Reaction & Commentary
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will convene the state legislature for a special emergency session Monday to propose a “Trump-proof” legal defense fund of up to $25 million for the state’s justice department.
Newsom said in a statement the Golden State “is a tent pole of the country … protecting and investing in rights and freedoms for all people” and that officials “will work with the incoming administration and we want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans.”
“But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action,” Newsom said. “And that is exactly what this special session is about – setting this state up for success, regardless of who is in the White House.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, is a longtime critic of President-elect Donald Trump and is believed to be a potential 2028 presidential hopeful. (Getty/AP)
State lawmakers, who are majority Democratic, are expected to introduce the proposed legislation in the coming weeks. Officials anticipate the legislation will be signed into law before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Between 2017 and 2021, California’s Department of Justice led 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies, spending $42 million on litigation. Newsom’s office said in one case, the federal government was ordered to reimburse California nearly $60 million in public safety grants.
While California filed over 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, President-elect Donald Trump lobbed only four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, Trump’s DOJ filed a lawsuit over three California sanctuary state laws that restricted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. That same year, Trump sued California for its state-level net neutrality law.
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The California Capitol, shown in this 2022 photo, will host a special session in December 2024, called by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In 2019, Trump also filed a lawsuit against California’s vehicle emissions standards, attempting to revoke California’s ability to set its own emissions rules. The Trump administration also sued California over its controversial independent contractor law, AB 5, in 2020.
California, a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, abortion procedures and transgender transition treatments for children, could be targeted by the Trump administration, especially considering Trump’s mass deportation plan of illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, Republican state Sen. Brian Jones, who serves as the upper chamber’s minority leader, said last month the special session “is clearly just another political stunt” and a “desperate attempt to distract from Democrats’ significant losses across California on Tuesday — in the state Senate, state Assembly, U.S. House, and on key ballot measures, including Prop 5’s defeat and Prop 36’s overwhelming win.”
“Californians have made it clear: affordability is their top concern,” Jones said. “Yet, even with the massive deficit he created, Gov. Newsom wants to hand his attorney general a blank check to wage endless battles against the federal government — while our own state is on fire, both literally and metaphorically.”
