Attorney General Steve Marshall stays focused on protecting Alabamians, even when pursuing cases out of state.
He's recently joined or helped lead multiple lawsuits against the Biden administration on issues such as energy policy and First Amendment rights—issues that could eventually impact Alabama if allowed to infect other areas unimpeded.
Marshall joined "1819 News: The Podcast" on Wednesday to discuss how and why he takes on these cases and how they could adversely affect Alabama.
"I don't sue Joe Biden just because it's good to sue Joe Biden, although I've never gone home when I've done it and felt, man, that was a bad decision. It's a good day," he said.
Before deciding whether or not to bring a lawsuit, Marshall said he first looks at three criteria.
"Number one, does the federal action impact the people of Alabama adversely? Does it impact our economy in an adverse way? And third, does it violate the rule of law? In each of those settings, if that criteria is met, then I think we have the obligation to consider whether or not we take action to be able to move forward," he said.
Since the Biden administration has failed to fully implement its leftist agenda through congressional action, Marshall said it's turned to putting pressure on federal agencies to enforce policies.
"They take the whole of government approach to federal agencies and say, y'all need to weigh in on climate change, you need to weigh in on our gender ideology policy, you need to use this to be able to enforce his idea of racial equity," Marshall said. "And so they use federal agencies to do it even though it may be far afield from the mandate that they've been given by Congress. Or we see it occur through executive order."
"When we see those actions take place, then we have the ability to be able to weigh in," he added.
Marshall gave the example of Biden's new tailpipe emissions standard for fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, which Marshall said is designed to force drivers to switch to electric.
"I think it's a crazy policy because we don't have the technology to do it. We clearly don't have the capacity to be able to meet those demands," he said. "But what we also know is automobile manufacturers are losing money on electric vehicles, and the way that they get their money back is to elevate the cost of gas and diesel-powered vehicles. So that the impact for Alabama as a result of this tailpipe emission rule is it gets into the pocketbook of an Alabamian. And my responsibility is to push back."
Marshall said some of his critics accuse him of trying to score political points by pursuing certain cases in other states, but he said if they would "dig a little deeper," they could see the larger issue impacting Alabama.
Marshall gave California's Clean Air Act, Amish religious exemptions for vaccines in New York, and the First Amendment rights of a Catholic adoption agency in Philidelphia as other examples of cases outside the state that can affect Alabamians.
"While those are actions and people occurring outside of Alabama that don't directly impact us, there is an impact to us implicitly if a law comes out adversely to what we believe it ought to be or if we see that principle spread."
Marshall said the Biden administration has "gone into hyperdrive" with issuing regulations "because they understand what's going to happen in November," referring to the high odds of Donald Trump retaking the White House.
He concluded, "Let's embrace the concept of federalism. Yes, states ought to be the laboratories of democracy, but your choice and how you conduct your affairs in your state also don't need to adversely impact the way that we choose to do ours in the state of Alabama. The fact that I get to fight those fights is a really unique opportunity for me as AG."
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
