SACROMENTO – Seven months after President Trump’s second term, California filed 37 lawsuits against his administration, spending around $5 million to do so.
Let me drop this number on you before heading out with the government’s spending rants: For every dollar the state spent on lawsuits with Trump, it recovered $33,600 in funds the federal government tried to take from Golden State. General Rob Bonta.
That’s to “take the receipt,” as he said at a press conference on Monday.
These are not the dollars Californians want or beg for the federal government. These are funds already legally allocated to the state, and the Trump administration is trying to stop small, ideological, or both. They pay for teacher training, vaccinations, infection tracking, maintaining road safety, disaster recovery and more. And they are primarily your taxes and are withheld from your state.
“What we’re asking for is to get funds that have already been legally approved and allocated,” Bonta said.
But as much as it is about paying for the fundamentals that keep California running, it is about protecting the inclusive and fair way of life that defines the spirit of our nation. Don’t step on us! Californians can spend our money on how we are suited.
“If you add it all, you see the whole thing that’s at risk: California’s dream,” Bonta said. “Every Californian can send their kids to school, go to doctors when they’re sick, put food on the table, and put the roof on their heads, regardless of how much money they have.”
Or, as Gov. Gavin Newsom said, it’s not to sue, but to “be tall, tall, to protect us from the perspective of what we value.”
It’s a serious time, people. Trump has made it clear that he is not supported because of LGBTQ+ rights, immigration rights, women’s rights, legitimate processes, and even public schools. But so far, courts have mostly restrained the responsibility to check this unbalanced administration.
Of course, lawyers win the case regardless of fact. I want to shout out to the state Department of Justice. Bonta may be the state’s top lawyer, but there is an army of legal people behind these cases.
The $5 million spent so far has been entirely in-house, Bonta said. This cash isn’t expensive for external lawyers, but as my colleague Kevin Lecter points out, it’s money that funds smart, talented lawyers and staff who work for taxpayers.
Some of them existed during Trump’s first term, when the state was involved in more than 120 lawsuits against his administration. Many of these suits were about the process. That is, it’s a coincidence, regular way that Trump tries to implement his policies.
California lawyers know that courts actually support the law, and that simply pointing out that they need to follow the rules is often enough to stop Trump. There’s an experienced legal team that understands the weaknesses of what Trump is doing, but the creepy part is that he’s still doing it. There are few good lessons for California.
So far, these California lawsuits ensure that around $168 billion Trump blocked continues to flow to California. Bonta said he had succeeded in 17 in 19 cases where he had done it before a judge so far.
He also secures victory out of court, including when the U.S. Department of Education recently backdown after freezing school funds a few weeks before schools began. The funds recovered under the threat of litigation.
Bonta said the two were personal to him and “continue to be the most important thing in terms of what they represent” while the state fights strictly through all the cases.
They just happen to be the first two suits the state filed shortly after Trump took office. The first was about birthright citizenship and Trump’s bid to end it. That’s the case where Bonta says it “very meaningful” to him.
Bonta was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at two months old, living in a trailer in the town of Central Valley in La Paz, the home of United Farm Workers. His parents left the country to avoid martial law as Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship gained power and when they settled here they worked with civil rights leaders, including Cesar Chavez.
So it makes sense that around 24,500 babies born in California each year without US citizenship will be hit hard in Bonta.
Bonta, along with several other state attorney generals, filed the lawsuit the day after Trump took office, in response to an executive order signed on the day of inauguration. So far, several courts have expressed deep skepticism about the order, expressing the view that the Constitution and previous Supreme Court decisions should be ignored in favor of Trump’s position.
The second case Bonta personally takes is a multi-pushback to a drastic suspension of Trump’s federal funds. The incident is at risk of around $3 trillion nationwide, including about a third of the state budget, including $168 billion in California.
Next up is the challenge of deploying Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles. The Trump administration has quietly removed soldiers these days. Perhaps they are ready to ask the court to defeat the case. There are no military or cases. We’ll see what happens in a few days.
“The Marines and national security guards have arrived on the quiet streets of Los Angeles,” Bonta said. “In my view, the President was incredibly rude to these patriots. He treats them as political pawns.”
The $5 million spent so far in the legal battle with Trump is part of the $25 million that Congress secured earlier this year during a special session. Bonta said that even that wouldn’t be enough to flow the tasks for the next three and a half years.
Newsom promises on his part that Bonta “doesn’t need the resources to do his job.” (And yes, I know it will raise his profile for the 2028 presidential run.)
It seems ridiculous that we are putting this huge change aside for legal costs in a moment of budgetary crisis, but the cost of making Trump ravaged our state is far higher. This is a commonly used money.
It’s not just our federal funds, but our dreams for California.
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