California Assembly Budget Chair Introduces Special Session Proposal to Fund Potential Litigation Against the Trump Administration

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, will introduce special session legislation to ensure that California is prepared to quickly file affirmative litigation against the incoming Trump Administration. Introduced as part of the special session of the Legislature called by Governor Newsom, the legislation provides authority for up to $25 million in additional funding for the California Department of Justice and other state agencies to challenge any unconstitutional or unlawful federal actions that threaten California’s interests or values. Potential areas of litigation include civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families, as well as any effort by the incoming Administration to unlawfully withhold disaster relief or other federal funding that would harm California taxpayers.

“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,” said Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel. “We know from President-elect Trump’s statements – and from the more than 120 lawsuits that California filed during the first Trump Administration – that we must be prepared to defend ourselves. We’re not going to be caught flat-footed.”

Assemblymember Gabriel’s commitment to defending California values in court is informed by his experience during the first Trump Administration, where he worked with a coalition of leading constitutional law professors – as well as lawyers from the California Department of Justice – to bring litigation challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Ultimately, the Supreme Court – in an opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts – sided with Assemblymember Gabriel’s clients and the State of California in ruling that the Trump Administration had acted unlawfully in ending the DACA program. Since that time, more than 600,000 Dreamers have been able to renew their DACA status because of this litigation.

Assemblymember Gabriel’s proposal includes two special session bills: Assembly Bill (AB) X1-1 and ABX1-2. ABX1-1 will set aside up to $25 million in funding to cover the costs of potential litigation, while ABX1-2 will immediately allocate $500,000 to fund initial case preparation. 

Both bills will be considered by a special session Budget Committee appointed by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, where they are expected to further develop through ongoing conversations with the State Senate and Governor Newsom. The goal is to pass both bills and have them signed into law prior to the inauguration of President-elect Trump on January 20, 2025.

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Jesse Gabriel proudly represents the San Fernando Valley in the California State Legislature.