Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

For the second time in as many months, the U.S. Department of Justice has sued the state of California.

The DOJ filed a lawsuit against California officials Monday, claiming a state law that gives California the power to veto sales of federal land to private landholders is unconstitutional. California Senate Bill 50, which passed last year, gives the state the right to purchase any federal land the U.S. government attempts to sell to private landowners.

The DOJ complaint claims “the law discriminates against the United States and delays and otherwise obstructs conveyances of real property owned by the United States, including by creating a potential cloud on marketable title.”

“I regret the need to file yet another lawsuit against the state of California today,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a prepared statement on the lawsuit.

Sessions said that the lawsuit filed Monday and others targeting the Administration's policies were diverting “too many of our resources.” But, he added that the Justice Department was forced to sue “states like California that believe they are above the law and are passing facially constitutional laws” interfering with the federal government's ability to conduct its business. Sessions said “limited injunctions” from single district judges had risen to “a constitutional issue and a rule of law issue.”

“Government-by-litigation isn't what the American people voted for and attempting to thwart an Administration's elected agenda through endless, meritless lawsuits is a dangerous precedent,” Sessions said.

The Justice Department claims in its complaint, which was filed in the Eastern District of California, that the state law violates the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.

In an emailed statement, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said: “We're prepared, as always, to do what it takes to protect our people, our resources, and our values.”

The Justice Department's complaint is posted below:

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