California took pride in resisting Donald Trump during his first term as president, and there will be little need to rush to assume the same role a second time.
Indeed, the Democratic Party has long been preparing for this moment, as a bulwark of Democratic power in a country that is rapidly moving to the right.
Adam Schiff, the state’s newly elected senator and a frequent target of President Trump’s ire, said, “California will continue to be a frontier of progress, a bastion of democracy, a champion of innovation, and a champion of innovation.” And we will continue to be the guardians of our rights and freedoms,” he promised his supporters. election night.
On Thursday, Gavin Newsom announced he would call a special session of the California Legislature to ensure the attorney general’s office and other state agencies get the funding they need. “We cannot afford to sit idle,” the governor said. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond.”
Even though President Trump left office in 2021, California has put up guardrails to protect its residents’ rights under a hostile federal government. The state enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution, passed a ballot initiative explicitly defending the right of same-sex couples to marry, and pushed for tougher gun laws that still adhere to the Supreme Court’s narrow interpretation of the right to bear arms. are.
to pay for wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters in case the Trump administration decides to withhold emergency funds from states it deems politically hostile, as it did at times during his 2017-21 term. We are also considering creating a national fund to prepare for this.
“We’ve been running against President Trump,” said Elizabeth Ashford, a political consultant who has worked for governors on both sides of the aisle and was Kamala Harris’ chief of staff when she was California’s attorney general. “The job…was to put measures in place that would withstand changes in Washington and the Supreme Court. These projects have been going on for years.”
Asked how ready he thought California was for the new administration, Ashford said, “On a scale of 1 to 100, we’d start at about a 90.”
California is the most populous state in the United States and has the most powerful economy, making it an unusual challenge to the power of the federal government. For example, the government negotiated directly with automakers over tailpipe emissions standards, sidestepping President Trump’s allies’ public desire to repeal long-established rules that allow states to set their own standards.
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If they can’t avoid the federal government, they can try to challenge signs of government overreach in court, as they did more than 130 times during the first Trump administration. State Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters last week that his team has prepared briefs on issues ranging from restricting abortion drugs to gun control and defending the civil rights of transgender youth. He said he had created the document and verified the argument.
“The best way to protect California, its values, and the rights of its people is to be prepared,” Bonta told CalMatters. “Unfortunately, the list is long.”
Bonta said in a statement Wednesday that California “continues to move forward with our values and continued pursuit of progress.” He added: “I will use the full force of the law and the full power of my office to ensure that.”
It won’t be long before California and the new administration are at odds. Newsom has a long track record of being an opponent of President Trump, spending much of his campaign traveling the country promoting Democratic candidates, all of which could make him a lightning rod for Trump’s anger. expensive.
President Trump called Newsom “one of the worst governors in the country” and nicknamed him “the new scum.” Their conflict is also personal, as Newsom’s ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle is engaged to Donald Trump Jr.
Former Trump staffers have made little secret of their desire to break the Democratic stranglehold on California politics, spelling out their intentions in documents such as the Project 2025 blueprint, which became a lightning rod during the campaign. . Despite President Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Project 2025, California officials are studying it carefully and envision it forming the backbone of the new administration’s policies. California Congressman Jared Huffman described it as a “dystopian nightmare.”
There are several ways countries can try to overcome that nightmare. For example, under President Trump, state agencies such as the California Highway Patrol refused to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency tasked with aggressively rounding up undocumented immigrants. Police in so-called “sanctuary cities” similarly protected migrants.
But despite all the preparations, state officials are worried that the new Trump administration will be more organized and more radical than the old, and that the surge in California voters (more than 2020 or 2020) They fear that they will end up with more political power since the 1990s. In 2016, he expressed sympathy for some of President Trump’s policies.
Newsom said last week that he was particularly concerned about the prospect of widespread attacks on immigrants, which would be devastating to California’s immigrant-dependent economy, including vast agricultural concerns based primarily in the landlocked Central Valley. He said it could cause serious damage.
There are other aspects of President Trump’s policies that could be difficult to reverse if passed, such as the nationwide abortion ban passed by Congress and the repeal of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. . And many advocacy groups are deeply concerned about the vulnerable populations they serve.
“Our community is feeling very anxious and anxious,” said Tera Russell Slavin, an attorney with the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “Considering that we are doing this,” he said.
In response, Russell Slavin said her organization is working with state and local governments to find alternative funding in case the federal government cuts gender-affirming health services, homeless services, or services for the elderly. He said he is trying to find the source. “We are very fortunate to have overwhelming support from members of Congress,” she said. “We are very confident they will fight for us.”
Is that enough? For now, California officials are baring their teeth and vowing to fight. But Newsom has no illusions about how much is at stake. “No state has much to lose or gain in this election,” he said last week.
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