In the wake of the 2016 elections, many progressives have sought solace in the prospect of resisting Trump administration initiatives and advancing progressive goals in blue states. In his State of the State address last January, California Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed: “California is not turning back. Not now, not ever.” Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom suggested that California might use its stringent environmental protection laws to impede the Trump administration's efforts to build a wall along its southern border. Washington Governor Jay Inslee proudly announced that “our state will remain undeterred and we will not be slowed one iota by the foolishness that we're hearing out of the White House.”
Conversations about how progressive states should resist regressive Trump administration policies and sidestep Republican control of Congress often ignore the elephant in the room—the power of the federal government to preempt state regulations and even the ability of victims of corporate abuse to seek relief in state courts.
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