Oregon Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield announced Thursday the creation of a 14-member group that will advise the Department of Justice on attacks against the state’s values and laws during a second Trump administration.
The Federal Oversight and Accountability Cabinet is intended to share efforts to protect against potential federal interference by uniting community leaders and the department.
The group will work to assure Oregonians there are plans and efforts to defend their values, said Rayfield spokesperson Jenn Baker, who cited the threat of mass deportation and challenges to reproductive rights as areas of concern.
She said the cabinet was a cornerstone of Rayfield’s campaign.
“When you look at what’s laid out in Project 2025, you will see a clear nexus to the coalition that the cabinet has pulled together,” Baker said. The group will “make sure we are defending the rule of law and providing oversight to potential overreach from the federal government.”
Current Oregon DOJ attorney in charge of civil appeals Dustin Buehler will serve as special counsel and lead the group alongside Fay Stetz-Waters, director of civil rights and social justice. Buehler will lead federal litigation, much of which involves multiple states working together.
“We stand ready to defend the rights and values of the people of Oregon,” said ACLU of Oregon Executive Director Sandy Chung, one of the cabinet members.
Oregon Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield said his Federal Oversight and Accountability Cabinet will advise the Department of Justice on potential federal attacks against the state’s values and laws.
Rayfield, who will chair the cabinet, said he anticipated the group will connect “what is happening on the ground in communities throughout our state and the work we are able to do at the Oregon Department of Justice to defend all Oregonians.”
House Republican Leader and incoming Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, said she was disappointed by Rayfield’s announcement.
“I am both surprised and disappointed to see former Speaker Rayfield abandon his spirit of bipartisanship so quickly in favor of a hyper-partisan and national agenda,” Drazan said.
“The creation of a hostile, partisan cabinet is preemptively adversarial towards the incoming President and jeopardizes opportunities to collaborate with this new administration, seek federal dollars and resources, and achieve real progress for Oregonians,” she said.
The committee includes union leaders Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME; Graham Trainor, president of Oregon AFL-CIO; and Melissa Unger, executive director for SEIU 503.
Also on the committee are Oregon Health & Science University Associate Vice President of Government Affairs Julie Hanna and law professors Greg Dotson and Norman Williams. Dotson specializes in environmental law at the University of Oregon School of Law. Williams is director of the Willamette Center for Constitutional Government at Willamette University College of Law.
Other members include Sara Kennedy, CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette; Kyndall Mason, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon; Isa Peña, director of strategy for the Innovation Law Lab; Jeremiah Rigsby, chief of staff at CareOregon; and Lindsey Scholten, executive director of Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon AG advisory group to protect from federal interference