Better than the judge, the states have lawyers that want to win. Based on my reading of the other case, the feds have incompetent lawyers that set up their case to lose. The judge in the other case seemed to bend over backwards to try and tell them how to present a winning case, which they have not done. Sessions needs to make sure he and his attorneys are competent and actually want to win they cases they are given.
It’d be a hoot if the DOJ doesn’t fight this case and I think that’s a possibility, what Texas and the other states are trying to do in this cast is actually what President Trump is for.