What are the 46 lawsuits filed by Washington State against the federal government for.
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Executive summary
Washington’s attorney general has brought dozens of suits against the federal government challenging policies across mail delivery, environmental rules, immigration-related funding conditions, federal personnel actions, and failures to respond to records requests, among other issues [1] [2] [3] [4]. The exact catalogue described as “46 lawsuits” is not contained in the supplied reporting, so the following is a thematic inventory and explanation of the major categories and examples drawn from the available sources [5].
1. Postal Service operational changes — stopping service reductions
One prominent Washington suit challenged sweeping operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service, arguing the Postmaster General implemented reductions unlawfully and seeking to halt service degradations; a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that paused those changes and the federal government later dismissed an appeal as the policy was rescinded [1].
2. Environmental and regulatory petitions — forcing rulemaking and enforcement
Washington has sued to compel federal environmental action, including a successful challenge after the EPA denied a petition to change industry reporting requirements; the court granted summary judgment ordering the agency to amend reporting as the states requested [1].
3. Immigration policy and conditional funding — resisting coercive grant rules
State filings led by Washington have accused federal agencies of illegally coercing states by conditioning billions in FEMA and DOT funding on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, with Washington joining multistate suits against FEMA/DHS and DOT contesting those new funding conditions [2] [6].
4. Federal employee mass firings — protecting workers and public services
Washington joined labor-led litigation challenging sweeping federal personnel actions that removed thousands of federal workers, arguing the firings were “damaging and illegal”; that coalition’s lawsuit secured at least a temporary restraining order halting some terminations [3] [7].
5. FOIA and transparency disputes — suing over no-response to records requests
The attorney general sued multiple federal agencies for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request about the closure of the Seattle National Archives, asking the court to compel a response within statutorily required timeframes [4].
6. Multistate coalitions and constitutional challenges — broader national fights
Washington has led or joined multistate litigation on constitutional grounds and against executive actions, including suits opposing an administration rule on birthright citizenship and other high-profile administration policies, reflecting a strategy of combining state resources with other attorneys general [8].
7. Tactical and political posture — aggressive state-level pushback
The state’s pattern of litigation — described by past reporting as dozens of suits against federal actions during Trump-era administrations — reflects a deliberate strategy of quick legal responses to federal policy changes that the state characterizes as illegal; reporting counted dozens of suits in prior years but the supplied materials do not itemize all 46 referenced in the query [5].
8. Limits of the public record provided — why a complete list isn’t compiled here
The sources supplied summarize high-profile categories and specific cases but do not provide a single, stylized list enumerating “46 lawsuits” with individual case captions and claims, so this analysis synthesizes documented themes and named cases rather than reproducing a comprehensive numbered catalogue that the materials do not contain [1] [2] [5].
9. Competing narratives and hidden agendas
Supporters portray the litigation as defending state sovereignty, public services, and rule of law; critics argue frequent lawsuits can be political signaling or litigation overreach and divert resources — both frames appear in reporting and are implicit in the state’s multistate coalition strategy and public statements by the attorney general’s office [5] [2] [3].
10. Bottom line
Washington’s dozens of suits against the federal government span postal operations, environmental obligations, immigration funding conditions, federal personnel actions, transparency claims, and multistate constitutional fights; the supplied sources document many representative cases and categories but do not list each of “46” suits individually, so a complete item-by-item enumeration cannot be produced from the reporting provided [1] [2] [4] [3] [5].