The Resistance: California vs. Donald Trump – Feb. 26, 2025
On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Capitol Weekly presented 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 discussed 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?
9:30 AM – 10:25 AM – Panel 1: Health Care
Podcast and full transcript of Panel 1 here
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?
Panelists: Beth Malinowksi, SEIU California; Devon Mathis, California Assembly (Ret.); Dr. Richard Pan, California Senate (Ret.); Amanda McAllister Wallner, Health Access California
Moderated by Samantha Young KFF Health News
10:45 AM – 11:40 AM – Panel 2: Climate and the Environment
Podcast and full transcript of Panel 2 here
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.
Panelists: Kip Lipper, Chief Policy Advisor on Energy and Environment to the Senate pro Tem; Catherine Reheis-Boyd, Western States Petroleum Association; Victoria Rome, Natural Resources Defense Council
Moderated by Rich Ehisen, Capitol Weekly
NOON – Keynote : California Attorney General Rob Bonta
Podcast and full transcript of Keynote may be found here
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
Podcast and full transcript of Panel 2 may be found here
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.
Panelists: Senator María Elena Durazo; Luis Alvarado, Luis Alvarado Public Affairs; Kevin R. Johnson, UC Davis School of Law; David Trujillo, ACLU California Action
Moderator: Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times
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
