What happens when conservative ideologues take over a city council and focus on performative litigation rather than substantive policy making? We’re getting the answer in Huntington Beach, where the city’s GOP majority has been handed yet another court rebuke in its pointless lawsuit challenging California’s housing mandates.

This Editorial Board predicted the outcome, although it requires no prescience to have seen this one coming. The council, in concert with allied City Attorney Michael Gates, refused to implement a state-required housing plan. The city also refused to implement state-approved laws that reduce regulations to encourage new construction.

In a ruling last week, a state court rejected claims that a charter city need not comply with these state laws — and gave the city 120 days to come up with a housing-element plan. The real losers here are local taxpayers, who foot the bill for this litigation — and any possible fines. Nevertheless, Gates said the city will “continue these battles on all fronts and we will not be deterred or intimidated.”

These “conservatives” have relied on liberal NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) and environmentalist arguments. In a statement, Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark complained the state’s mandate “jeopardizes our groundwater supply, harms our wildlife and wetlands, and threatens to escalate pollution and noise.” Gates expressed concern about greenhouse gases.

This shouldn’t be a surprise in a city where a prominent member of the majority, Councilman Tony Strickland, seemed to support a left-wing group’s rent-control measure (although he walked back his comments in a Register rebuttal).

The city lost the first round of its federal lawsuit, which made claims based on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other state laws. Apparently, Huntington Beach conservatives missed college classes about federalism. The federal court called the city’s arguments “futile” and cited the “absence of federal constitutional claims.” The council gave Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom reason for gloating.

This won’t end well, but we suspect what’s best for its residents is playing second fiddle to the council’s efforts to play to its MAGA supporters.