Gavin Newsom announced he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal battles with Donald Trump, despite the state’s massive budget deficit.
The announcement came on the first day of a special session of the California Legislature devoted to preparing the liberal state for conservative Trump’s second term.
Trump’s return to the White House is likely to reignite the hostile relationship between the couple.
The president-elect has repeatedly called the Democrat “Newscum,” criticized crime in California and ridiculed his electric car mandate.
If approved by the Legislature, the California Department of Justice and state agencies would receive the additional funding for lawsuits in areas such as reproductive rights, environmental protection and immigration.
“The new litigation fund will help secure critical funding for disaster relief, health care and other essential services that millions of Californians depend on every day,” the governor wrote in the proposal.
He added that the state plans to “defend against unlawful federal actions that could jeopardize not only tangible resources and the state’s economy,” but also the protection of reproductive health care and civil rights.
The fighting could also force the federal government to provide needed funding, Newsom said in a statement, citing successful legal skirmishes with the federal government during the first Trump administration.
Gavin Newsom announced he is seeking up to $25 million in additional funding for legal battles with Donald Trump, despite the state’s massive budget deficit
The announcement came on the first day of a special session of the California Legislature devoted to preparing the liberal state for conservative Trump’s second term.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, also a Democrat, said at a news conference that his office would work to respond quickly to the Trump administration’s actions with motions for restraining orders and injunctions.
California spent $42 million supporting lawsuits during Trump’s first term between 2017 and 2022. The state has filed more than 120 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s actions.
The state Assembly has also introduced bills aimed at protecting access to abortion medications and enforcing the Reproductive Privacy Act, Bonta said.
Newsom’s office expects the special budget legislation to be signed into law before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Newsom responded to Trump’s defeat in November by saying, “The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack – and we will not sit idle.
“Kamala Harris wanted to fight to defend our fundamental freedoms and build a country that works for everyone.
“She stood up for working families, decency and opportunity. While this is not the outcome we wanted, our fight for freedom and opportunity continues.”
Newsom asserted that California will try to work with the new president.”
Newsom claimed that California will try to work with the new president.
Newsom responded to Trump’s defeat in November by saying: ‘The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack – and we will not sit idle’
But he added in a statement: “Let there be no mistake: We intend to join with states across our country to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law.
‘Federalism is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s the United States of America.’
Newsom’s office said the governor wants to “Trump-proof” California state laws.
His announcement called on the state legislature to give the attorney general’s office more funding to combat federal challenges.
Some may view this move as unnecessary, insignificant and excessive, as Newsom himself has argued that the state is in dire budgetary trouble.
In January, the Liberal Democrat suggested cutting climate changehousing and clean energy programs in the state to close an estimated $38 billion gap.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office projected last December that California’s budget deficit would be $68 billion, but Newsom said it was much lower.
He proposed covering the financial shortfall by removing $13 billion from reserves, cutting $8.5 billion from programs, and shifting some of the spending into the future and spreading it over more years.
Newsom’s plan includes $8.5 billion in cuts, with about half of those cuts spread across various housing and climate programs. Liberals have long made climate change and housing programs part of their agenda.
California’s move is part of a growing discussion among Democratic state officials across the country trying to protect policies that are under threat under Trump’s leadership.
Other blue states are also quickly preparing game plans, expecting a fiercer fight this time with a Republican-dominated Senate and possibly the House of Representatives in Washington DC.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, said senior staffers plan to meet regularly to coordinate legal strategies.
“Our team will do whatever it takes to identify potential threats to these rights we hold dear in New York State and protect New Yorkers,” Hochul said at a news conference.