California Governor Gavin Newsom The state Legislature will convene Monday for an emergency special session to propose a “Trump-proof” legal defense fund of up to $25 million for the Justice Department.
Newsom said in a statement that the Golden State is “a tentpole of the nation … protecting and investing in rights and freedoms for all people” and that officials “will work with the new administration and we want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans.”
“But when there is an overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action,” Newsom said. “And that’s exactly what this special session is about: setting this state up for success, no matter who’s in the White House.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom (left) has been a long-time critic of newly-elected President Donald Trump and is seen as a potential presidential candidate for 2028. (Getty/AP)
State lawmakers, the majority of which are Democratic, are expected to introduce the proposed legislation in the coming weeks. Officials expect the legislation to be signed into law before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
“It’s not a brand of resistance,” Newsom told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. “It’s about pragmatism. It’s about preparedness. It would be crazy if we didn’t get on top of this before January.”
Between 2017 and 2021, the California Department of Justice led 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies and spent $42 million on lawsuits. Newsom’s office said that in one case, the federal government was ordered to repay California nearly $60 million in public safety grants.
While California has filed more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, newly elected President Donald Trump has filed only four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, Trump’s DOJ filed a lawsuit over three California sanctuary laws that limited cooperation federal immigration enforcement. That same year, Trump sued California over its state-level net neutrality law.
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The California Capitol, seen in this 2022 photo, will host a special session in December 2024 called by Governor Gavin Newsom in response to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. (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 has also sued California due to the controversial independent contractor law, AB 5, in 2020.
California, a haven for illegal immigrants, abortion procedures and transgender transition treatments for children could be targeted by the Trump administration, especially given Trump’s mass deportation plan of illegal immigrants.
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In the meantime, Republican Senator Brian Joneswho serves as the Senate minority leader, said last month that the special session is “clearly just another political stunt” and a “desperate attempt to distract from California Democrats’ significant losses Tuesday — in the Senate, State Assembly, US House, and on key ballot measures, including the defeat of Prop 5 and the landslide victory of Prop 36.”
“Californians have made it clear: affordability is their number one concern,” Jones said. “But even with the massive deficit he has created, Governor Newsom wants to hand his attorney general a blank check to wage endless battles against the federal government – while our own state burns, both literally and figuratively.”
