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If there’s a Democratic revolt against the Trump administration, California’s attorney general is arguably one of its more important architects.
Since taking the job in January, Xavier Becerra has brought dozens of legal actions against the federal government.
He has challenged the travel ban, threats to federal funding, the plan to end the “dreamer” program, changes to health care and environmental policy and, just Wednesday, the proposed border wall.
In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Becerra, 59, said he saw his role as one of safeguarding California’s ability to prosper.
“California is not looking to pick a fight,” he said. “But if Trump is trying to get in our way, that’s when we go at it.”
Continue reading the main storyAttorneys general have the authority to sue on behalf of their state’s residents.
With a Republican Congress and White House, Democratic attorneys general across the country have assumed outsize roles on the national stage by using the courts to halt policies that they argue cause harm to their states.
In California, the biggest state by population, Mr. Becerra brings more firepower than anyone to the fight. His Department of Justice has more than 4,500 employees and a budget of more than $800 million.
“He’s on the front lines. He’s got the budget. He has the position in California government. He’s got access to national media given that it’s California,” said John J. Pitney, Jr., a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College. “A vigorous California attorney general can have a real impact.”
Some critics have accused Mr. Becerra and other California leaders of putting too much energy into fighting Mr. Trump and not enough attention on matters within the state.
Joel Anderson, a Republican state senator from San Diego County, suggested Mr. Becerra has retained a partisan mindset from his days as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
“California’s top cop is expected to work for everyone, not just the supermajority,” he said, referring to the Democrats’ domination of the California legislature.
Mr. Becerra is not the first attorney general to go hard at a president from a rival party.
The Obama administration was a frequent target for Greg Abbott, then the Republican attorney general of Texas and now the state’s governor. According to a tally by The Texas Tribune, Texas sued the administration at least 48 times.
If Mr. Becerra’s pace continues, he could well surpass that.
He’s got another legal action cooking, he said on Thursday, this time on the environment.
° ° °California Online
(Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.)
• “You could call it declaring war, call it whatever you want.” Representative Duncan Hunter, a San Diego area Republican, called for a pre-emptive strike against North Korea. [San Diego Union-Tribune]
• California would lose $78 billion in federal money under the latest Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. [San Francisco Chronicle]
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• Gov. Jerry Brown is poised to sign a sexual assault law that will hurt black kids, writes Lara Bazelon. [Opinion | The New York Times]
• A Sacramento Bee writer lamented the “San Franciscification” of Sacramento by millennials priced out of the Bay Area. [Opinion | Sacramento Bee]
• “Hear about the tract house that went for $800,000 above asking? Welcome to California 2017.” [Opinion | Los Angeles Times]
• In a national customer satisfaction survey, Sacramento International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Orange County earned top rankings. [Sacramento Bee]
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• The tech billionaire Peter Thiel has been advising the Trump administration for months. Now, some say he is poised for a key intelligence post. [Vanity Fair]
• Facebook said it was submitting 3,000 Russia-linked ads to congressional committees investigating election interference. [The New York Times]
• “The numbers show Silicon Valley is already fading.” [Opinion | Bloomberg]
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• When the conservative writer Ben Shapiro spoke at U.C. Berkeley, the security tab was $600,000. The upcoming “Free Speech Week” will have similar security needs — but for four straight days. [Politico]
• California regulators ordered auto insurers to adjust their rates after a report found that minority neighborhoods were paying more than white areas. [ProPublica]
• Jeffrey Mezger, chief executive of the homebuilder KB Home, will take a 25 percent cut to his year-end bonus as a result of his sexist and homophobic outburst against Kathy Griffin. [The New York Times]
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• Photos: Snow fell on the Sierra Nevada on the last day of summer. [The Mercury News]
• For his documentary “The Force,” Peter Nicks tracked the crisis-riddled Oakland Police Department for two years. [The New York Times]
And Finally ...
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Our art critic loves the sprawling new arts initiative “Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA.”
The survey is a collaboration of some 70 cultural institutions throughout Southern California and focuses on the cultural exchange between Latin America and Los Angeles.
Holland Cotter, chief art critic for The Times, noted that Latin American art has often been overlooked by museums.
“LA/LA,” he wrote, represents a “catch-up gesture.”
“During one of the meanest passages in American national politics within living memory,” Mr. Cotter wrote, “we’re getting a huge, historically corrective, morale-raising cultural event.”
He added: “It’s a gift, worth a trip to puzzle over and savor.”
“Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA” runs through January.
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The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Los Osos. Follow him on Twitter.
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.
Continue reading the main story Source: http://ift.tt/2xWZA6O
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