SACRAMENTO, CA (KMJ/AP) California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, on Thursday called for lawmakers to convene a special session later this year to safeguard the state’s progressive policies on climate change, reproductive rights and immigration ahead of another Trump presidency.
The move — a day after the former president resoundingly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race — effectively reignited California’s resistance campaign against conservative policies that state Democratic leaders started during the first Trump administration.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom, who reportedly has ambitions for higher office 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.”
Newsom and lawmakers say they’re ready to “Trump-proof” California’s state laws. His announcement Thursday called on the Legislature to give the attorney general’s office more funding to fight federal challenges when they meet in December.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher issued the following statement in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom calling a special session of the Legislature to ‘Trump-proof’ California: “This special session is a shameless political stunt. The only ‘problem’ it will solve is Gavin Newsom’s insecurity that not enough people are paying attention to him. There will not be a single policy implemented in this special session that couldn’t be addressed when the Legislature reconvenes in January. If Newsom is so eager to set up a 2028 presidential run, he’d be much better served by fixing the crime, homelessness and high costs that will doom his campaign.”
California’s move is part of a growing discussion among Democratic state officials seeking to protect policies that face threats under Trump’s leadership. Other blue states are also moving quickly to prepare game plans for another Trump presidency and expect a fiercer battle this time around with a Republican-dominated Senate and possibly House.
After Trump’s win, Newsom vowed to work with the president-elect but added, “Let there be no mistake, we intend to stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law.”
California was home to the so-called Trump resistance during his time in office, and Trump often depicts California as representing all he sees wrong in America.
Trump called the Democratic governor “New-scum” last month and has relentlessly lambasted the Democratic stronghold and nation’s most populous state over its large number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, its homeless population and its thicket of regulations.
Trump also waded into a water rights battle over the endangered delta smelt that has pitted environmentalists against farmers and threatened to withhold federal aid to a state increasingly under threat from wildfires.
Senate GOP leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego) issued the following response: “Californians have made it clear: affordability is their top concern. Yet, even with the massive deficit he created, Governor 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. “This special session is clearly just another political stunt, 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. “Meanwhile, Newsom’s Air Resources Board is set to approve a gas price hike tomorrow, raising prices another 65 cents per gallon. If Governor Newsom truly cared about protecting Californians, he wouldn’t be price gouging them at the pump while chasing the spotlight for himself.
In a speech Wednesday morning, Trump vowed to follow through with his campaign promise of carrying out the mass deportation of immigrants without legal status and prosecuting his political enemies.
Newsom and Democratic lawmakers said they are acting now to shield the state’s policies that have made it a leader in the nation.
“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,” state Senate President Pro Tempore 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.”
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
