Trump Will Subject States’ Rights to His Hypocrisy
Photo Courtesy: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
“Transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American people”. This claim marked the beginning of the last Trump presidency in 2016. The former, and future, president championed states’ rights. Nowhere was this clearer than in his rhetoric, and later, actions, surrounding abortion rights. This April saw his Truth Social post, lambasting Senator Lindsey Graham, whilst reaffirming his efforts to revert Roe v. Wade were “all about” the will to preserve states’ rights.
Those expecting Trump to battle for the restoration of states’ rights will be direly wrong. The reality of Trump’s policies, witnessed in his first term, stands in contrast to his rhetoric. The states he once pledged to restore as “laboratories of democracy” will instead see challenges to their jurisdiction.
In his first term, Trump threatened states’ rights across the United States and all areas of government. The Trump administration went against states’ wishes in the five-year offshore drilling plan, on the marijuana industry and state sanctuary policies.
His second term will be no different.
Trump’s pick of Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency ensures that environmental regulation will be one area where the federal government will exert its force. California will be one of the main targets. The Clean Air Act of 1967 provides California with a waiver, granding the authority to set emission standards stricter than the federal regulation, which other states can then adopt subject to EPA approval. Donald Trump has clearly targeted California environmental law in his plan for his upcoming administration, threatening bills banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles in 2035, requiring zero-emission ferry boat use where feasible and introducing age limits for trains; all yet to be approved by the EPA.
This is, of course, if these bills survive until the administration revokes California’s waiver. A legal initiative conducted by Republican attorneys generals and oil groups is challenging the legal basis of the waiver, with the case likely to reach the Republican-dominated Supreme Court by January.
States’ rights, to Donald Trump, are simply another tool to exert the necessary influence to impose his preferred policies, clear even with reproductive rights. After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law, the former president called on the state’s legislature to respond to the ruling, posting that the GOP should side with “Miracle of Life”.
If Donald Trump was truly committed to bringing power back to Americans, California’s jurisdiction over environmental policy should increase not diminish. Californians have signalled their preference for stricter environmental legislation. This year’s California Proposition 4, calling on the creation of bonds for “wildfire prevention” and “land protection efforts”, garnering 59.3% of the vote. Californians are not alone. 62% of Washingtonians voted against repealing their carbon tax credit trading system.
Considering the inevitable consequences of Trump’s hypocrisy, states must act now to preserve their rights. California set the example during the last Trump administration, arranging an agreement with several vehicle manufacturers to preserve their emissions regulations when faced with threats of revocation.
California is yet again betting that companies will want to enter into agreements with states rather than risk the uncertain results of court cases. As the agreement comes to a close in 2026, regulators are in negotiations to extend and toughen its contents. Other states should do the same.
Campaigning as a defender of states’ rights is politically convenient for Trump. Yet the insignificance of the cause to the former president is clear as soon as it stands in the way of his political ambitions. Trump utilises the argument of states’ rights solely when it favours him. States, Democrat or Republican, will have to act before their rights turn conditional.