But his administration is also using a third tactic: Going to court to stop federal judges from ruling on a broad array of regulations that are being challenged by Trump’s own conservative allies.
These cases were filed long before the election. Now, Trump administration officials, eager to flip the government position, want judges to put the cases on hold and give federal agencies time to revise or shrink the Obama-era regulatory regime.
Trump officials are also asking judges to keep any existing stays in place so that the contested regulations do not go into effect while the new administration considers its deregulatory strategy.
Much is at stake. The Environmental Protection Agency persuaded an appeals court to give it a chance to revise existing limits on street-level smog. The EPA also wants a court to let it rewrite the Clean Power Plan that Obama showcased at the 2015 Paris climate conference. And the Justice Department has sought to review a Department of Health and Human Services regulation that prohibits health-care providers from discriminating against people on the basis of gender identity, sex stereotyping or the termination of a pregnancy.
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