California legislatorson Monday, postponed a special legislative session scheduled for Tuesday to “Trump-proof” the Gold State ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration, due to wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles region.
A member of the California Assembly’s budget office told Fox News Digital that the hearing was delayed because of the fire, adding that the committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, could not attend the session because he represents areas ravaged by wildfires.
When asked when the session would be adjourned before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the budget office said the new date was still “up in the air.”
While the session was adjourned, the representatives harmonized the law on Friday.
California Capitol on July 17, 2022 in Sacramento, California. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
KCRA in Sacramento reported that lawmakers added a proposal for a new website to track pending lawsuits between the state and the Trump administration, additional rules surrounding the use of an additional $25 million for the California Department of Justice to fight legal battles and a proposal for $25 million in grants for legal services and immigration support. The proposals were added to the special session bills, ABX1-1 and ABX1-2.
The news comes just days after a KCRA reporter pressed the Democratic Speaker of the California Assembly, Robert Rivas, that the time was right to hold a legislative session on anti-Trump money in a way that lawmakers could already do without special sessions.
Rivas deflected the question, saying he was there to deal with wildfires.
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Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
“This is a historic, historic forest fire,” he told a reporter. “This is, this is a historic event. These wildfires, as I mentioned, will very likely be some of the worst wildfires and disasters in state and national history.”
But the reporter continued, saying, “While this wildfire is happening, and while people are trying to understand what’s going on and are worried about disaster relief, worried about being able to get home insurance, your House has given a special legislative session get ready for Donald Trump in a way that you can already do without a special legislative session, so again, is now the right time to do that?”
Once again, Rivas focused on recovering from the fire and did not directly answer the reporter’s question.
‘DEVASTATING’: CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALLS LAST YEAR, BUT NO STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
California Governor Gavin Newsom and President-elect Trump have clashed over a variety of issues, including immigration. (Getty/AP)
Rivas’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional information about the postponement of the special session.
Shortly after Trump’s election victory, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a special legislative session to bolster the state’s legal fund in case of an attack by the Trump administration. Trump hit back at Newsom after the announcement, saying on his Truth Social account, “He’s using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just won the elections.”
Between 2017 and 2021. California Department of Justice led 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies, spending $42 million on litigation. Newsom’s office said that in one case, the federal government was ordered to reimburse California for nearly $60 million in public safety grants.
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While California has filed over 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, Trump has filed only four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, Trump’s Justice Department filed a lawsuit over California’s three sanctuary state laws that restricted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. That same year, Trump sued California over state-level net neutrality laws.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
