by Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General
As we anticipated, Donald Trump’s new administration captured a lot of attention this January. I’m sure he doesn’t mind the headlines, and it doesn’t seem to me that he’s too worried about the worried kitchen table conversations that are happening in Minnesota and across the country. But hopefully he’s taking seriously the attention his administration is getting from my Office.
We sued to block the administration’s unconstitutional executive order on birthright citizenship, because the constitution couldn’t be clearer – anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a U.S. citizen, and it’s been that way for more than 125 years.
We signed onto a memo reminding the President and everyone else that the constitution prevents the federal government from commandeering states to enforce federal laws. That means the administration can’t threaten local law enforcement into cooperating with his deportation agenda. We want Minnesota resources to go toward Minnesota state business, not Donald Trump’s business.
We sued to stop the Trump administration from withholding trillions of dollars in federal funding that states rely on. This dangerous action would gut funding for Minnesota schools, our healthcare system, and our law enforcement. We won’t let this unconstitutional act go unchallenged.
And that was just over the course of 11 days! We’ll keep fighting every instance of executive overreach to protect Minnesotans, but it’s important to know that, even as we work overtime to keep Minnesota safe from President Trump’s authoritarian tactics, we haven’t missed a beat in other big areas of work in our state. Some highlights from January:
We sued John Deere to protect farmers from high repair costs and unfair tactics. For decades, John Deere has made it difficult for farmers and other small businesses to repair Deere equipment, forcing them to rely on repair dealers that are expensive, slow, and often far away from their customers. We’re asking John Deere to make its repair tool software available to independent repair providers and owners of Deere machinery.
We launched a lawsuit against High Light Vapes for deceptive tobacco marketing, marketing vapes to children, and consumer fraud. These vape products are explicitly designed to be easily concealable and usable by school-age children, and I can’t let any ignore the health of our children to make a quick buck. I’m suing to stop this unlawful practice and prevent a generation of younger Minnesotans from getting hooked on nicotine.
Finally, we landed a settlement with insulin manufacturer Novo Nordisk that will make their insulin products available for $35 per month for the next five years. When this Office took on the big three insulin manufacturers in 2018, a month’s supply of insulin could cost hundreds of dollars. Our agreement with Novo Nordisk mirrors those we secured with Eli Lilly and Sanofi, which means that no matter what insulin products you use in Minnesota, you no longer have to choose between affording your life and affording to live.
This Office knows how to walk and chew gum at the same time. If Donald Trump keeps looking for new ways to break the law and infringe on your rights, we’ll be there to put a stop to it. And we’ll do it without slowing down on any of our work to help Minnesotans afford their lives and live with dignity, safety, and respect.