Sacramento – Give me Gavin Newsom Credit. You could call it grand and opportunistic, but suing President Trump over tariffs was clever, bold and much needed.

Certainly, it was political. Newsom has moved ahead of other potential 2028 presidential candidates by targeting the court system for Trump’s tariff misconduct.

Someone had to seek a judicial ruling on whether the president could raise tariffs without Congressional approval.

Republican Congressional leaders – Republican politicians in general – are too threatened by the president to sneeze without his blessing. They are messing up their equal legislative powers on the President. And that is concern for democracy.

It’s about self-preservation. Members of Congress who must survive the GOP primary to win reelection must fear being “primary” on the bad side of the revenge president.

“Where is the council? [Mike] Johnson? Do your job! ” Newsom declared last week while announcing the lawsuit at an almond orchard near Ceres in the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley.

“They are sitting there passively [as Trump] It destroys the US economy. ”

In fact, it looked like Newsom was crashing Atty. General Rob Bonta’s party.

Newsom and Bonta filed a lawsuit in US District Court in San Francisco. But Bonta — who often works with Democratic attorney generals in other states — had already filed 14 lawsuits challenging Trump’s policies. Bonta staff had spent quite a bit of time drafting the customs lawsuit before Newsom publicly surfaced as plaintiff.

“The president is acting as if he’s beyond the law. He’s not,” Bonta said before introducing Newsom on Almond Farm. “Council has a duty to set taxes, obligations, and yes, customs duties.”

For Newsom and California, challenges to Trump in court can be a bit dangerous. The president threatened to retaliate against California by withholding federal funds if state policies contradict him. That includes money to help rebuild the sections that were damaged by the Los Angeles fire.

It’s not just a threat of lazy idle. As Trump showed in court by pulling back federal funds promised to universities and powerful armed law firms that opposed him.

But as most of us have learned as children, you have to stand up to the bully. And that’s what Newsom did.

“Undoubtedly, Trump is not going to give anything to California anyway,” says David Townsend, a Democratic political consultant. “This is a good political move by the newspaper to position itself as an anti-Trump on solid policy issues.

“All Democrat voters are looking for a strong anti-Trump leader.”

Now, Newsom is reading Tea Leaves and realizes that many people are seeking crusades to fight Trump’s policies.

That was demonstrated the night before Newsom’s announcement when Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (two East Coast Democrat Socialists) gathered nearly 30,000 people at an anti-Trump rally in the Republican Congressional district near Sacramento.

The essential elements of democracy were elected following the will of the citizens. And that’s obviously what Newsom is trying to do now with tariffs.

For California, “I can’t imagine uniting,” Newsom said, rather than challenging tariffs. “We wanted there to be no need to go down this path. [are] I’m ready to go down this path. ”

Trump’s “illegal tariffs are causing disruption to California families, businesses and our economy. They raise prices and threaten jobs,” Newsom said in a prepared statement.

The lawsuit represents a change in Newsom’s strategy against Trump. Previously, he appears to be practically muted and tries to play gently to avoid Trump’s rage, which could potentially cost California’s federal money for disaster relief, higher education and medical health care.

Another Newsom announcement last week and its soft tong tactics announce a lawsuit challenging California’s Americanorps service program.

“We went from the New Deal, the new frontier, the great society to the federal government that gives middle fingers to volunteers serving fellow Americans,” Newsson declared in a prepared statement.

middle finger? It is not exactly the traditional governor’s language. But there are no bureaucratic bulls either.

Governors usually don’t file trials that challenge the president’s foreign policy. But this isn’t like working with Russian President Vladmir Putin to surrender Trump, cramming European alliances, or oddly threatening to seize Greenland. California has tariffs and has a judicial “position” as a victim.

“We’re not poised to lose anything more than California,” Newsom said.

“We talk about stupidity,” Newsom continued. “this [tariff action] That’s the poster child. ”

Newsom noted that California’s gross domestic product was $3.9 trillion in 2023, 50% more than that of Texas’ next state. If this were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world.

We are one of the nation’s leading agricultural producers, with over 36,000 manufacturers employing 1.1 million people.

China, Mexico, Canada – Trump’s special tariff targets – supply more than 40% of California’s foreign imports. They are also the top three exporters. In total, California imported $491 billion in product last year and exported $183 billion worth of its value.

The tariffs are combined in the expected economic downturn in California, sacrificing state tax revenues and driving the budget deeply into Red Ink. It comes from the collapse of companies that rely on foreign imports and exports. This is exacerbated by a decline in consumer spending as prices for everything from food to cars rise.

Newsom and Bonta argue that Trump cannot impose tariffs without Congressional consent, but this is not a clear case. The Trump-friendly Supreme Court will definitely be final.

Newsom did the right thing by being the first governor to seek the court’s answer.

What else should I read?

Must see“The atmosphere shift is real. San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie becomes the man of the hype of his hometown.
TK: Elon Musk’s Harem
Rimes Special: Many immigrants choose to take their oath rather than risk marching like criminals

Until next week,
George Skeleton

–
Has this newsletter been forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.