California lawmakers said the state should stand up to President Donald Trump after his threat to impose large-scale fines on the state over trans student athletes.
“We can’t bend the knee,” Rep. Ro Khanna told NOTUS. “You have to take it to court if we need to and make sure that we don’t get intimidated. “I think this is part of a government overreach. Trump attacks any state, university, or institution he dislikes.”
A trans high school student won two events over the weekend at a state-wide track and field event, sharing the first-place wins with cisgender competitors. The Trump administration said on Monday that by allowing trans student athletes to participate in sporting activities, the California Interscholastic Federation was allowing discrimination against cisgender athletes.
The Department of Justice accused the federation — a state-wide institution that organizes sporting competitions between school districts — of potentially violating the equal protection clause, and the president threatened fines.
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“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so. As Governor Gavin Newscum fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
California lawmakers said that Trump’s attacks are part of a retribution campaign for a state he sees as unfriendly to him politically. They said they stand for LGBTQ+ youth in the state.
“I think California should always be a state that supports all people; we have a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community,” Rep. Robert Garcia told NOTUS. “I don’t think that attacking trans youth is the way to go, and I think we should stick to supporting everyone in the state.”
Other Democrats said Trump needs to stop focusing on California policies.
“He’s wading into state issues, and he has larger issues — that he himself created — and that are tanking the economy,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove said. “He needs to get over it, or run for governor.”
Rep. Jimmy Gomez called the whole matter “nonsense”: “People in California didn’t care, and it’s just this guy trying to make this into an issue. We will stand for the people who live in our state.”
California Democrats are in a tough spot when it comes to dealing with Trump’s White House. Many in the delegation believe they need to be the tip of the spear when it comes to leading an opposition to Trump’s policies. But the state needs federal funds, including disaster aid, to help the long-term recovery of Southern California after unprecedented wildfires earlier this year.
California freshman Rep. Sam Liccardo said there might not be many alternatives left when it comes to negotiating with Trump.
“I’m not sure there’s much of a relationship to maintain here,” Liccardo said. “The days of thinking that there was going to be a relationship to maintain are in the past.”
On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom backed the California Interscholastic Federation’s recent rule that allows trans female athletes to compete in events but adds a spot for another cisgender female athlete as well.
This is a pivot from when earlier this year, Newsom attracted backlash from the California congressional delegation after saying he completely agreed with right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk on the issue of trans athletes.
“This is all a pretext on Trump’s part to attack our state,” Sen. Adam Schiff told NOTUS. “This just seems to be a deliberate anti-California campaign.”
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Samuel Larreal is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
This NOTUS story was produced in partnership with San José Spotlight and with NewsWell, home of Times of San Diego and Stocktonia.
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