Most of the lawsuits Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed against the Trump administration have resulted in court orders pausing or permanently halting certain executive actions implemented by President Donald Trump.

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Since Trump’s inauguration, Colorado has joined nearly two dozen lawsuits alongside other Democratic-led states challenging Trump’s actions. So far more than half of those cases have seen judges grant preliminary injunctions requested by Weiser and other attorneys general. That has led to court-mandated reversals of Trump executive actions that sought to change requirements for federal funding, cut federal agencies and their staff, and change citizenship and voter requirements, among other issues.

“In nearly every case that has had a ruling so far, we’re winning. That’s because these actions are plainly illegal and harmful, and the courts are taking notice,” Weiser said in a statement to Newsline. “One judge, in the case of the president’s clearly unconstitutional order to overturn birthright citizenship, said it was the most unconstitutional action he had seen in 40 years on the bench. More recently, the judge in the case challenging the administration’s termination of certain National Institute of Health grants said he had never seen such palpable racial discrimination.”

While some judges have issued permanent injunctions, others have issued partial or preliminary injunctions as the various lawsuits continue to make their way through the court system.

Other cases are waiting for a judge to issue a ruling while others still need to go through a preliminary injunction hearing.

Here are the court cases that have seen a judge rule partially or fully in favor of plaintiff Democratic states including Colorado.

Birthright citizenship

Multiple judges, including one overseeing a case Colorado is a party to, have blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. as cases challenging it are resolved.

Weiser and a coalition of other attorneys general filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts on Jan. 21 claiming that action violates 14th Amendment and a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The suit seeks to invalidate the executive order and stop any attempts to implement it.

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Tariffs

A judge with the U.S. Court of International Trade granted a request from states to permanently block Trump’s move to implement tariffs through four executive orders without approval from Congress.

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The lawsuit asked the court to declare that Trump acted beyond his legal authority and contrary to law when he issued orders implementing tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which does not grant the president the power to impose tariffs. It also asked the court to enjoin federal agencies from maintaining the tariffs.

“As the court explained, the law does not give the president unbounded power to impose vast tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world,” Weiser said in a statement. “We brought this lawsuit because this was yet another example of the administration acting as though it’s above the law. And this lawless action harmed the State and Coloradans by creating economic chaos and driving up prices at a time when so many are stretching to meet budgets.”

The Federal Reserve projected tariffs Trump has initiated will lead to inflation.

Public health grants

A Rhode Island judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit Weiser and other Democratic-led states filed challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s move to abruptly terminate $11 billion in grant funding, citing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as reason to stop the funding.

Colorado was at risk of losing up to $229 million in grant funding as a result of the cuts that would have affected public health programs such as immunization distribution, training for local public health agencies on infectious disease, lab services and replacing aging lab equipment.

“I’m pleased the court agreed with me and my fellow state attorneys general that HHS and Secretary Kennedy cannot arbitrarily defund public health and behavioral health programs,” Weiser said in a statement. “If allowed to stand, this inexplicable, illegal action will cause deep harm to Colorado’s ability to deal with challenges ranging from fighting infectious diseases to fighting substance abuse.”

Freeze on federal funds

The Office of Management and Budget issued a sweeping freeze on all federal funding on Jan. 27.

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Colorado and over 20 other states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island on Jan. 28 arguing the freeze is unlawful.

Weiser said in a statement that the action violates the separation of powers and is “causing massive harm” in Colorado, affecting health care, education and public safety.

A Rhode Island judge issued a preliminary injunction in states included in the lawsuit on March 6, and wrote in a 45-page decision that the proposed freeze undermined “the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.”

A separate preliminary injunction a Washington, D.C., judge entered in late February applies nationwide.

Elon Musk, former leader of DOGE, listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

DOGE data privacy

A New York judge extended a temporary order blocking the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing Department of Treasury systems.

Weiser joined a coalition of attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to stop DOGE from accessing private taxpayer data.

The suit followed news that a team of DOGE employees accessed sensitive Department of Treasury data through its payment infrastructure.

The attorneys general said Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent illegally provided DOGE access to the Department of Treasury’s central payment system and “Americans’ most sensitive personal information, including bank account details and Social Security numbers.”

The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting expanded access to Treasury Department systems as well as a declaration that the administration’s actions were unlawful and unconstitutional.

In a separate case filed by another group of Democratic attorneys general, a judge in Washington, D.C., ordered that a restraining order prohibiting DOGE from accessing federal agency data is not warranted. 

AmeriCorps

A June 5 order from a Maryland judge granted a request from 24 states, including Colorado, to reinstate AmeriCorps grant programs and National Civilian Community Corps members, but declined to reverse the Trump administration’s reduction of the program’s workforce.

AmeriCorps is an independent federal agency that supports community service programs throughout the U.S. A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland says the orders to reduce its workforce have effectively ended AmeriCorps’ ability to function, with 85 percent of its staff on administrative leave.

