By Ana B. Ibarra and Nigel Duara, CalMatters
During the four years that Donald Trump was president the first time, California sued him about every 12 days on average.
Now that he’s returning to office, Democratic state leaders are preparing potential new lawsuits.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta has been developing plans to defend California policies since the summer, when polls showed a good chance that Trump would win the election. Bonta has said his team has preemptively written briefs on a variety of issues in preparation of what’s to come.
“During the previous Trump administration, California (Department of Justice) fought hard against Trump’s rollbacks and unlawful policies that infringed on Californians’ rights…and would do so again if need be,” the attorney general’s office said in an unsigned email response before the election.
California sued the Trump administration 123 times and scored major victories. Among them: California defended the state’s clean air rules, preserved the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) that benefits undocumented people who came to the United States as children, and protected the Affordable Care Act.
Those issues — the environment, immigration and health care — could once again be the main battle lines in the lawsuits that are expected to be waged between California’s Democratic administration and Trump’s White House.
Gov. Gavin Newsom foreshadowed potential disputes in a statement Wednesday.
“California will seek to work with the incoming president — but let there be no mistake, we intend to stand with states across our nation to defend our Constitution and uphold the rule of law,” he said. “Federalism is the cornerstone of our democracy. It’s the United STATES of America.”
This time, some experts anticipate that Trump will bring forward a more methodical approach to policy.
They point to Project 2025, a 900-page document by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation that lays out a conservative agenda. While Trump tried to distance himself from the blueprint during his campaign, former members of his administration contributed to the report. There is also some overlap between what he’s proposed and what’s outlined in the document, such as mass deportations and overhauling the Justice Department.
Choosing battles in a second Trump term
In his victory speech, Trump signaled policy objectives that would likely conflict with California’s goals, such as expanding oil production and turning the nation’s public health agencies over to vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — although in what capacity is still unclear.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again,” Trump said about Kennedy during his speech. “I just said: ‘But, Bobby, leave the oil to me.
“‘Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold. Other than that, go have a good time.’”
While Democratic leaders vow to uphold their values, they may be more careful in choosing their battles this time around, said Matt Lesenyie, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach.
“Some of the legal challenges are substantive, like we want to regulate greenhouse gases. Other ones may be more symbolic, and that’s not to trivialize cultural or gender identity, but one thing that has been clear, at least to me in this Trump win, is that those cultural issues are motivating his voters,” he said.
Because it is a large state, California also has power to negotiate with the federal government.
“Faced with near-total Republican control of the federal government, Sacramento may think the state does better by negotiating,” said David A. Carrillo, executive director of Berkeley Law’s California Constitution Center. “That affects whether California’s strategy is to fight on all fronts, or to focus on leveraging its size and market power in making its own domestic and international agreements — call it soft secession.”
Likely disputes over abortion, health care
By most accounts, health care policies are expected to be contested again.
In his first term, Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed, but he did slash some provisions of the landmark health law.
He also influenced the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that protected abortion rights, by appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices.
In 2019 the Trump administration also blocked clinics and providers that offer or refer patients to abortion services from receiving federal family planning dollars. California sued. The Biden administration later reversed Trump’s rule. Any similar restrictions on abortion would certainly prompt California to respond with litigation again.
Carrillo anticipates that the Trump administration might move to restrict mifepristone, one of the medications used to induce abortion, by using a 19th Century law known as the Comstock Act.
“One fight California probably can’t avoid is abortion, specifically access to mifepristone,” Carrillo said. “For example, the federal Comstock Act in general bans sending something for ‘abortion-causing purposes’ in the mail.
“Expect a major legal battle if federal prosecutors start enforcing that to prevent interstate shipping of medical abortion drugs or contraceptives,” he said.
Others say they also expect a fight from states if Trump attempts to make drastic cuts to the Medicaid program. About 14.7 million low-income Californians rely on Medicaid for health coverage. The program is also known as Medi-Cal in California.
Project 2025, for example, proposes to cap what the federal government pays for the Medicaid program, which is funded by both the feds and the states. This means that states would receive a fixed amount regardless of their costs. In the health policy world this is referred to as “block grants” or “per capita caps.”
“So that’s a big cut, a big cost shift to states, and states would have no choice but to either raise taxes substantially or far more likely, shrink their Medicaid programs to a great degree, which means more uninsured, more people go without needed care,” said Edwin Park, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.
Park says one key difference between a second Trump administration and the first is that Trump and his team could have a clearer vision of what they want to do with health care programs this time around. That includes the potential for things like imposing work requirements to qualify for Medi-Cal or slashing aid in Obamacare marketplaces, making it less affordable to sign up.
Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
This article was originally published by CalMatters.
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Using the term virtue signaling is a blaring signal that the user is a denizen of a con disinformation bubble.
It is deeply humiliating that we have selected such a execrable example of a human being to lead our country and represent us to the world.
