It was late Sunday night when President Trump was defeated – again – by California.
No, a federal judge ruled, Trump cannot order the California National Guard to invade Portland, Oregon, at the request of California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and others U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut expanded a temporary restraining order that had blocked the federal government from using the Oregon National Guard. It now includes not only California troops, but also troops from any state. At least for the next two weeks.
This is the kind of legal loss Trump should be accustomed to by now, especially when it comes to the Golden State. Since Trump 2.0 hit the White House this year with Project 2025 in his back pocket, the state of California has sued the administration 42 times, literally about once a week.
While many of these cases are still pending, California is racking up a string of victories that have restored more than $160 billion in funding and at least slowed (and in some cases stopped) the advance of civil rights on issues such as birthright citizenship and immigration policy.
“We won 80 percent of the time,” Bonta told me. “Whether it’s a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order, and increasingly permanent final injunctions once the entire trial trial is complete. »
I take it. We all need positive news. I don’t often write only about the good, but in these strange times, it’s worth remembering that the fight is always worth it when it comes to protecting our rights. And, despite the partisan Supreme Court, the reason we still cling to democracy is because the system still works, even if it looks like a 1978 Chevrolet with rusted doors.
While Gov. Gavin Newsom has made himself the face of California’s fights against Trump, adopting a pugnacious and bold stance, particularly on social media, the daily blows in those battles are often carried out by Bonta and his team in courtrooms across the country.
It’s hard to remember, but a few months ago, Newsom called a special session of the Legislature to give Bonta a $25 million allocation to defend not only California but democracy. And at a time when many of us fear that the checks and balances promised in the Constitution may prove to be little more than happy illusions, Bonta has a message: The courts hold (for the most part) and California’s lawyers don’t just fight, they win.
“We can do things that governors can’t do,” Bonta said. “No role or moment has been more important than this.”
Bonta told me he often hears that Trump ignores the courts, so “what’s the point of litigation? What’s the point of a court order? He’s just going to ignore them.”
But, he added, the administration has followed the judges’ rulings — until now. Although there have been cases, particularly around evictions, that knock on the door to anarchy, at least for California, Trump is “complying with all of our court orders,” Bonta said.
“We are making a difference,” he said.
A few days ago, the U.S. Department of Education was forced to disburse the last tranche of funds it had tried to withhold from schools. Bonta, in a multistate lawsuit, succeeded in protecting that money, which schools need this year to help migrant children and English learners, train teachers, buy new technology and fund before- and after-school programs, among other uses.
This is a permanent and final decision – without appeal.
Another recent victory saw California issue a permanent injunction against the federal government when it comes to stopping paying costs associated with the state’s energy projects. This is a win for both the climate and consumers, who benefit when we produce energy more efficiently.
Last week, Bonta obtained another permanent injunction, blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to tie homeland security-related grants to compliance with its immigration policies. Safety should not be tied to deportations, especially in California, where our immigrants are overwhelmingly law-abiding community members.
These are just a few of Bonta’s victories. Of course, Trump and his acolytes are not happy about this. Stephen Miller, the shame of Santa Monica, seems to have lost his mind mainly because of the National Guard’s decision. On social media, Miller appears to attack the justice system and attorneys general like Bonta.
“There is a large and growing movement of left-wing terrorism in this country,” Miller wrote. “It is well organized and financed. And it is protected by far-left Democratic judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only cure is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terrorist networks.”
Never mind that the Oregon judge who made the National Guard ruling was a Trump appointee.
“Their goal, I think, is to deter and worry the judges; to dissuade and worry the press; to deter and worry the attorneys general who stand up for the rule of law and democracy, who go to court and fight for what is right and fight for the law,” Bonta said.
Bonta expects that the administration, far from learning lessons or reflecting on itself during this mad rush toward autocracy, will continue to move forward at full speed.
“We’re going to see more of this, and we’re going to see it quickly, and we’re going to see it intensify,” he said. “None of this is good, including putting the military in American cities or, you know, Trump treating them like his Royal Guard instead of the National Guard.”
Even when the Trump administration loses, “they still have that second measure, and maybe a third, where they’re still trying to advance their agenda, even when they’ve been blocked by a court, even when they’ve been told they’re acting illegally or unconstitutionally,” he said.
On Monday, Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act to circumvent the court’s ruling on the National Guard, a massive escalation of his efforts to militarize American cities.
But California remains on a winning streak, much to Trump’s dismay.
I bet as long as our judges continue to respect the rule of law, this streak will continue.
