The Trump administration’s probe into Minnesota’s affirmative action laws is the latest salvo in an escalating feud between the White House and the state’s Democratic leaders — a relationship that’s become noticeably more hostile than it was during the president’s first term.

The Department of Justice’s newest challenge in Minnesota hinged on a policy issued by the state Department of Human Services requiring supervisors to provide justification if they hire a non-diverse candidate – a protocol in place since 2002 per a state law that passed nearly four decades ago, according to DHS.

Since Trump returned to office in January, his administration has launched investigations and court challenges to Minnesota’s laws. But it has also made moves that have directly affected the day to day operations of the state, including canceling funding to the state without warning and slowing or halting communication between agencies.

“They are actively against us,” said DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who has become a prominent foe of Trump’s since his stint on the national ticket last year.

The increasingly contentious relationship goes both ways. Walz, who avoided public clashes with Trump’s first administration, now openly admonishes the president and his allies.

The DOJ is pursuing four probes in Minnesota ranging from its laws surrounding transgender athletes, college tuition rates for undocumented students and, on the local level, a policy instituted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office directing prosecutors to consider race in charging decisions and plea deals.

In announcing the probe of Minnesota’s diversity hiring policy, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said last week the Civil Rights Division “will not stand by while states impose hiring mandates that punish Americans for their race or sex.”

Another major blow to Minnesota by the feds came in late May when the same Department of Justice division moved to dissolve Minneapolis’ federal consent decree, the long-awaited agreement brokered between the DOJ and Minneapolis that would have ushered in sweeping changes to the city’s police department. In their dismissal, officials described such court-enforceable agreements as federal overreach and anti-police.

Some city officials and advocates decried the timing of the announcement, noting it came just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death.

Such major decisions have sometimes come with no warning at all. The Trump administration abruptly froze and canceled some funding streams to Minnesota earlier this year, including grants to track measles, provide heating assistance and prevent flooding.

On Monday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to unfreeze more than $70 million in funding for Minnesota schools. Ellison accused Trump’s Education Department of “pulling the rug out from under Minnesota students by cutting school funding without warning and right before the start of the school year.”

The hostilities go beyond investigations and court challenges to Minnesota’s laws. Minnesota’s communication with the federal government has ground to a halt, Walz said. When state officials asked for a meeting with a local Veterans’ Affairs official, they were told it would take six to eight weeks to get an answer.

“If I want to talk to him now or my administration wants to talk to him, we have to put in a request to D.C. It has to be approved by the White House in addition to the VA, before he is able to engage in any meaningful conversation with us,” Walz told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Federal law enforcement agencies didn’t warn state officials before they raided a Mexican restaurant in south Minneapolis in June, Walz said. That raid prompted confrontations between protestors and law enforcement on E. Lake Street after misinformation spread rampant that an immigration sweep was underway.

An exception is the local U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI, who worked with state law enforcement to catch Vance Boelter after the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last month. Walz said the state has “fantastic relationships” with those two agencies.

But Trump refused to call Walz after an assassin killed the Hortmans and seriously wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. The president said it would be a waste of his time and then proceeded to insult the DFL governor. Vice President JD Vance did speak with Walz, however.

For his part, Walz also has been outwardly antagonistic toward Trump, comparing his administration to “wannabe dictators and despots” and accusing him of using federal immigration agents as a “modern-day Gestapo.” The Department of Homeland Security referred to Walz’s comments as “sickening.”

The broader breakdown in communication with the federal government is a notable change from Trump’s first term, when Walz could more easily reach administration officials. Walz told a group of States Newsroom editors in June that Vice President Mike Pence called him every couple of weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic to try to deliver masks and other relief.

Walz said he worries about how the federal government would treat Minnesota if a natural disaster were to happen here. Critics have noted a contrast in how Trump treats blue and red states; he promised full support for Texas in the wake of deadly flash floods but criticized elected Democrats in California after wildfires devastated Los Angeles.

“The way California was treated on wildfires, that worries all of us,” Walz said. “How are we going to be treated when these things happen?”

_____

©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC