CALIFORNIA/JEFF SESSIONS/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration took aim on Monday [4-2-18] at a land use law passed by California lawmakers last year, the latest salvo in a battle between the two governments that prompted Attorney General Jeff Sessions to complain that the state’s leaders were acting as if they were ‘above the law.’ The Justice Department sued the State of California, Gov. Jerry Brown and the California State Lands Commission, claiming that the law illegally blocks the federal government’s right to buy and sell federal land. The administration asked the federal court for the Eastern District of California to declare the law unconstitutional and block it from being carried out… The feud has pitted Mr. Sessions, a hard-line conservative, against liberal leaders in California who have emerged as vocal opponents of Mr. Trump, including Mr. Brown and Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general. For his part, Mr. Trump has dismissed Mr. Brown as Governor ‘Moonbeam’ and labeled him soft on crime.”
–Katie Benner, “In Latest Clash With California, Justice Dept. Sues Over Land Use Law,” The New York times online, April 2, 2018