SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers returned to the state Capitol on Monday to begin a special session to protect the state's progressive policies ahead of another Trump presidency.
The Democratic governor, a fierce critic of President-elect Donald Trump, is positioning California to once again be the center of a resistance effort against the conservative agenda. He is asking his Democratic allies in the Legislature, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, to approve additional funding to the attorney general's office to prepare for a robust legal fight against anticipated federal challenges.
Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel on Monday introduced legislation to set aside $25 million for legal fees to respond to potential attacks by the Trump administration on state policies regarding civil rights, climate change, immigration and abortion access.
“While we always hope to collaborate with our federal partners, California will be ready to vigorously defend our interests and values from any unlawful action by the incoming Trump Administration,” Gabriel said in a statement.
California sued the first Trump administration more than 120 times to various levels of success.
“We’re not going to be caught flat-footed,” Newsom said at a recent news conference.
Trump often depicts California as representing all he sees wrong in America. Democrats, which hold every statewide office in California and have commanding margins in the Legislature and congressional delegation, outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 2-to-1 statewide.
Trump called the Democratic governor “New-scum” during a campaign stop in Southern California and has relentlessly lambasted the Democratic stronghold over its large number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, homeless population and thicket of regulations.
Trump also waded into a water rights battle over the endangered delta smelt, a tiny fish that has pitted environmentalists against farmers and threatened to withhold federal aid to a state increasingly under threat from wildfires. He also vowed to follow through with his campaign promise of carrying out the mass deportation of immigrants without legal status and prosecuting his political enemies.
Before the special session begins, state lawmakers are scheduled to swear in more than two dozen new members and elect leaders for the 2025 legislative session. Hundreds of people also are planning to march around the Capitol on Monday to urge the Legislature to try to stop Trump's mass deportation plans.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office will protect the state’s immigration population, while Newsom last week unveiled a proposal to revive a rebate program for electric vehicle purchases if the incoming Trump administration eliminates a federal tax credit for people who buy electric cars. Newsom is also considering creating a backup disaster relief fund for the wildfire-prone state after Trump’s threats.
Republican lawmakers blasted Newsom and his Democratic allies over the special session. Rep. Vince Fong, who represents the state’s Central Valley farm belt, said California should work with the incoming Trump administration instead.
“Gavin Newsom’s actions are tone-deaf to the concerns of Californians who disapprove of the direction of our state and country,” Fong said in a video on social media.
Legislators also are expected to spend the year discussing ways to protect dozens of laws expected to be targeted by the Trump administration, including one that has made the state a sanctuary for people seeking abortions who live in states where such practices have been severely limited.
California, the nation’s most populous state, was the first to mandate that by 2035 all new cars, pickup trucks and SUVs sold in California be electric, hydrogen-powered or plug-in hybrids. The state also extends state-funded health care to all low-income residents regardless of their immigration status.
Newsom hasn't provided details about what actions the lawmakers will consider but said he wanted funding in place before Trump's inauguration day, Jan. 20. The state spent roughly $42 million in litigation costs during the first Trump administration, officials said.
California is projected to face a $2 billion budget deficit next year, with bigger shortfalls ahead. Gabriel, who sued the first Trump administration in 2017 when it tried to end a program to shield young immigrants from being deported, said lining up the funding now is “a wise investment."
California successfully clawed back $57 million between 2017 and 2018 after prevailing in a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from putting immigration enforcement conditions on certain federal law enforcement grants. Another legal victory over the citizenship question in the 2020 census forced the federal government to return $850,000 to the state, according to the attorney general's office.
“We are positioned, if necessary, to be the tip of the spear of the resistance and to push back against any unlawful or unconstitutional actions by the Trump administration,” said Gabriel, who chairs the budget committee.
During Trump’s first presidency, Democratic attorneys general banded together to file lawsuits over immigration, Trump’s travel ban for residents of Muslim countries, the environment, immigration and other topics. But Trump has one possible advantage this time around: He was aggressive in nominating conservative jurists to federal courts at all levels, including the Supreme Court.
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold dialogue with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday.
At a joint news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan Fidan said Turkey and Iran, which support opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, have agreed to resume diplomatic efforts along with Russia to restore calm days after insurgents launched a lightning offensive and captured almost all of the country’s largest city, Aleppo.
The swift advance by fighters that Turkey supports was a huge embarrassment for Assad and it comes at a time when his allies — Iran and groups it backs and Russia — are preoccupied with their own conflicts.
