Following their increasing dissatisfaction with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), which has allegedly become more left-leaning, a few Republican state attorney generals have left the organization.
In a letter posted to Twitter on May 4, Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton stated that he and Attorneys General of Missouri Eric Schmitt and Austin Knudsen of Montana have agreed to leave NAAG. Paxton cited that while they work hard to ensure NAAG’s financial and policy success, the Association’s leftward drift has become unacceptable over the last five years.
Today AG Paxton withdrew TX from the Nat’l Assoc of AGs. Taxpayer money should not go to this biased, left-wing org. TX will con’t to lead nat’l mov’ts to uphold the Rule of Law but w/o NAAG.
During the next few months, we will work to protect #Texas dollars tied up in NAAG. pic.twitter.com/CTAnfEiPWP
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) May 4, 2022
Paxton added that NAAG’s role as a “nonpartisan national forum” is to provide a community that collectively addresses vital issues, but a liberal slant has compromised that. He declared the attorneys general can no longer justify spending taxpayer money to maintain their NAAG membership under the current conditions.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, NAAG has promoted measures to isolate conservative “misinformation” in social media in recent months and enlisted left-wing megadonor Tom Steyer’s brother, Jim Steyer, as a keynote speaker.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which the Free Beacon reported often labels conservative organizations as hate groups, has also been a speaker for NAAG.
Paxton stated that he and the attorneys general mentioned above have already discussed their concerns with NAAG senior leadership but it has elicited no results.
He concluded by saying the administrative and financial aspects of removing themselves from NAAG will need to be considered.
The resignations on Wednesday cost the organization $200,000 in annual dues. According to internal financial data obtained by the Free Beacon, NAAG’s operational yearly budget is around $5.1 million. Annual membership dues total $3.2 million, accounting for about 60% of the operating budget. If additional red states follow suit, the group threatens extinction.
However, this is not the first time a state attorney general has exited NAAG. In April 2021, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced his resignation.
“I can’t justify spending taxpayer dollars to fund an organization that seems to be going further and further left,” said Marshall. “With the money we will save, I can add a young lawyer to my consumer protection division and yield a far better return on the taxpayer’s investment.”
On the other hand, since then, Alabama has continued to join NAAG sign-on letters and multistate settlements, including the recently announced multistate settlement with Intuit addressing its free tax preparation services.
NAAG places great focus on nonpartisanship. Per its website, “NAAG provides a community for attorneys general and their staff to collaboratively address issues important to their work, as well as training and resources to support attorneys general in protecting the rule of law and the United States Constitution.”
“NAAG fosters bipartisan engagement and cooperation among attorneys general and their staffs on legal and law enforcement issues,” the site reads.
It further notes, “NAAG delivers nonpartisan, trusted information and promotes the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and insights on subjects of importance to attorneys general and their staff.”
