Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield collaborates nearly every day via Zoom with 22 other Democratic state attorneys general nationwide to address ongoing threats to civil liberties, job security, and essential services faced by residents due to the Trump administration. Together, they strategize on how to mount legal challenges.
In the past three months, these Democratic attorneys general have filed over a dozen lawsuits against President Donald Trump and his administration, with many achieving favorable outcomes. According to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, federal judges have issued temporary restraining orders in nearly every case, successfully blocking attempts to end birthright citizenship and to cut funding for vital research at the National Institutes of Health.
During a “Safeguarding Oregon” forum hosted by Mayes and Rayfield at Portland State University on Thursday night, approximately 200 attendees expressed concerns regarding federal threats to Social Security, Medicaid, rural health clinics, unions, and food banks.
On the same day, Rayfield filed Oregon’s 13th lawsuit against the Trump administration, aiming to prevent officials from withholding COVID relief funds that had already been promised to schools. This marked Rayfield’s 100th day in office.
The attorneys general assured the audience that they would persist in suing the Trump administration for actions deemed unconstitutional and illegal. Mayes has initiated a reporting form on her office’s website for Arizona residents to document any disruptions to their Social Security benefits, with her staff already receiving around 60 complaints.
Event moderator Melissa Unger, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, Oregon’s largest public services and care provider union, characterized the state attorneys general as the “last line of defense” in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of Oregonians.
According to data from the Oregon Health Authority and analysis from Oregon Health & Science University, over one-third of Oregonians rely on Medicaid for health insurance, with 45% of pregnancies and 57% of children in the state covered by the program. Matt Newell-Ching, public policy manager for the Oregon Food Bank, expressed concern that hunger in the state is already prevalent and may worsen due to impending federal cuts.
In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed millions in funding for food assistance programs nationwide, resulting in the cancellation of approximately 90 truckloads of food intended for Oregon Food Bank locations across the state.
Newell-Ching noted that demand at Oregon Food Bank sites had already risen by nearly one-third over the past year due to escalating food and housing costs, as well as the expiration of pandemic assistance like the child tax credit and emergency SNAP benefits. He anticipates that demand will continue to grow as the Trump administration threatens further cuts and imposes stricter documentation requirements for accessing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school lunch subsidies, and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
Graham Trainor, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, representing over 300,000 working Oregonians, condemned Trump’s actions in terminating tens of thousands of federal employees and issuing an executive order that undermines collective bargaining and organizing rights for federal workers across more than 30 agencies under the pretext of national security.
Trainor urged the attorneys general to protect these workers and union activists from potential actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Recently, ICE detained Washington farm union organizer Alfredo Juarez Zeferino, along with students from Oregon colleges who have had their visas unlawfully revoked.
