Paul LePage, the governor of Maine, spent $53,000 on lawyers in a failed attempt to remove thousands of 19- and 20-year-olds from the state Medicaid program. The money came from the governor’s contingency fund, which he is largely allowed to spend at his discretion.
From the AP story: “The Republican governor went to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals after the federal government denied his request to end Medicaid coverage for about 6,000 19- and 20-year-olds. He was forced to seek outside counsel after Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat, declined to represent the state.”