting to do what’s good,” Candelora said. “So, while the lawsuits on their face aren’t frivolous and aren’t without merit, it just might come with a cost that isn’t worth the benefit.”

Candelora said he believes that the attorney general’s focus could be put toward other, more pressing issues.

“I think that there are resources that are put to those federal cases, and at the same time, you know, he’s here to defend and represent the state of Connecticut,” Candelora said. “Are those resources being spread too thin? And are we losing track of what needs to be done at the local level, at the state level?”

Ben Proto, chairman of the Connecticut GOP, said he thinks that the nature of many of the lawsuits, which often demand funding previously allocated by Congress, go against the idea of federalism.

“[Tong] either wants to protect the state from federal overreach, or he wants the federal government providing things to the state,” Proto said.

Proto said he believes Tong’s lawsuits are political. He points to the fact that Tong’s office has not filed any of the lawsuits, only joined on cases already brought by other states.

“If he truly thought that some of these things should have been brought as actions, he would bring them to the Connecticut federal court on behalf of the state of Connecticut and not be a tagalong,” Proto said.

Roberto Alves, the chairman of the Connecticut Democratic party, said the party supports Tong’s actions.

“If we give up, they win,” Alves said. “I think the attorney general is doing everything he has to do.”

As president of the National Association of Attorneys General, Tong said he feels a special responsibility to bring these cases to be an example for other attorneys general — even if Republican colleagues in the association don’t agree with him.

Tong has also weighed in on other cases against the administration by joining state coalitions in filing amicus briefs, or “friend of the court” briefs, in support of cases brought by nonprofit and advocacy groups.

For example in November, Tong joined 18 other states in filing an amicus brief in the case Make the Road New York v. Noem, a lawsuit brought by the nonprofit group over the Trump administration’s expedited deportation practices.

Tong’s actions are on track with other states of similar size and political leanings. Massachusetts, for instance, joined 40 cases as of Oct. 29, 2025 according to the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.

Though solidly red states have not been part of the states’ lawsuits, some “purple” states that are more Republican than Connecticut have joined. Kentucky, for instance, is a party in six of the state lawsuits that Connecticut has joined. Arizona has signed onto five of the lawsuits.

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