Freqently Asked Questions

Federal Accountability & Rule of Law

What is a preliminary injunction?  

A preliminary injunction, or PI, is a court order stopping one party to lawsuit from taking a particular action or series of actions. PIs are generally issued near the start of a lawsuit, and last for the duration of the lawsuit. Their goal is to preserve the status quo until a final ruling on the lawsuit is issued. To obtain a PI, the requesting party typically has to demonstrate that the action taking place will cause irreparable harm, and that their lawsuit challenging that action is likely to succeed on the merits.  

For example, when President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services tried to cut $275 million in public health grants to the state of Minnesota, Attorney General Ellison filed a lawsuit challenging the cuts and requested a preliminary injunction. The Court found that Attorney General Ellison was likely to succeed in his lawsuit and that the cuts would harm the state of Minnesota, so it issued a preliminary injunction blocking those cuts for the duration of Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuit. 

How long will a particular lawsuit take to resolve?  

Every lawsuit is different, so it is difficult to say exactly how long a lawsuit will take to work its way through the system. Sometimes, the parties to a lawsuit come to an agreement to resolve their dispute and the lawsuit is concluded within a matter of weeks. Other times, a lawsuit can take several years to resolve. 

What can I do if I have been harmed by the Trump Administration? 

If you believe you have been harmed by the Trump Administration, please file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office using this online form: www.ag.state.mn.us/Complaint  

Are these lawsuits costing Minnesota taxpayers? 

Many of Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuits challenge attempts by the Trump Administration to illegally cut off funding for key priorities or critical services in Minnesota. This includes efforts to cut funds for Minnesota schools, for natural disaster preparedness, for public service programs like AmeriCorps, and more. By filing these lawsuits, Attorney General Ellison has made sure that over two billion dollars in federal funding placed at risk by the federal government’s actions are spent actually improving the lives of Minnesotans.