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Now that Joe Biden has left office, it’s a good time to reflect. Or take score, perhaps.
Over the past four years Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton sued the Biden-Harris administration 106 times. And that includes a final suit mere hours before Donald Trump was sworn in as the current president. Oddly enough, Paxton touted his stats recently and celebrated his 100th suit in November with a special press release announcing the achievement.
“For the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration routinely violated the Constitution to implement an agenda that harmed our Nation,” Paxton said in the release. “From unlawfully orchestrating the border invasion to attacking our oil and gas industries and illegally abusing taxpayer money to censor our own citizens, the federal government has been ruthlessly weaponized against the American people. But Texas stood in their way.”
A vocal Trump supporter, the attorney general has been eerily quiet in the earliest days of the new administration, aside from congratulating some staffers who have joined the Trump administration. It’s a stark change from 2021 when Paxton filed his first suit against the Biden-Harris administration on their second day in office.
Now that Paxton no longer has Democratic administration to rile him up, here’s a look back at a few of the many suits he filed in the last few years:
The First Lawsuit
Trump isn’t the first president to enact sweeping measures on border control and immigration on his first day. In 2021, Biden put a hold on deportations for 100 days. It took Paxton all of 48 hours to file a suit to reverse the action taken by Biden.
“In one of its first of dozens of steps that harm Texas and the nation as a whole, the Biden administration directed DHS to violate federal immigration law and breach an agreement to consult and cooperate with Texas on that law,” Paxton said in a release. “Our state defends the largest section of the southern border in the nation. Failure to properly enforce the law will directly and immediately endanger our citizens and law enforcement personnel.”
The Weirdest Lawsuit
In October 2024, the Biden-Harris administration, along with U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, listed seven freshwater mussels as endangered species. When an animal is deemed endangered, certain habitat preservation regulations are enacted. Paxton argued the move overlooked existing efforts within Texas to protect the species and disregarded the potential economic impacts.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is, once again, weaponizing environmental law to target the State of Texas,” Paxton said. “We are suing to block their latest attempt to undermine the Texas economy and unlawfully interfere with State-led efforts to protect our wildlife and natural resources.”
The100th Lawsuit
November 11, 2024, was a big day for Paxton. That’s when he filed his 100th suit against the Biden-Harris administration. The attorney general sued to “block a new rule by the Federal Communications Commission (‘FCC’) that arbitrarily limits States’ rights and unlawfully burdens taxpayers.” The rule capped fees on phone and video calls for incarcerated individuals.
Yet again, I’m suing Biden. I’ll see you in court â¬‡ï¸ #Texaslawsuit #Biden https://t.co/LOJlmFdfk0
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 14, 2021
The COVID Lawsuit(s)
Biden took office in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, and handling the pandemic was one of his primary concerns. He launched the COVID-19 Action Plan, which demanded private companies with more than 100 employees require vaccinations or weekly tests for the unvaccinated. Paxton challenged several of the vaccine mandates Biden called for, including those for the Texas National Guard and government contractors.
Biden doesn’t have the ability to strip individuals of their choice to get a vaccine or not. If Biden thinks his patience is wearing thin, he is clearly underestimating the lack of patience from Texans whose rights he is infringing. #vaccinemandate https://t.co/HbSFaJ5g1d
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) October 31, 2021
The Final Lawsuit
Right down to the wire, Paxton was still taking aim at the Biden-Harris administration. As a last hurrah, the attorney general filed a suit to block a ban on offshore drilling.
“The past four years saw the repeated, intentional effort by Biden and his deep state cronies to subvert our laws, destabilize our nation, and undermine our freedoms. I worked tirelessly to stop these attempts and won time and time again. Soon, when President Trump takes the oath of office, we can begin to undo the damage done.”
