Comment by tzs
7 hours ago
Massachusetts just signed an agreement with Denmark [1] covering several things. From their press release:
> Today, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey welcomed a delegation from Denmark for a series of meetings focused on strengthening the scientific, technological and commercial ties between Massachusetts and Denmark. During the visit, Governor Healey and Denmark’s Ambassador to the U.S. Jesper Møller Sørensen signed an economic partnership agreement, committing to work together to grow their leadership in life sciences, health care, biomanufacturing, advanced manufacturing, robotics and artificial intelligence.
This is an interesting one..
Negotiating treaties is the exclusive authority of POTUS but approving them is the US Senate's job.
"Committing to work together" is probably vague enough that it's not meaningful but "signed an economic partnership" with a foreign ambassador is pretty explicit.
I wonder how they're going to make this one work.
It's actually a crime for unauthorized officials to negotiate with countries directly to influence disputes, under the Logan act.
Going backdoor with Denmark to make "unrelated agreements" (wink-wink) at the same time as the Greenland dispute is just a cheap way to get around that.
* Note that this doesn't mean I agree with the Logan act, but it's pretty obvious what is happening.
It's also a crime for people to pretend to be electors and submit fraudulent paperwork.
Not in this case, since the US hasn't sanctioned Denmark. Trump's rage bleating on Truth Social doesn't constitute official policy. Now, if restrictions on doing business with Denmark were published in the Federal Register, it could get complicated.
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California set this precedent roughly a decade ago [0] with no challenge. It will stand.
Subnational diplomacy is the norm in most federations, hence why GOP led Iowa [1] and Montana [2] lobbied in favor of India with Trump leading to the current trade deal [3].
[0] - https://calmatters.org/environment/2017/11/gov-jerry-brown-t...
[1] - https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/2025-09-07/gov-reyno...
[2] - https://www.daines.senate.gov/2026/01/20/daines-travels-to-i...
[3] - https://www.reuters.com/world/india/us-trade-chief-says-indi...
It looks like California showed up and participated in conversations, didn't sign anything. Montana appears to have lobbied, again not signing anything.
Iowa is the exception and I'd be curious what gave them the authority and how much, why it wasn't challenged last fall, and if Massachusettes meets the same circumstances.
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