Newt Gingrich addresses crowd at Blue Marlin restaurant.
/ Hank McDonald
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Republican Newt Gingrich says one of his first executive orders as president would be to drop all Justice Department lawsuits against states.
The former U.S. House speaker made the comment Friday when asked about a federal judge this week blocking portions of South Carolina's tough anti-illegal immigration law from taking effect Jan. 1. The federal government and civil rights groups are suing the state. The Justice Department is challenging similar laws in Arizona and Alabama.
Gingrich spoke for about an hour to 300 people gathered outside The Blue Marlin restaurant in Columbia.
Gingrich says it's outrageous that when the federal government fails to do its job, it "attacks the states for trying to fill the gap created by the federal government."
South Carolina's first-in-the-South GOP primary is four weeks away.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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