As the countdown to the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump continues, the battle lines between the Left Coast and Washington D.C. are taking further form, with some surprising new twists. In a move that signals just how serious California lawmakers are about fighting changes promised by the new Trump Administration, California has hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to coordinate the representation of its interests over the next four years. The Wall Street Journal reports.
“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California,” Kevin de León, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. “This means we are very, very serious.”
Mr. de León said he expected California to challenge Washington — and defend itself from policies instituted in Washington — on issues including the environment, immigration and criminal justice. He said California Democrats decided to turn to Mr. Holder as they watched Mr. Trump assemble his cabinet and begin to set the tone for his presidency.
“It was very clear that it wasn’t just campaign rhetoric,” Mr. de León said of Mr. Trump’s proposals over the past year. “He was surrounding himself with people who are a very clear and present danger to the economic prosperity of California.”
As previously discussed in this post, this is another indication of the extent to which the most populous, powerful and progressive Blue State government in the nation will go to resist some of the changes promised in the new administration.