Stephen Miller launches ‘America First’ group to block Biden policies in court

‘Anything the president does that we believe to be illegal is fair game’

Former White House adviser Stephen Miller has found a new way to promote his political philosophy: a new legal group.

The organisation bears one of the former president’s favourite slogans: America First Legal will target policies put forth by President Joe Biden’s White House administration, using the national court system as a potential avenue to push back against everything from immigration to healthcare initiatives. 

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal about what America First Legal may focus on in its legal battles, Mr Miller, the 35-year-old adviser to former President Donald Trump, known for pushing a right-wing, hardline agenda along the US-Mexico border, said: “Anything the president does that we believe to be illegal is fair game.”

His plans to launch the legal watchdog group had been previously reported last month, with Politico indicating Mr Miller would use it to coalesce state attorneys general against Mr Biden’s policy agenda. 

A senior administration official for the previous White House told the news outlet at the time: “During the Trump administration, we had the ACLU and three or four other advocacy groups consistently working with Democrats to coordinate against our policies. Miller is taking a page out of their book.”

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Republican groups have already launched a range of legal challenges to the president’s executive orders, with some of those showing signs of initial success in court. At least one effort led by Texas’ attorney general bore fruit when a judge blocked Mr Biden’s executive order halting deportations.

Meanwhile, groups of attorneys general nationwide have filed lawsuits against the Biden administration challenging its policies on the Keystone XL Pipeline, as well as new oil and gas leases on public lands. 

Mr Miller suggested his new group could help provide legal support from the Trump world, from attorneys willing to take such cases on, to financial assets and funding, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Of course, the former president’s recent legal challenges — and those arising from his inner circle — have not proven successful across the national court system. 

Federal courts across the country have tossed out virtually all of Mr Trump’s challenges to the electoral process following his defeat to Mr Biden. The former president’s own Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security also described the 2020 election as the most secure in American history.