“The illegal cuts to AmeriCorps threaten Colorado communities that rely on program volunteers to provide services to military veterans, older Americans aging in place, people dealing with substance abuse, and wildfire mitigation support,” Weiser said in a statement. “As the judge says in the opinion, ‘these volunteers represent the best of us.’ The mass closure of AmeriCorps programs, removal of national service corps members from service, and the termination of federal funding makes no sense.”

Defunding medical research

The National Institutes of Health announced on Feb. 7 it would no longer pay research universities and medical schools a previously negotiated percentage for indirect costs. Weiser and 21 other attorneys general filed suit on Feb. 10 alleging those cuts were unlawful.

Filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the suit says the Trump administration’s proposed unilateral 15 percent reimbursement rate would lead to an inability to facilitate biomedical research. The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research. The attorneys general said the cap violates the Administrative Procedures Act.

According to a news release from Weiser’s office, the move would cut nearly $90 million in research funding across three university campuses in Colorado.

A Massachusetts judge granted a preliminary injunction on the funding caps in a 76-page decision on March 5 after she extended a temporary block on Feb. 21.

The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of American Universities also filed lawsuits against NIH over the change.

Gender-affirming care

A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump order that threatened the funding of any medical institution that provided gender-affirming care to minors, saying it “blatantly discriminated against trans youth.”

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington intends to block federal agencies from enforcing the executive order, which also threatens criminal charges against medical providers who provide gender-affirming care. It argues the executive order violates the equal protection guaranteed by the 5th Amendment by singling out transgender individuals for mistreatment and discrimination.

Colorado hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to minors abruptly canceled scheduled appointments for transgender children, citing the order and the potential consequences for their funding.

Protesters demonstrated outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Boulder campus on March 3 in protest of mass layoffs of federal workers by the Trump administration. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)

Federal worker layoffs

A Maryland judge in April ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary federal employees across various agencies.

Weiser and a group of 20 attorneys general sued the Trump administration claiming mass layoffs of probationary federal employeesare illegal and cause irreparable harm to their states.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, says the firing of approximately 24,000 probationary government employees who worked for various federal departments violated laws and regulations regarding “reductions in force.”

U.S. Department of Education

A Massachusetts judge ordered a preliminary injunction to prohibit the Trump administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and must reinstate terminated employees.

Weiser and 20 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit looking to stop the “effective dismantling” of the government agency that supports students and schools across the country after the department announced it would cut about 50 percent of its workforce.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, says the cuts to the department’s workforce are illegal and unconstitutional, as the department is an executive agency authorized by Congress.

Colorado received over $1.2 billion from the federal government in 2024 for school programs, according to Weiser’s office.

Elections executive order

A Massachusetts judge issued a preliminary injunction to prevent certain provisions of Trump’s March elections executive order from being implemented.

The order requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and vote, requires all ballots be counted on Election Day, and threatens federal funding for states that don’t comply, among other changes.

The Constitution grants states the right to oversee their own elections, with Congress permitted to regulate certain aspects of voting.

Voting rights advocates and the Democratic National Committee have filed separate lawsuits challenging the legality of Trump’s order, too.

Dismantling federal agencies

A May order from a Rhode Island judge granted a preliminary injunction to prohibit DOGE from dismantling certain federal agencies.

Weiser and 20 other Democratic attorneys general filed a suit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island challenging a Trump order attempting to dismantle federal agencies created by Congress.

While Trump has taken several actions attempting to cut down other federal agencies, the lawsuit is focused on the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The order Trump issued on March 14 orders the agencies “to eliminate every one of their programs and components not mandated by statute.”

Other case updates

While a Massachusetts judge granted a temporary restraining orderreversing the U.S. Department of Education’s move to freeze $600 million in grant funding for K-12 teacher training programs, the Supreme Court issued an administrative stay to allow the freeze to continue as the case continues.

The judge who issued the restraining order said he saw “no reasoned explanation articulated” for the program terminations. The freeze threatens $2.8 million for a program that prepares teachers to work in rural Colorado communities that have a hard time hiring and retaining teachers.

Federal funding for the Teacher Quality Partnership and Supporting Effective Educator Development grant programs goes to state universities and other teacher training programs around the country. On Feb. 7, the department immediately terminated the distribution of these grants, which were approved by Congress.

In a lawsuit Colorado joined that argues the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze wind energy development harms states’ efforts to diversify affordable, renewable energy sources, a Massachusetts judge ruled that the case can continue after the administration tried to get it dismissed.

A judge also issued a preliminary injunction from the bench in a lawsuitjoined by Colorado that claims the National Institutes of Health has purposely delayed the review process for medical research grants that should have already been issued. A written order granting the injunction should be issued soon, according to Weiser’s office.

The agency has refused to pay for multi-year grants that were approved under previous administrations since Trump took office, citing disagreements over race and gender issues. Research institutions received letters alerting them that their grants were canceled in relation to “DEI,” “transgender issues” or “vaccine hesitancy.”

In a case joined by Colorado challenging the U.S. Department of Transportation’s move to require immigration enforcement as a condition for a state to receive funding, a Rhode Island judge issued a preliminary injunction to stop the requirement. The lawsuit says attaching immigration enforcement as a condition to receive federal funding is beyond the federal government’s authority and is unconstitutional.