With Disputed Legal Maneuver, Trump Tries to Set Policy Without Legislation

Last June, the Trump administration hauled Texas into court, claiming that a decades-old state law once championed by Republicans violated federal law.Within six hours, the two sides reached an agreement.Instead of fighting, Texas immediately settled.Led by Attorney General Ken Paxton, a close ally of President Trump, Texas simply agreed the state law, which allowed undocumented high school students to pay in-state tuition at public universities, should be invalidated.

The resolution eliminated any need for a slow and messy vote to overturn the statute in the State Legislature.It was one of a string of lawsuits in which the Trump administration has reached settlements with friendly adversaries.The strategy appears to have allowed the administration to do an end run around the legislative process and enact policies that will affect states and, in some cases, the whole country.The settlements have come despite Supreme Court rulings that require lawsuits to be waged between adversarial parties and a reticence among administration officials dating to Mr.Trump’s first term with entering legal settlements that bind the government’s hands.In some cases, like in Texas, the legal maneuver has allowed states to quietly break free from their own laws, outside the normal legislative process.

In others, it has helped the Trump administration lock in changes at the federal level that could persist for years after Mr.Trump leaves office.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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