Two separate court rulings this week put the state of Montana on the losing end of significant legal disputes — and the price tags are adding up. A district court judge ordered the state to pay more than $1.3 million in attorneys' fees after Montana's gender-affirming care ban was struck down, while a Lewis and Clark County District Court judge temporarily blocked the Montana Republican Party's newly adopted bylaws after a group of fellow Republicans sued to stop them. Separately, a federal court weighed in on immigration arrests in ways that directly challenged state and federal enforcement practices. The cumulative picture this week is of a Montana government — and a state party — caught in an unusual moment where legal challenges are coming from multiple directions at once, including from within their own coalition. For Helena residents, the $1.3 million attorneys' fee order is the most tangible line item: that's general fund money going to opposing counsel, at a moment when the legislature has been scrutinizing every budget category. Gov. Greg Gianforte, who logged 20 mentions this week, was also in the news for a cabinet shuffle, tapping Mark Blasdel to lead the Department of Administration as Misty Ann Giles departs.