Republican state attorneys general are aggressively seeking to keep the Biden administration in check and hold federal bureaucrats accountable. Since Joe Biden took office, attorneys general such as Brenna Bird of Iowa, Steve Marshall of Alabama, and Alan Wilson of South Carolina have filed dozens of lawsuits against the administration including most recently suing the administration over new regulations that would criminalize millions of firearms owners. All three AGs will speak on a panel at the Republican National Lawyers Association National Policy Conference on May 17.
Bird co-led a 21-state coalition, which includes Alabama, and South Carolina, in a lawsuit challenging the Biden Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ extreme new rule that effectively bans gun sales.
The rule significantly expands the definition of a “firearms dealer,” forcing law-abiding citizens to register as federal firearms dealers to sell even a single gun between family members. Americans who fail to do so may face significant penalties—including possible prison time. Transactions do not have to involve the exchange of money but could also include personal property or payment through service.
"It is clear that Biden will stop at nothing to criminalize law-abiding citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” Bird said. “As a prosecutor, I see his administration looking the other way when it comes to prioritizing going after gang members and violent felons with guns. Instead, he targets law-abiding firearms owners. It is wrong for Biden to force Iowans to become licensed firearms dealers just to sell a gun to a friend or family member. I am taking Biden to court to stand up for Iowans’ Second Amendment rights.”
The complaint alleges the Biden Administration’s new rule violates the Second Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires that federal agencies fully consider the costs of a proposed rule—and that rule’s legality—before imposing it on the country.
In March Bird, Marshall, and Wilson were part of an 11-state coalition of Republican AGs who sued the Biden administration over its latest student loan cancellation scheme.
The AGs argue the new plan is essentially the same one the Supreme Court rejected last year. “Last time Defendants tried this the Supreme Court said that this action was illegal. Nothing since then has changed,” according to the lawsuit.
You can tell it’s an election year because Biden is back to buying votes with YOUR taxpayers dollars.
— Brenna Bird (@BrennaBird) April 8, 2024
See you in Court!https://t.co/LSX3FLLOVC
Most recently, AGs Marshall and Wilson filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule, which would change the meaning of “sex” to “gender identity” and effectively abolish female-only bathrooms and locker rooms in schools across America.
“Since taking office, Joe Biden has brazenly attempted to use federal funding to force radical gender ideology onto states that reject it at the ballot box,” Marshall said. “Now our schoolchildren are the target. The threat is that if Alabama’s public schools and universities do not conform, then the federal government will take away our funding. Rest assured, Biden will not be successful.”
⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/gP2ATuWnr4
— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) April 1, 2024
Wilson said that as the father of a teenage daughter, this issue is personal to him.
“Title IX exists to protect women and provide an equal opportunity to compete in sports. I can’t believe we’re in a time where that's being threatened. I want [my daughter] to be able to use the bathroom and locker rooms at school without worrying about her safety or having the eyes of a biological male where they should not be. This is not a complicated idea, legally or otherwise, and we’re committed to fighting back as long as it takes."
We sued Biden over his unlawful changes to Title IX. Title IX exists to protect women and provide them equal opportunity in education and athletics, and I can't believe that is under attack. But I'm committed to fighting back as long as it takes.https://t.co/N7tVwR2p2I
— Alan Wilson (@AGAlanWilson) April 30, 2024
We are grateful for our Republican state attorneys general who are fighting for a stable and predictable legal, business, and regulatory climate to ensure our communities are the safest places to live, work, and raise a family. Their leadership has been critical in the fight against the Biden’s Administration regulative overreach.