Do you want to sue Joe Biden? Kansas AG Kris Kobach will pay an attorney up to $120,000.

Do you want to sue President Joe Biden? Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has the job for you.

The attorney general's office is hiring a deputy attorney general for special litigation who will lead a team of two to four lawyers tasked primarily with suing the federal government. The new unit will make good on Kobach's campaign promise, emblazoned on his election signs, to "SUE JOE BIDEN!"

"The Office of the Kansas Attorney General's is establishing a Special Litigation & Constitutional Issues Division to, essentially, do public-interest litigation from inside the office," the job posting states. "Mostly, this will involve bringing cases against the federal government. But we want aggressive and thoughtful litigators who take an entrepreneurial and opportunistic approach to protecting constitutional rights across the board."

The pay range is $105,000 to $120,000 a year.

Minimum qualifications include five years experience as an attorney in criminal, civil or administrative litigation and "prior experience or demonstrated interest in federalism and constitutional rights." Preferred qualifications include eight years experience, including in a judicial clerkship.

"Strategic vision, political savvy, and compatibility with the administration's legal philosophy and goals are all important," the posting states. "We expect to file suits with a good chance of landing in the U.S. or Kansas Supreme Court, and need a Deputy AG who can litigate and choose cases with that end in mind."

Kansas Attorney General's Office is short-staffed

The job posting comes as Kobach's administration has struggled with understaffing, and the office's attorneys have had to turn some cases over to local prosecutors while asking judges for deadline extensions in other cases.

The attorney general's office has at least 10 job openings for lawyers, along with five non-attorney positions.

"We've been working hard to try to fill positions," Solicitor General Anthony Powell told reporters after a Monday court hearing where he cited staffing shortages as part of the reason to ask for a delay. "It's been hard in this economy. … It's a struggle to find lawyers, and we have a particular need for litigators. So that's a constant battle that we're fighting and unfortunately we're still fighting that, so we're not up to strength."

The Legislature did approve a budget increase so the office could pay attorneys more in an attempt to alleviate staffing challenges.

"We're hiring at a fairly rapid pace," Kobach said in May, "and it's only because we have the resources to do that."

Federal lawsuits are a bigger role of Kansas AG

The attorney general's office took on a bigger role in suing the federal government over the past decade under Derek Schmidt, who vowed during his first campaign to get Kansas involved in challenges against the Affordable Care Act.

"Now we've done so much in challenging federal actions, but at that point it was a fairly new role," he said in December.

Since taking office in January, Kobach has already gotten Kansas involved in at least five cases against the federal government.

"There have been a number of them," Kobach said in May. "I wish there were fewer of them, but this is where we are right now with the current administration in Washington."

At that May news conference on accomplishments during his first 100 days in office, Kobach touted lawsuits against the Biden administration over protections for lesser prairie chickens, immigration policy, water regulation, pistol stabilizing braces and environmental social governance considerations in investments.

"We're taking important steps to ensure that the federal government stays within the Constitution and stays within federal law," he said. "That is something that all Americans regardless of party should be in favor of, and we are hopeful that the courts will agree with us."

Kris Kobach campaigned on suing Joe Biden

Kobach said in a GOP primary debate last year that establishing the special litigation division was his No. 1 priority.

"I decided to run for attorney general the day that President Biden was sworn into office," Kobach said. "On that first day, he issued a dozen executive orders that were either unconstitutional, in violation of federal law, or both."

Kobach's main rival during last year's GOP primary doubted his abilities to successfully challenge the Biden administration.

"You know, Joe Biden hasn't had a lot of good news lately," said Sen. Kellie Warren, R-Leawood. "But him hearing that Kris Kobach wants to litigate against him, that might be the best news he's had in a long time."

Former federal prosecutor Tony Mattivi, whom Kobach later hired to run the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was more skeptical of creating a new division.

"The special litigation division is something that is advocated by both of my opponents — it is a phenomenally bad idea," Mattivi said. "We don't need it. I will file the lawsuits that need to be filed. And in four years when a Republican gets elected, we won't have to dismantle the infrastructure that we built to get us through the next two years."

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Want to sue Joe Biden? Kansas AG Kris Kobach has a job opening for you