SACRAMENTO >> Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office has been so busy fighting the Trump administration’s policies on everything from climate change to immigration that his office asked for — and will likely receive — another $6.5 million to lead the California “Resistance.”
“My comment is, ‘Hallelujah!’” Becerra told reporters Monday when asked about the extra funds the governor has agreed to provide his office.
The 59-year-old Stanford alum, the son of Mexican immigrants and first Latino to hold the powerful post, spoke Monday afternoon at a Sacramento Press Club event about his action-packed first months in office — a tenure largely defined by its opposition to Donald Trump’s nascent presidency. Becerra, who opened an office in Washington, D.C., to follow the administration’s every move, described a scramble to react to moves large and small by the White House, even using his civil rights attorneys to take on pressing immigration issues such as threats to withhold funding from so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Pulling them away from their regular work reviewing alleged practices of discrimination was “tough,” Becerra said, “but we had to deal with what was in front of us.”
In early December Gov. Jerry Brown announced he had picked Becerra, a longtime Los Angeles-area congressman, to fill a vacancy left by Kamala Harris, who was elected in November to represent California in the U.S. Senate. By choosing a Washington insider who hadn’t practiced law in decades, Brown signaled his intent to protect California’s interests and liberal policies from Washington meddling.
Last week, Brown said he gave the attorney general the extra money because of the extra work his office had taken on. “I think he should be given some latitude,” Brown said.
In its request for 19 more deputy attorney general positions, Becerra’s office reported devoting more than 13,000 hours of legal time responding to Trump administration-related matters ranging from executive orders on immigration and travel to the environment between Jan. 20 and May 8. The request also said the office will be forced to ramp up consumer-protection activity — watching out for the rights of student-loan borrowers and undocumented immigrants alike — as the Trump administration rolls back consumer protection regulations.
“We would note that the amount of resources requested pales in comparison to the amount of money California stands to lose should these federal actions go unchallenged,” the proposal argues.
Some Republicans are not pleased that California is devoting public resources to take up so many legal battles in Washington and around the country.
“We’re spending money on rumors, on possibilities — that’s what our legislative bodies are for,” said Robert Varich, vice chairman of the Santa Clara County GOP. “They’re elected to represent us and they’re doing the job in Washington.”
Becerra — — who will run in November 2018 for a full term — on Monday rattled off a list of actions the California Department of Justice had initiated against the federal government and companies over environmental matters such as energy conservation standards and alleged environmental violations. Then he said there were another 11 he didn’t have time to mention — all in response to the Trump administration.
“The environmental law section is, I mean, crazy busy,” he said.
The attorney general’s office is also digging into the background of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt — who while previously serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general, had sued the EPA — to determine whether the new EPA leader violated federal ethics laws.
“We’re going to dive deep in this stuff,” Becerra said. “It takes time and money. And hallelujah that the governor and Legislature are helping me out.”
