California governor calls legislative special session after Trump victory

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — In the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday called a legislative special session to safeguard the Golden State’s civil rights protections, reproductive freedom and immigrants.

The move came two days after Trump’s win over Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, a stunning blow to many progressives and only the second time in the nation’s history a president won two nonconsecutive terms.

“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. 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.”

The special session will start Dec. 2, the date the Legislature already was set to convene.

Newsom said the state will shore up its defenses against Trump’s incoming administration, since his previous one threatened California. Public statements made by Trump and his advisers, as well as actions in his first term, led to the special session to protect what Newsom called essential freedoms and individual rights, including for women and the LGBTQ+ community.

State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said in a statement that the Legislature will commit money to the state Department of Justice. Those dollars will fund the legal defense of California’s values and policies from any Trump administration attacks, along with any litigation the state pursues against unlawful federal action.

“California will not roll over while our basic freedoms and values are trampled by Donald Trump and his allies,” Wiener said. “Trump has signaled a deep resentment of immigrants, LGBTQ people, women, climate action, and any American who doesn’t support his extremist vision for our nation. In California, we value pluralism and democracy, and any attempt to undermine these values will be met with the full force of California’s right to self-govern under the Constitution.”

State Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, a North Coast Democrat, said in a statement that California has accomplished too much to surrender to Trump’s “dystopian vision” for the country, and that’s why the Legislature will quickly act to invest in its legal defense.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Hollister Democrat, said voters sent a message that elected officials should heed. However, officials also must defend California’s values.

“I’m ready to fight harder than ever for opportunity, equality and a Golden State that works for each and every resident,” Rivas said in a statement.

Republicans quickly denounced the special session, the third called during this regular legislative session. Assemblymember and Minority Leader James Gallagher, a Yuba City Republican, told Courthouse News what’s missing from the call for the special session is any mention of the state’s insurance crisis or cost of living issues.

“No, none of those are priorities,” Gallagher said. “To me, it’s just totally tone deaf and it’s a political stunt.”

Gallagher questioned if Californians would rather spend money on “lawfare” against Trump, or have money for wildfire relief, transportation infrastructure and addressing homelessness.

The minority leader said the special session was political, not substantive. He said that Newsom intends to run for president in 2028 and Attorney General Rob Bonta has designs on the governorship.

State Senator Brian Dahle, a Bieber Republican, told Courthouse News that Newsom now has a visible enemy in a Trump presidency, giving the governor something to talk about.

“He ought to look in the mirror and see what’s happening in California,” Dahle said.

The first two special sessions of this regular legislative session dealt with energy costs. The most recent one resulted in the passage of a bill last month that adds regulations to oil refiners under certain circumstances.