From sanctuary status to street protests, two Washingtons face off in 2025
Washington state and Washington, D.C. continue to lock horns.
President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funding from the state over its progressive policies. Washington officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly refused to budge.
Barbs have been traded over Planned Parenthood and Medicaid, federal education funding, immigration enforcement, mail-in voting and more.
Yet calls have also begun to crescendo for both sides of the political divide to cool down following an escalation of political violence. Shockwaves rippled across the state and nation following the recent assassinations of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as former Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the attempted killings of Democratic Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
Here’s a look back at several stories examining the deepening rift between the two Washingtons.
DOJ demands WA’s voter rolls
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs recently announced that on Sept. 8, his office received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice requesting Washington’s full voter rolls within two weeks. At least 22 states have been sent similar letters.
The Trump administration is seeking voters’ home addresses, full names, dates of birth, and their driver’s license numbers or last four Social Security digits, Hobbs’ office says. But some of that information is private.
“To that end, I do not plan on releasing any information until DOJ provides me information on what they plan to do with the data,” Hobbs said in a Sept. 10 statement. “My office will respond to the DOJ once I’ve had the opportunity to fully assess that information while working with stakeholders, and ensuring our response meets both state and federal legal requirements.”
Attorney General Nick Brown said the move signifies what the federal administration could be planning.
“What we are seeing from this administration is a really full-throated attack on the states’ ability to control their elections,” he said.
U.S. AG Pam Bondi slams Gov. Bob Ferguson
The country’s chief law enforcement officer isn’t a fan of Washington’s immigration policies.
In an Aug. 13 letter, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Gov. Bob Ferguson that Washington had been identified as a “sanctuary jurisdiction,” a term that describes places that limit local and state cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“You are hereby notified that your jurisdiction has been identified as one that engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States,” Bondi’s letter read. “This ends now.”
Officials who don’t comply with the Trump administration’s immigration plans could face criminal charges, Bondi said. She gave the governor until Aug. 19 to respond.
… and the governor claps back
Ferguson held a press conference Aug. 19 to broadcast his reply.
“Pam Bondi … seeks to have Washington state bend the knee to a Trump administration that, day by day, drags us closer to authoritarianism,” Ferguson said. “That’s not going to happen.”
He defended the bipartisan Keep Washington Working Act, which restricts local and state law enforcement from using their resources to assist federal immigration efforts. The Democrat also said in his written response that he isn’t intimidated by Bondi or Trump, and work to “defend our democracy.”
Feds launch probe into OSPI
The feds announced earlier this year a formal investigation had been launched into the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
The reason?
OSPI had allegedly imposed gender-inclusion requirements onto school districts in potential violation of federal law. The U.S. Department of Education takes issue with policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports, arguing that it raises concerns under Title IX, the anti-sex-based discrimination law.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal decried the probe as part of the “dangerous war” against gender-expansive and trans people. OSPI will continue following the state’s laws, he added, “not a president’s political leanings expressed through unlawful orders.”
AG Nick Brown gets litigious
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has filed and joined several lawsuits against the Trump administration.
“This is a person who doesn’t want to follow our laws, he doesn’t believe in checks and balances, and we have a United States Congress that lets him do it,” Brown previously told McClatchy.
Lawsuits have touched on topics including Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship; the feds’ “fake energy emergency”; X owner Elon Musk and the federal Department of Government Efficiency; and Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting.
DOJ targets WA’s new clergy law
Washington state adopted a new law this year making clergy “mandatory reporters” of child neglect and abuse, including when such claims are made during confession. The legislation was condemned by Washington priests, who viewed it as targeting Catholics.
The Department of Justice agreed with that take, calling the measure “anti-Catholic.”
This summer, the DOJ joined a group of Catholic priests and bishops in challenging the law. A federal court then temporarily blocked enforcement of part of the law requiring priests to report child abuse disclosed in confession.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray sounds the alarm — a lot
From a proposed sale of public lands to mass federal firings, Washington’s senior U.S. senator has spoken out time and again against Trump and congressional Republicans.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, has warned against a “backdoor nationwide abortion ban” and accused Trump and company of plotting to “rob” federal construction-project funding from blue states.
Murray has also chided Trump’s picks to head various departments, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz; and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Olympia protesters have had enough
Waves of protesters have flocked to Olympia this year to push back against Trump, including thousands of dissidents who turned up for the peaceful “No Kings Day” in June. Ahead of the big day, state and local leaders had urged Washington rally-goers to refrain from violence.
Protests have also been held in the capital city to decry federal cuts to the social safety net, condemn Trump’s policies on President’s Day, and to fight against Project 2025, the sweeping far-right federal-policy agenda.
This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
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