California governor Gavin Newsom called for state lawmakers to assemble a special session on Thursday to prepare to defend the state’s progressive government from anticipated legal challenges brought by the second Trump administration
The second-term governor urged the state legislature to allocate additional funding to the attorney general to defend against federal challenges to California policies on everything from climate regulation to immigration law.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement.
“California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”
During the first Trump presidency, California sued the federal government over 100 times. Newsom and the president-elect have also exchanged jabs in the past, with Trump most recently nicknaming him “New-scum” on the campaign trail in October.
“We learned a lot about former President Trump in his first term — he’s petty, vindictive, and will do what it takes to get his way no matter how dangerous the policy may be,” California state senator Mike McGuire said in a statement. “California has come too far and accomplished too much to simply surrender and accept his dystopian vision for America.”
Newsom has labeled the Golden State an abortion “sanctuary” while making California the first to mandate that all new vehicles sold in-state be electric, hydrogen-powered or plug-in hybrids by 2035. Just as Trump has promised to carry out a mass deportation of illegal immigrants, Newsom expanded state-funded health care to include all low-income residents, irrespective of immigration status.
California attorney Ggneral Rob Bonta said his office is already formulating legal briefs in preparation for lawsuits against possible Republican attempts impose a federal abortion ban, overturn the state’s zero-emission initiative for vehicles, and/or repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants, CalMatters reported.
New York governor Kathy Hochul, another progressive, also moved to enshrine New York’s policies against not only Donald Trump in the White House, but a Republican Senate and likely House-majority. Hochul announced the creation of a task force that will be committed to developing policy responses in “key areas that are most likely to face threats from the Trump administration.” Such areas include “reproductive rights, civil rights, immigration, gun safety, labor rights, LGBTQ rights and our environmental justice.”
Newsom, a potential future Democratic presidential hopeful, has two years left as governor presiding over the state most have come to identify as the epicenter of progressivism in America.