The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump – Feb. 26, 2025
On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Capitol Weekly will present an online conference, The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump.
President Donald J. Trump launched his second term with a flurry of executive orders on immigration, energy and climate, health care, civil rights and more. California led the resistance to administration policies during the first Trump Administration, suing the federal government over 100 times; Now the state’s Democratic leadership is gearing up for Round 2.
More than a dozen experts and insiders will discuss the ways California activists and officials can – and cannot – defend state and local policies that conflict with the aims of the new administration. What can we take away from the last Trump term? What is different now? What happens next?
The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump is an online event. Attendance is via Zoom only. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Click on the buttons below to register for the individual panels.
9:30 AM – 10:25 AM – Panel 1: Health Care
Republicans came within one vote of repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017. President Trump has made clear his deep disdain for the ACA – AKA ObamaCare – and Republican majorities in congress may help him repeal or significantly scale back Barack Obama’s signature achievement. And, what will the new administration mean for reproductive rights, disease control, and MediCal, which gets over 60% of its funding from the federal government?
10:45 AM – 11:40 AM – Panel 2: Climate and the Environment
As Southern California reeled from catastrophic fires fueled by climate change, the new president called global warming a “hoax” and upended federal efforts to combat carbon emissions. Trump declared a “national energy emergency” on his first day in office, using the order to fast-track US production of oil and gas – already at historic levels – and also attacked support for the nation’s burgeoning electric vehicle industry. On the same day, Trump ordered agencies to override rules governing California’s Central Valley Project and State Water Project, which could decrease water deliveries to Central and Southern California.
NOON – Keynote : California Attorney General Rob Bonta
California Attorney General Rob Bonta will take the lead on the state’s legal pushback against the Trump Administration. His predecessor, Xavier Becerra, filed over 100 lawsuits against the federal government during Trump’s first term. Now, all eyes are on Bonta, a first generation immigrant from the Philippines, as the new administration issues a deluge of executive orders and enforcement actions.
1:00 PM – 1:55 PM – Panel 3: Immigration
Restricting immigration has long been Donald Trump’s signature issue: His first term saw a crackdown on both legal and undocumented immigrants, and an attempt to build a wall between the US and Mexico. Now his administration is set to challenge Sanctuary Cities and has said it will prosecute state and local officials who resist federal immigration policy. No state will be more impacted than California, where roughly 6% of the population is undocumented.
There is no cost to attend The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump, but registration is required.
Contact Melody Gere at Capitol Weekly, (916) 444 7665, for questions on registration.
Contact Tim Foster at Capitol Weekly, (916) 612 2613, for information on sponsoring this event.
Contact Rich Ehisen at Capitol Weekly, (916) 402 4886 for information about the content of this event.
Thanks to our sponsors:
THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS, WESTERN STATES PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION, KP PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PERRY COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, CAPITOL ADVOCACY, THE WEIDEMAN GROUP, and CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS
