Stanley Woodward
Stanley Woodward is the U.S. Associate Attorney General, the third-ranking official at the Department of Justice, and previously practised as a defence attorney. All of his entries fall in 2026 and record decisions on the Department's handling of particular matters, including where enforcement was or was not pursued.
2026 Events (7)
DOJ sued Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon to block in-state tuition and aid for undocumented students, bringing its total to 21 states
On August 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed four separate lawsuits against Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon, seeking to block each state's law granting in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented students. The complaints argue the laws unlawfully grant noncitizens benefits unavailable to U.S. citizens living outside the state, in violation of federal law. DOJ said the filings bring its litigation campaign to 21 states, following earlier suits that resulted in injunctions in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois.
DOJ sued Connecticut to block in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented students, one of three suits filed that day
On August 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Connecticut in federal court to strike down the state's in-state tuition and financial-aid programs for undocumented students, arguing they unlawfully grant noncitizens benefits unavailable to out-of-state U.S. citizens. The suit challenges Connecticut's 2011/2015 in-state tuition law, a 2018 institutional-aid law, Connecticut State Community College aid, the Roberta B. Willis need-based grant program, and the state's student-loan reimbursement program. It was filed the same day as companion suits against New York and Vermont, bringing DOJ's nationwide tally of such suits to 17.
DOJ sued Maryland to block in-state tuition benefit for undocumented students, its 13th such suit against a state
On July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Maryland in federal court to block the state's law granting in-state college tuition and financial aid to undocumented immigrant residents, arguing it unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens who are not offered the same reduced rates. The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Maryland from administering the tuition benefit or related scholarship programs. Maryland is the 13th state DOJ has sued over similar in-state-tuition policies for undocumented residents.
Justice Department sued Maryland to strike down the Community Trust Act limiting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
On July 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore seeking to strike down Maryland's Community Trust Act, a 2026 law that limits state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement by barring the honoring of ICE detainers and jail transfers to ICE custody. The suit alleges Maryland is engaged in an "active and deliberate effort" to obstruct immigration enforcement in violation of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. It is one in a series of DOJ suits pressuring states to abandon laws that constrain federal immigration operations.
MS NOW investigation reveals DOJ appointees overruling career antitrust lawyers to clear corporate mergers
MS NOW reported on July 9, 2026 that Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division have been overruling career staff attorneys who proposed lawsuits or deeper merger reviews, moving instead to clear pending deals without standard scrutiny. Two sources named Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward as the primary driver of the non-enforcement push, reporting corroborated the following day by Bloomberg's separate account of DOJ leadership stalling a challenge to an aerospace-industry merger.
DOJ sued Massachusetts and Rhode Island to block in-state tuition and aid for undocumented students
On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Massachusetts and Rhode Island in federal court, seeking to block each state's in-state tuition and financial-aid programs for undocumented students, arguing the laws unlawfully grant noncitizens benefits unavailable to U.S. citizens living outside the state. The suits challenge Massachusetts' 2023 Tuition Equity Law and Rhode Island's in-state tuition policy, in place since 2011 and codified in 2021. DOJ said the filings brought its litigation campaign's total to 12 states, following earlier suits that resulted in permanent injunctions in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.
DOJ filed complaint to block Minnesota's state-court climate lawsuit against oil companies
On May 4, 2026, the Department of Justice filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota seeking to halt the state's own pending lawsuit against fossil-fuel companies for climate damages, arguing the state suit was preempted by the Constitution and the Clean Air Act. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and the Environment and Natural Resources Division brought the action explicitly invoking Trump's executive order directing DOJ to "protect American energy from state overreach." The filing was the fifth such DOJ complaint against state climate accountability lawsuits, following similar actions against Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and Vermont.