By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt knows that Kansas can't go it alone when battling against what he perceives as federal government overreach.
"We work together closely with other states and generally we work with like-minded states, which tends to mean states with more conservative and Republican attorneys general," Schmidt said. "We have a similar view of the federal system. Sometimes, our Democrat friends have a very different view, as reflected in this vaccine mandate from the Biden administration."
It has been the policy of Schmidt's department to advocate strongly for the rights of states to govern themselves on any issues not specifically granted to Congress, rather than expanding federal regulations, like the WOTUS rule back when Barack Obama was president.
"We've already had occasion to sue the Biden administration several times," Schmidt said. "We've won a handful of those cases. We're going to keep pushing. We have to work together in order to push back on this almost dictatorial view of federal power that the Biden administration seems to have adopted."
It isn't clear yet which of his colleagues Schmidt will join when the time comes to litigate over vaccine mandates, but his office has made it clear that this is another area where they plan to vigorously defend the state's interests.