States say they get big return on anti-Trump litigation

By Dave Mason
The Center Square

Attorneys general in California and Arizona say their states are getting billions of dollars back in their many lawsuits over what they call the Trump administration’s violations of laws and the U.S. Constitution.

They say federal funds were unlawfully taken from their states and that the suits have a high ROI or return of investment for the money spent to file them.

“The ROI on these lawsuits for all of the states bringing them – so far they’re just Democratic states – is absolutely enormous,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said, answering a question Thursday from The Center Square during a virtual news conference.

California has spent $500 million on its more than 40 lawsuits against the Trump administration and received back $168 billion in federal funds or $33,600 per every dollar spent, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told The Center Square.

Mayes, who estimated her office’s salaries at $1 million or $2 million, said Arizona has saved $1.5 billion in federal funds that would have been lost if not for its nearly 30 lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Mayes and Bonta held the conference to announce the latest lawsuits by their and other jurisdictions across the nation over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s abrupt cancellation of the $7 billion Solar for All grant program.

The attorneys general say the cancellation will hurt 900,000 low-income or disadvantaged households across the U.S.

Of those, more than 11,000 are in Arizona, Mayes said, noting the grants help low-income and tribal communities. The EPA in 2024 awarded Arizona a $156 million grant for the Solar for All Arizonans program.

“California and our fellow states are due the funds we were granted by Congress,” Bonta told reporters. “In California, we stand to lose almost $250 million, a quarter of a billion dollars. Trump’s EPA is violating contracts with each of our states, acting far beyond the scope of the agency’s authority and violating the separation of powers and the U.S. Constitution.”

The California Public Utilities Commission was set to get $250 million in funds to build community solar systems, which would offer 20% monthly discounts on electricity bills to lower- and middle-income families, according to Bonta’s office.

The suits, filed Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims and Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Western District of Washington, are the 43rd and 44th suits in California and the 27th and 28th in Arizona against the Trump administration. The suits are filed by Democratic attorneys general and public energy organizations from 21 states and the District of Columbia.

“We wouldn’t spend any dollars on litigation if [President Donald] Trump hadn’t acted unlawfully,” Bonta said, answering The Center Square’s question. “If he acts unlawfully and tries to harm our states, we sue him and try to protect our dollars. And there are priceless rights that you can’t put a figure on, like the right to vote and the right to birthright citizenship.”

Bonta added California has won 80% of the time with court orders declaring Trump’s actions unlawful.

Another reporter asked Bonta about Trump’s comments about possibly sending the California National Guard to San Francisco. Bonta said that isn’t necessary and noted crime has fallen in the city. He also noted Trump can’t deploy the National Guard as a federalized police force enforcing laws under the Posse Comitatus Act, a 1878 federal law.

The main focus of Thursday’s press conference was the Solar for All Program.

Bonta and Mayes agreed the U.S. EPA has no authority to circumvent money that Congress approved to help states with renewable energy through the Solar for All program.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed by Trump, does not drop obligated federal funds that the EPA gives to states, Bonta said.

And the cancellation of the program will hurt states, Bonta and Mayes noted.

Mayes said low-income households in Arizona will see their electrical bills rise 20% without Solar for All. She added that the program’s cancellation means the loss of grants to nonprofit and municipality partnerships to develop neighborhood solar projects in low-income and tribal communities.

“It is estimated that 15,000 tribal households in Arizona lack any access to electricity,” Mayes said.

“The loss of the Solar for All program will also make it more difficult for Arizona to meet the projected 40% increased energy demand in the coming years, meaning a less reliable and less resilient grid and higher electricity bills for Arizonan households and businesses alike,” Mayes said. “The unprecedented, illegal cancellation of this critical program is simply unacceptable.”

Democratic attorneys generals filing the suits include those from Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia. The complaints were also filed by the Democratic governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Maryland Clean Energy Center, the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.