Bob Ferguson speaks to the crowd at a Washington State Democratic Party gathering in Seattle, on election night, after winning the governor’s race. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
After suing the Trump administration nearly 100 times as attorney general, Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson has an idea of what the next four years could look like.
Ferguson said Thursday he and his team have spent the last year preparing for the prospect of another Trump presidency, something that became a reality this week when Donald Trump was elected to a second term.
“We’re not just waking up yesterday thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a Trump administration coming. We need to get ready for it,’” Ferguson told reporters during a press conference. “There has been a lot of work for many, many months from my team to prepare for this.”
That preparation has included reading the entirety of Project 2025 – an almost 1,000-page national conservative policy playbook embraced by Trump supporters, talking to other Democratic attorneys general, and quickly catching up his successor, Nick Brown, who won his election this week.
Trump will take office on Jan. 20, 2025. Ferguson and Brown will be sworn in to their new jobs on Jan. 15.
During the first Trump administration, Ferguson sued the federal government 99 times, including 36 cases led by Washington state. Those cases challenged Trump’s Muslim travel ban, his decision to revoke student visas for international students during the pandemic, and a host of environmental rollbacks. Washington only lost three of those cases.
He said Thursday he couldn’t speak to any specific actions the attorney general’s or governor’s offices might take because it would depend on what exactly they were fighting against.
Ferguson said he is particularly concerned about the federal government limiting access to reproductive health care, removing protections for LGBTQ+ residents and eliminating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals which protects immigrants who came to the U.S. as children without legal authorization from deportation.
Washington has a lot of state protections already in place in these areas, but Brown said his team will be ready to tackle anything.
“We will be prepared for whatever comes and do everything in our power to defend the rights of Washingtonians, the people of this great state, and to make sure that when there is an illegal action, that we look very closely to see if we can bring a case,” Brown said.
On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee called Ferguson and Brown “the best duo to defend Washington state.”
“Whatever happened in the presidential race, it’s not going to turn us around,” Inslee said. “We’re not going to be slowed down in our effort for justice for our people.”
But their fight won’t come without challenges.
In the same way that Washington officials might be more prepared to spar with the Trump administration than they were in 2017, Ferguson said Trump’s team is also likely more prepared and will be less sloppy in how they roll out some executive actions.
There are also more conservative appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court than there were in 2017, which could make it more challenging, he said.
And if Republicans win majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, Washington leaders will have to scrutinize legislation that is passed to ensure it is legal and doesn’t infringe on any state laws.
There is also plenty that Trump could legally do that Washington couldn’t challenge, Ferguson said. He said his team tries to be disciplined in deciding which cases to bring against the federal government – part of the reason they have been so successful.
At the end of the day, Ferguson said he hopes he is overprepared.
“I pray that the things we’re talking about don’t come to pass. If this team never has to file a single lawsuit against the Trump administration, no one would be more happy than me,” Ferguson said. “But I’m not naive.”
Though Brown is concerned about the next presidential administration, he pointed out that many issues Washingtonians care about are determined at a state or local level. For example, Washington has some of the best state-level protections for reproductive rights and the environment, he said.
It’s also possible the federal government under Trump could try to withhold or cut federal funding from states that don’t follow certain policy guidelines.
If the Trump administration does this illegally, Ferguson said Washington would be prepared to fight back in court.
State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti noted in a statement on Thursday that denying federal funds to states was called out as a “coercion” tactic in the Project 2025 plan.