Stanford Law School

Rule of Law Speaker Series: San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu on Federalism and the Rule of Law

David Chiu, San Francisco City Attorney, used the Rule of Law Speaker Series to warn that the Trump administration has turned federalism into a battlefield, repeatedly challenging state and local authority through litigation and funding conditions. He recounted the Reproductive Fact Act’s defeat in the Ninth Circuit, the surge to fourteen lawsuits in the first year of the second Trump term, and the three litigation categories: immigration defenses, conditional federal funding, and protection of public‑goods programs such as climate, education and health. Chiu quoted the administration’s own language of “muzzle velocity” to describe its relentless attacks, highlighted San Francisco’s distinction as the first city to sue Trump the day after his inauguration, and noted a 4‑5 Supreme Court split that overturned the state’s reproductive‑rights law, with over $4 billion in federal dollars at stake. The address underscores that municipalities must now treat litigation as a core function, lean on the 10th Amendment and spending‑clause jurisprudence, and prepare for future administrations that may further erode cooperative federalism, making local defense of the rule of law essential for protecting public services and civil rights.