The people have spoken.
And, unfortunately, the really ignorant ones prevailed.
You must be highly educated from a well known institution.
Trump University.
They voted against more debt, higher taxes,more inflation,give
aways to foreign governments, men in women sports, foreign dirty oil, amnesty for all, soft on crime, open borders, no gas stoves, higher energy prices.
Policy matters
Well said!
Except for the fact that it’s wrong. Analysis by economists overwhelmingly shows that the orange moron’s economic thrashing around would devastate the economy and balloon the national debt by at least 3.5 trillion dollars.
Stick that in your inflation calculator.
The inflation we recently endured was a result of the fiscal policies required to rescue our economy from the COVID disaster trump facilitated.
Given the choice we had he was the lesser of 2 evils. America first vs America last.
California will protect our homeless, our illegal immigrants, our exodus, our highest taxes, our vacant malls, sky high real estate. Truly a benefit.
CA will also protect our agricultural industry, our state’s economy, our healthcare, our education, our environment, oh and don’t forget our civil liberties!
And all this is just going to spend/waste more of our dollars that are taken from us in taxes in order to fight with ourselves in court. Totally illogical to be spending $ on this when Sacramento doesn’t even know what may happen…
We know what will happen and they’re preparing to make sure our healthcare and rights are secure so when you need a full time caretaker, you won’t be on the street because Trump gutted social security, medicare, and the affordable care act.
As has been reported many times for many years, Social Security and Medicare are on a death spiral. If they fail, it won’t be Trump’s fault as it will happen after he is finished his 4 years. It will be the fault of many decades of kicking the can down the road by many administrations and legislators.
I agree with you on the point that these programs need help to continue. The dems have a plan to tax billionaires to help pay for the nation’s elderly while the republicans planned to gut the program and raise the qualifying age. Based on your callous response it sounds like you don’t rely on these programs or if you do you’ll be dead before it collapses. If only you and other votes could think of anyone but themselves.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/22/how-social-security-benefits-may-change-under-republican-democrat-proposals.html
Studies have shown that you could confiscate the entire assets of those targeted “billionaires” and it wouldn’t produce enough revenue to bail out Social Security and Medicare. Then what????
Would love to read these studies to see if they exist and are legitimate. Looking at other developed and progressive countries that have similar system and then some, it’s not a perfect system, but it’s far better than what we’ve got going on here.
No need for a study- just do the math
Add up all of the US Billionaires net worth $6.22T and compare it to the $80.0T Social Service Unfunded liabilities. (Liabilities are calculated over 75 years because the day you are born in US, you become eligible for future benefits)
Confiscation of wealth only works once and since most of the wealth is tied up in the markets, the stocks will have to be sold off, which will screw up Public and Private pension funds
Invested at 5% (Social service money is not invested) $6.2T turns in $24T in 75 years.
Final note
CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System)
Would see heavy short term losses as the wealthy are forced to sell their stock. The net would probably be less than $6.2T because large sells cut the bottom out of the market
CalPERS
Top holdings: Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Amazon, and Meta Platforms
@EDNEY (Mr. Sky is Falling) Once the election results came out, my stocks soared as did my Bitcoin…LOL
Yeah my thoughts exactly – instead of moving on doing their job the CA legislature (Dems) is going whole hog on hassling our elected president. What a waste. Dems you guys gotta start thinking ahead, not behind.
Ensuring the state’s most vulnerable are protected is a worthwhile fight. Again, if only those who aren’t scared/worried could empathize with those who are and vote accordingly. Basic, you are a classic example of America me’ism. What about me? How does that affect me? You’d stand to benefit from thinking about others before yourself.
Well, the State of CA went ahead and did it this week…. I feel terrible for those that have to commute from Lompoc, Santa Maria and Ventura- You know, those that work in retirement / convalescent homes, gardeners, restaurant workers, people who are living out of the SB housing market to save and buy a home.. The California Air Resources Board (Non-elected, Gavin Newsom appointed Board) had their meeting this week- GAS PRICES IN CA will be GOING UP FROM $1.45- $2.25 PER GALLON. They, in all their GREEN wisdom, are requiring highly processed refined gas, which is VERY EXPENSIVE and difficult to produce. Newsom is pissed off no one is buying EV’s, so we will all suffer…
Carbon fuels need to be taxed to a price level at least 5 times the current level to reflect their true costs to society. Only then will people wake up and realize how destructive they are. Only a foolish lemming wants to continue down the current path.
Believing in nonsense doesn’t have much persuasive value.
Complete waste of money in my opinion. We started the impeachment process BEFORE his first term even started…..then, impeached him again in his waning days in office. Look what it got us: #47. Now, just about every case that was meant to trip up and hinder the guy is being dropped. DROPPED! Jack Smith is resigning. I see a pattern that we need to do something different.