Court Questions Arizona Lawmakers’ Right to Contest Monument

Feb. 3, 2026, 6:17 PM UTC

A panel of Ninth Circuit judges on Tuesday questioned whether a national monument banning mining around the Grand Canyon had sufficiently harmed the Arizona State Legislature to give it standing to challenge the preserve in federal court.

The Trump administration and the state of Arizona also defended the US District Court for the District of Arizona’s 2025 dismissal of the suit on the grounds that the legislature doesn’t have standing.

“The attorney general represents the state here in federal court—not the Legislature, not the treasurer,” said Alexander Samuels, deputy solicitor general for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. “If the state ...

Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:

See Breaking News in Context

Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.