One attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, is already investigating Donald J. Trump over possible violations of New York State law at his charity foundation.
Another, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, has joined Mr. Schneiderman in an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil whose chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, is Mr. Trumps choice for secretary of state lied to investors and the public about the threat of climate change.
Ms. Healey also has a new fund-raising pitch: I wont hesitate to take Donald Trump to court if he carries out his unconstitutional campaign promises, she recently wrote to supporters.
A third, Representative Xavier Becerra, who was chosen this month to become Californias attorney general, has dared the Trump administration to come at us over issues including immigration, climate change and health care.
As Democrats steel themselves for the day next month when the White House door will slam on their backs, some of the countrys more liberal state attorneys general have vowed to use their power to check and balance Mr. Trumps Washington.
If the Trump administration withdraws from environmental, antitrust or financial regulations, the attorneys general say they will plug regulatory holes that may gape wide open, deploying state laws like New Yorks Martin Act, which allows the state attorney general to pursue wide-ranging investigations on Wall Street.
They have pledged to defend undocumented immigrants, and to combat hate crimes that many believe were unleashed by Mr. Trumps polarizing campaign.
And if Mr. Trumps policies veer toward the unconstitutional, several of the 10 current and incoming Democratic attorneys general interviewed recently said they would apply a remedy favored by Mr. Trump himself: a lawsuit.
The strategy could be as simple as mirroring the blueprint laid out by their Republican colleagues, who made something of a legal specialty of tormenting President Obama. Conservative attorneys general in states including Texas, Virginia and Florida have sued the Obama administration dozens of times, systematically battering Mr. Obamas signature health care, environmental and immigration policies in the courts.
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Life just got a lot more exciting for those of us at the state level who are now the first line of defense, said Mr. Schneiderman, adapting a favorite catchphrase of Republican attorneys general.
Their litigiousness turned attorneys general like Greg Abbott, now the governor of Texas, into right-wing luminaries. He often rallied crowds by saying, I go to the office in the morning, I sue Barack Obama, and then I go home.
Next year, there is likely to be no shortage of Democrats who can say the same about Mr. Trump.
The states rights arguments that Republicans have made gospel for nearly eight years that states must serve as a check against federal overreach are likely to become convenient for Democrats. So are the legal tactics that Republican attorneys general used to stifle Obama administration programs, including filing lawsuits in front of friendly local judges to win nationwide injunctions against policies they hoped to stop, said Amanda Frost, a professor at American Universitys Washington College of Law.
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According to Paul Nolette, a political-science professor at Marquette University, who studies attorneys general, Republican attorneys general filed partisan legal briefs in only five Supreme Court cases during the Clinton administration, a figure that rose to 97 in the first seven years of the Obama administration.
Things are being driven more by partisan politics, Mr. Nolette said. On virtually every hot-button issue you can imagine, A.G.s are signaling where they stand.
As Mr. Abbott and Mr. Pruitt found, there are certain advantages to occupying a high-profile law enforcement office with an anti-Washington megaphone.
Josh Shapiro, the incoming Democratic attorney general of Pennsylvania, said he had turned down a run for the Senate this year in favor of the attorney general race. I believe it to be the most impactful job in government today, he said.
Other Democrats said they were watching how Mr. Trump would treat the Consumer Financial Protection Board and the Federal Trade Commission.
Under Mr. Obama, attorneys general have grown used to working closely with both agencies on consumer and antitrust issues Its been the golden years, said Tom Miller, the longtime Democratic attorney general of Iowa and several said they feared federal regulatory might would shrivel under the new administration, leaving states to try to hold the line with far fewer resources.
I dont want to pick fights before there are fights, said Brian Frosh, the Democratic attorney general of Maryland. But based on the campaign, theres cause for concern.
_/¯ wouldn't be any different than the GOP obstructing Obama.