The push is among the rebels’ strongest in years and raises the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.
Fidan, whose country has backed forces opposed to Assad, blamed the recent flare-up of the conflict on the Syrian government’s refusal to enter a dialogue with the opposition that Turkey supports.
“Recent developments show once again that Damascus must reconcile with its own people and the legitimate opposition,” the Turkish minister said. “Turkey is ready to make all the necessary contribution toward this.”
Fidan’s comments emerged amid Turkish frustration that recent efforts toward a reconciliation with Assad have fallen flat. The comments indicated that the shock offensive launched by opposition fighters could be aimed at pressuring the Syrian leader to engage in political talks.
Turkey has been seeking to normalize ties with Syria to address security threats from groups affiliated with Kurdish militants along its southern border and to help ensure the safe return of more than 3 million Syrian refugees. Assad has insisted that Turkey’s withdrawal of its forces from northern Syria be a condition for any normalization between the two countries.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who visited Assad on Sunday before traveling to Ankara, reiterated Tehran’s full support for the Syrian government. Iran has been one of Assad’s principal political and military supporters and has deployed military advisers and forces after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.
Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have deployed in Syria to back the government’s counteroffensive against the insurgents, an Iraqi militia official and a war monitor said Monday.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, some 200 Iraqi militiamen riding on pickups crossed into Syria overnight through the strategic Bou Kamal crossing. They were expected to deploy in Aleppo to support the Syrian army’s pushback against the insurgents, the monitor said.
The rebel offensive in Syria has caused concern among neighboring countries that the conflict could spill over. In Iraq, Interior Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Miqdad Miri said security forces have deployed in greater numbers to protect their large border with Syria.
Fidan reiterated Turkey’s support for Syria’s territorial integrity, but suggested that Turkey would not hesitate to intervene against Syrian Kurdish militia groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists if they “exploit the environment of instability.”
“It was a mistake to ignore the legitimate demands of the opposition and for the (Syrian) regime not to sincerely engage in the political process,” Fidan said.
Turkey, he added, "will never, ever allow terrorist organizations that seek to exploit the environment of instability," Fidan said. “We will eliminate any threat to our national security and our people wherever it emerges.”
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that the instability in Syria would come to an end “in line with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.” He spoke Monday at a joint news conference with the president of Montenegro.
Both Fidan and Araghchi said Turkey, Iran and Russia would convene a new three-way meeting to address the conflict in Syria.
"We have decided to hold closer consultations and dialogue, and with God’s permission, we will cooperate to further improve the situation toward peace and stability in our region,” Araghchi said.
Russia, whose intervention in Syria’s civil war on behalf of Assad was crucial in turning the conflict in his favor, has said it will continue to support him.
“We continue our contacts at the appropriate level and analyze the situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday. “A position will be formed regarding what is needed to stabilize the situation.”
As Syrian and Russian jets continued pounding targets, two airstrikes hit a group of four hospitals and the health directorate building in Idlib city, the Syrian Civil Defense force that operates in opposition-held areas, known as the White Helmets, said.
Two people in Idlib University Hospital died after their oxygen machines turned off following the strikes. Ceiling panels and doors at the hospital were blown off, while ambulances and vehicles outside were severely damaged according to footage taken by journalist with The Associated Press at the hospital.
At least 15 civilians were killed in Idlib city and province, according to the White Helmets.
Syrian Kurds were fleeing the fighting in large numbers after Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from rival U.S.-backed Kurdish authorities. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces largely withdrew and called for a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave safely in convoys toward Aleppo and later to Kurdish-led northeast regions.
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
The President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and opposition, Hadi Al-Bahra, speaks to the media during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian residents gather near destroyed buildings, after Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmet civil defence workers stand in a burning building after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker and civilians carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker running in a destroyed neighborhood after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmets civil defence workers carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
Syrian opposition fighters drive by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a road in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
An abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle sits on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters seize abandoned Syrian army ammunition in in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Residents inspect the site of an air strike in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syrian opposition fighters drive a seized seized Syrian army armoured vehicle near the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
This photo released on the official Telegram page of the Syrian Presidency shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Syrian President Bashar Assad meeting in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (Syrian Presidency Telegram page via AP)
A nurse attends to an injured woman in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
A young man waits for treatment for his injuries at a hospital in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
