Md. Attorney General outlines fight against Trump executive orders: “Chaos is coming from Washington”

MARYLAND – Attorney General Anthony Brown (D – Md.) warned that “chaos is coming from Washington” in a press conference Monday. He laid out several actions the office of the Attorney General has taken in Maryland to fight against executive orders signed by President Donald Trump since taking office.

Funding Freeze, Treasury Troubles

In an overnight ruling Saturday, a federal judge blocked Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing U.S. Treasury Department payment systems. They were also ordered to destroy any information already obtained. Brown was just one of 19 Attorneys General involved in the suit.

Just three weeks before, Brown joined suit with 22 other Attorneys General to stop President Trump’s executive order freezing nearly all federal funding. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the freeze. The coalition is asking for a permanent injunction.

Brown said the coalition of Attorneys General working against the president’s executive orders remains vigilant. He added tens of billions of dollars are at stake. In 2024, the State of Maryland received $11 billion in federal funding, while individual Marylanders received $50 billion in federal aid.

“(The Trump Administration’s) intentions remain clear. They will keep looking for ways to cut critical funding … This was a critical win in stopping reckless mismanagement and protecting Americans’ financial security,” Brown said.

Health Care Battles

Meanwhile, Brown said he and other Attorneys General are closely watching cuts to funding for the National Institutes of Health. This comes as the agency has capped certain grant funding for overhead and administrative costs.

“The funding loss will devastate lab operations, delay breakthroughs, and harm the United States’ global leadership in biomedical research. This is harmful … We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars that would be blocked, undermining and undercutting the ability to do this important research. Much of it is life-saving. It creates many jobs and sustains the research capacity that we have here in Maryland,” Brown said.

Also on the forefront of health, President Trump at the end of January issued an executive order placing new restrictions on access to gender-affirming care. Brown said he is considering options to join a lawsuit against the order.

“Executive orders like this strip transgender people of their humanity. They send a message that the president doesn’t see them, and worse, drag politics into deeply personal medical decisions … We invest a lot of time working with the medical community in establishing the standards of care … Federal law that protects people against mutilation in illegal, inappropriate practices of medicine—that doesn’t apply to gender-affirming care,” Brown said.

Brown: Don’t Take the Buyout

Brown also warned against the Trump Administration’s buyout scheme for about 60,000 federal workers. He and other Attorneys General filed a brief against the plan on Sunday.

“We’ve urged federal workers considering this misleading offer to consult with your union representatives. The buyout promises pay and benefits but workers may still be forced to work with a looming federal shutdown,” Brown said.

The federal government is funded through March 14. Brown said he is hoping a federal judge will suspend the buyout program. He also questioned whether the president has the authority to offer such an initiative.

“There’s no telling what federal funding will be continued either in a continued resolution of in (year-end) appropriations. The terms of this so-called buyout are uncertain,” Brown said.

Looking Ahead

Brown said his office’s Federal Accountability Unit will be extremely busy in the coming months.

The Maryland Defense Act of 2017 made way for the creation of the unit. Six members make up its staff. Brown said about 1.2 percent of his office’s $60 million budget funds the unit.

“The fight is far from over. Many of these victories are temporary and we will continue to litigate these cases … We feel as if we have strong cases to make. The law is on our side, and we think that the facts, as they are revealed, demonstrate that this president and this administration are acting lawlessly,” Brown said.