President Trump has swiftly dismantled Biden’s legal machinery, pulling the plug on numerous lawsuits that targeted states’ rights and traditional American values. The sweeping rollbacks signal the end of what many conservatives view as federal overreach into matters best left to states and free markets.
At a glance:
• Trump administration has withdrawn numerous Biden-era lawsuits related to abortion restrictions, racial discrimination claims, and financial regulations
• A key lawsuit challenging Idaho’s abortion ban, which only allows procedures to save the mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest, has been dropped
• Civil rights cases alleging hiring discrimination, including lawsuits against police and fire departments based on physical fitness tests, have been dismissed
• Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized that public safety personnel should be chosen based on skill, not diversity quotas
• While scaling back many regulatory actions, Trump has largely maintained Biden-era antitrust lawsuits against large corporations
Trump Reverses Biden’s Abortion Litigation
The Trump administration has taken decisive action to halt the federal government’s interference with state abortion laws. The Justice Department recently withdrew a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s abortion ban, which only permits the procedure to save a mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest.
Under Biden, federal officials had argued that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) required abortions to prevent serious health consequences, effectively attempting to override state law. The withdrawal represents a return to a federalist approach that respects states’ authority to regulate abortion within their borders.
Ending Discrimination Lawsuits Based on DEI Quotas
The administration has also dismissed several civil rights cases that alleged hiring discrimination against police and fire departments. These Biden-era lawsuits targeted departments for using physical fitness tests and credit checks that allegedly had disparate impacts on minority applicants.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the decisions, stating, “American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety — not to meet DEI quotas.”
A judge in Cobb County, Georgia, had previously refused a settlement proposed by the Biden administration, citing insufficient evidence of racial discrimination. The judge wrote that the court would not “approve of an agreement which may violate the rights of others without a sufficient evidentiary basis to show that such race-based action is warranted.”
Financial Regulation Rollbacks Benefit Markets
Trump’s Justice Department has withdrawn numerous consumer protection and cryptocurrency lawsuits initiated during the Biden administration. The reduced regulatory pressure has been welcomed by business leaders and entrepreneurs in the financial technology sector.
Financial tech entrepreneur Kison Patel observed the positive market reaction, noting, “It’s a big plus for the crypto and fintech sector as a whole, because you just see them celebrating, like you see social posts online of a lot of these executives at those companies that just missed lawsuits who are really happy.” The rollbacks align with the administration’s commitment to reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on American businesses.
Despite the extensive reversals of Biden-era litigation, the Trump administration has largely maintained antitrust actions against large corporations.
