Newsom calls special session to ‘Trump-proof’ California

Gov. Gavin Newsom today called newly elected state lawmakers to work as soon as they’re sworn in on Dec. 2 for a special session to “safeguard California values” as the state prepares — again — to be a liberal antagonist to the upcoming Trump administration.

In other words: Gear up for lawsuits.

In a proclamation declaring the special session, Newsom said he wants the Legislature to approve funding for the Department of Justice and other state agencies to “immediately file affirmative litigation.”

According to a senior legislative source, the special session is intended to be narrowly focused on providing legal resources to the attorney general’s office — perhaps as much as $100 million — to fight the Trump administration. The goal is to appropriate the money before Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, though given how many new members are joining the Legislature, they may not be ready to act until early January.

As priorities for California’s opposition, Newsom listed civil and reproductive rights, climate change, President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to withhold disaster relief dollars and the potential repeal of deportation protections for immigrants who were brought to the country without authorization as children.

“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.”

Both Democratic leaders in the Legislature and the Senate Budget Committee chairperson are on board, issuing statements of support alongside Newsom’s proclamation. The special session would start Dec. 2 when the new Legislature convenes, though lawmakers wouldn’t necessarily pass any bills immediately.

“Voters sent a clear message this election, and we need to lean-in and listen,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Hollister Democrat. “But we also must be prepared to defend California values, no matter the challenges ahead, so it makes sense to consider the Governor’s proposal.”

Republican lawmakers quickly denounced the governor’s order as divisive political theater that does nothing to address the real problems facing Californians and merely boosts what many interpret as Newsom’s own future presidential aspirations.

Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher called the session a “shameless political stunt.” “The only ‘problem’ it will solve is Gavin Newsom’s insecurity that not enough people are paying attention to him,” he said in a statement. “There will not be a single policy implemented in this special session that couldn’t be addressed when the Legislature reconvenes in January.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters last week that his office is already writing legal briefs in preparation for lawsuits against possible Republican attempts to ban abortion nationwide, overturn California’s commitment to zero-emission vehicles and repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants. During the last Trump administration, California sued the federal government more than 100 times over its regulations.

This is the third special session that Newsom has called since October 2022. The two previous ones focused on gas prices and the oil industry, including one that just wrapped up last month.