Phoenix, AZ – Last week, Arizona AG Kris Mayes was joined by Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez, and Minnesota AG Keith Ellison for the first in a series of community impact hearings where the AGs heard directly from those impacted by the Trump administration’s gutting of the federal workforce and freezing of key funding resources.

In a special segment of MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, Wagner heard from frustrated Americans regarding the federal firings and spending cuts – as well as from a few of the AGs themselves – about the importance of these hearings.

Key highlights from Alex Wagner Tonight:

• “I think the attorneys general believed that a big part of stopping this insanity is enlisting the American people,” AG Mayes said. “And this is gonna be a people powered movement along with the AG’s filing these lawsuits.”

• AG Mayes continued “…We also have to make sure that these stories that are American stories, and storiesof people who are being devastated by these cuts, are told so that everybody knows what’s happening and I think we learned a heck of a lot by the end.”
• AG Ellison added “We’re in a new phase of American history when the chief executive of the country is absolutely unconcerned about the legal implications of his decision…The lawless, unregulated, just arbitrary way he’s acting, and it means that we’ve gotta stand up and oppose it. And I believe we’re gonna win.”

The Arizona Community Impact Hearing also addressed the problematic existence of DOGE and unelected billionaire Elon Musks’ role in the federal government. The Arizona Mirror reported “The attorneys general of Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico and Oregon vowed…they would continue to fight back against sweeping federal cuts being made by President Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk.”

Key highlights from the Arizona Mirror:

• “Musk and his minions have overseen DOGE’s effective takeover of the federal government, with sweeping and indiscriminate layoffs, canceled contracts, blocked funding and a host of other disruptions.”
• “The AGs are part of a group of 23 Democratic AGs that have banded together to file seven lawsuits against the Trump administration’s actions.”
• “‘While the president may be a powerful person, he does not have some sort of super power that allows him to travel back in time to reverse decisions that have already been approved,’ [AG Dan] Rayfield said of Trump’s funding freezes.”
• “‘What I hear from the president and Elon Musk and others is a language that is stripped of any humanity,’ New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said of how the two men speak about federal employees.”
• “‘We are going around this country to listen to you,’ Oregon AG Dan Rayfield said.”
• “‘I thought this was an incredibly powerful town hall. Maybe the most powerful town hall I’ve ever seen,’Mayes told reporters afterwards.”
• Minnesota AG Keith Ellison had a message to those federal workers who may have been listening or are currently worried about the future. ‘You’re not alone…’ adding that the ‘battle will not be won in a courtroom’ but ‘in the court of public opinion.’”

###