‘Californians Need Protection from Gavin Newsom — not Donald Trump’

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Special Session” kicked off on Monday in order to “Trump-Proof” California and “Protect Californian values” before the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, with GOP lawmakers in the state vowing to add in their own legislation against Newsom in the process.

The special session has been anticipated since just after the November election, with Newsom announcing the session within 48 hours of Trump winning. According to the Newsom administration “The special session will focus on bolstering California legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families.”

Newsom also spoke of the session, saying that “The prerogatives we hold dear in California – censorship, cronyism, dysfunction, bureaucratic hostility, profitable failure, lucrative subsidies for failed policies relating to energy, crime, homelessness, and public education, and more – are under attack, and we won’t sit idle. We are prepared to defend our corruption, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians continue to have failing government programs and crippling taxes and regulations.”

In response, Trump replied to this session on Truth Social, posting “Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to KILL our Nation’s beautiful California. For the first time ever, more people are leaving than are coming in. He is using the term “Trump-Proof” as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to “Make California Great Again,” but I just overwhelmingly won the Election. People are being forced to leave due to his, & other’s, INSANE POLICY DECISIONS, like the ridiculously rerouting of MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER A DAY FROM THE NORTH OUT INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, rather than using it, free of charge, for the towns, cities, & farms dotted all throughout California. They are making it impossible to build a reasonably priced car, the unchecked and unbalanced homeless catastrophe, & the cost of EVERYTHING, in particular “groceries,” IS OUT OF CONTROL. Also, as an “AGENT” for the United States of America on Voting & Elections, I will be DEMANDING THAT VOTER I.D., AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, ARE A NECESSARY PART AND COMPONENT OF THE VOTING PROCESS!”

In the weeks that followed, Newsom and other Democrats zeroed in on what they specifically wanted to protect or defend against, including abortion rights, immigration issues, federal disaster aid, the repeal or gutting of educational and migrant programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and electric vehicle programs. Newsom has already made efforts on some fronts, like pledging to restart California’s electric vehicle rebate program should Trump get rid of the federal one. However, that decision has already led to extreme backlash from both parties, offering a hint of the turmoil of what the special session may bring.

Through all this, Republicans in the Assembly and Senate, along with a select few Democrats, have been opposed to this special session. Assembly Minority Leader  James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) spoke for many last month, saying in a statement that “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.”

Opposition against Newsom

While there have been many guesses on what those opposing Newsom would do in response, the answer became clear on Monday when lawmakers announced that they would call for penalties against Governor Newsom for “Abuse of Power” and Repeated Violation of Citizens’ Constitutional Rights. Newly minted Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) said in a statement that he would be introducing the “Punish Unconstitutional Actions Act of 2025”, which will impose stiff penalties on the Governor and other state leaders when they are found to have violated the constitutional rights of citizens. Specifically, the law would penalize any Governor who signs and any legislator who votes for a law that is later found to be unconstitutional in federal courts with a 25% cut in their annual state compensation for each offense.

“Given how many times he has abused his power and been found by federal courts to have infringed on our constitutional rights, it is clear that Californians need protection from Gavin Newsom — not Donald Trump,” said DeMaio in a statement on Monday. “It is utterly hypocritical for Gavin Newsom to say he wants to protect the rights of Californians from attack – when this is the same guy who has a terrible record of abusing power and imposing laws and regulations that federal courts have repeatedly ruled to be unlawful and unconstitutional.

“Once this law takes effect, Newsom and California legislators better clean up their act quick because with their poor record of being overturned by federal courts for violating our rights, they soon will be working for free.”

DeMaio also noted that measure is needed because California politicians face no consequences currently for repeatedly imposing laws and orders that are blatantly unconstitutional, like depriving citizens of their rights and forcing them to bear the upfront legal costs to regain them.

“Penalizing the Governor and individual legislators when they violate constitutional rights would serve as not only a deterrence but a punishment for harm done to citizens and damage done to our democratic system,” added DeMaio. “The real threat to democracy and civil rights is Gavin Newsom’s political ambition, his repeated intentional violation of citizens’ constitutional rights, and gross negligence in failing to address real problems facing Californians.”

While the measure isn’t expected to pass, DeMaio’s effort, as well as many other efforts by GOP lawmakers, have shown that they won’t go down without a fight this session.

“Everyone against what this session is about seems to be doing something about this,” Dana, a Capitol staffer told the Globe Monday. “Trump has made it clear that he wants California to be more in line with what he plans to do and don’t want to see any retribution. And the thing is, Trump and allies can pass blanket legislation stopping California on a lot of things. You mentioned him getting rid of the 2035 mandate to end the sale of gas powered cars in California. That is possible. But on other things, like electric car rebates or migration policies, the state could have more leeway. And that’s what this session is doing.”

More on the session is expected soon.