Donald Trump’s election to the presidency was formally certified on Monday, but he still faces “Trump-proofing” efforts in Washington and in the states—and in some cases, from familiar foes.
Democrat governors and attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York declared their intentions to challenge Trump’s efforts on multiple fronts, from enforcing immigration laws to protecting minors from so-called transgender treatments.
Governing magazine noted, “We might well see the most direct confrontation between federal and state power since the 1963 crisis when President John F. Kennedy’s deputy attorney general, Nicholas Katzenbach, challenged Gov. George Wallace over desegregating the University of Alabama.”
Blue State Rebellion
Specifically, in light of Trump’s election, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker founded and became co-chairmen of Governors Safeguarding Democracy, a coalition of Democrat governors opposing Trump’s agenda.
“GSD’s mission is to strengthen the foundations of American democracy, protect the rule of law, and serve the people of our great states, and we look forward to working with leaders across the country, including the incoming administration, dedicated to advancing these freedoms,” a spokesperson for Governors Safeguarding Democracy told The Daily Signal in an email.
Pritzker has warned Trump against deporting illegal immigrants in Illinois, saying, “You come for my people, you come through me.”
Shortly after Trump’s decisive November election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the state Legislature to call a special session in early December to “Trump-proof” the state.
“California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond,” Newsom said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters, a state policy news site, his office has test arguments already drafted on matters such as abortion, gun laws, and “transgender” issues.
“The best way to protect California, its values, the rights of our people, is to be prepared, so we won’t be flat-footed,” Bonta told the outlet. “We will fight as we did in the past if that scenario unfolds.”
California is already a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants and has refused to help federal officials enforce immigration laws. The state has abortion protections in its constitution. And during Trump’s first term, California filed more than 120 lawsuits against the administration to fight its policies.
“Every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey told MSNBC, referring to plans to protect illegal immigrants from deportation.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy vowed to “fight to the death” if the incoming Trump administration acts “contrary to our values.”
“If there is any attack on the Garden State or any of its communities from Washington, I will fight back with every fiber of my being,” Murphy said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced what she dubbed an “Empire State Freedom Initiative” to develop “comprehensive plans to address any policy and regulatory threats that may emerge from a Trump administration.”
A day after Trump’s election, New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “We did not expect this result but we are prepared to respond to this result. We faced this challenge before and we used the rule of law to fight back.”
Among cities, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said their cities would not assist federal officials in enforcing immigration laws.
Outgoing Biden and Deep State Bureaucrats
Outgoing President Joe Biden and his administration have acted to undermine Trump as well.
Hours before a joint session of Congress certified Trump’s election on Monday, Biden issued an executive order to ban offshore drilling for oil and natural gas that covers about 625 million acres. This comes in contrast to Trump’s plans for increased domestic drilling and U.S. energy independence.
“I am taking action to protect the East and West Coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from oil and natural gas drilling and the harm it can cause,” Biden said in a public statement Monday. He added, “As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.”
Politico quoted one anonymous federal official as saying, “You really can’t ‘Trump-proof.’ You can ‘Trump-delay,’ you can throw sand in the gears, but there is no way short of legislation to ‘Trump-proof.’”
The Biden administration has also moved to send $6 billion in military weapons to Ukraine to defend itself in the war against Russia, though the assistance was approved by Congress.
On other fronts, the current administration has been auctioning off border wall building materials that were dormant since Biden stopped construction of the wall in 2021. The states of Texas and Missouri recently sued to prevent the administration from selling the material.
Even Biden’s broad pardon of son Hunter Biden—convicted on federal gun and tax charges—encompassed any possible crimes that he may have committed over the past decade. Many critics of the pardon argued it was to shield Hunter Biden from prosecution under a future Trump administration.
Additionally, outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she wants to “leave no cash for Trump” in a $50 billion microchip subsidy program.
“I’d like to have really almost all of the money obligated by the time we leave,” she told Politico. “That’s the goal, and I certainly want to have all the major announcements done as it relates to the big, leading-edge companies.”
Federal bureaucrats were a significant challenge for Trump during his first term, and well before the 2024 election, these employees got extra protections to stay on the job.
The Office of Personnel Management finalized a rule in April that would make it tougher for a future administration to re-categorize employees under “Schedule F” to make it easier to fire certain employees.
The current system shouldn’t be changed to re-categorize employees, contends Jacqueline Simon, policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union.
“I wouldn’t use the term ‘Trump-proofing,’ I would say we are working to uphold an apolitical civil service,” Simon told The Daily Signal Tuesday.
Trump has blamed career employees in the FBI and other agencies for having political agendas, frequently using the terms “deep state” or “swamp” to describe bureaucrats protected by the civil service system from being replaced.
Simon insisted the civil service isn’t politicized.
“The current system has many safeguards to prevent politicization,” Simon said. “We want to prevent politics from interfering with employees’ jobs. Schedule F introduces the use of politics into the civil service.”
In May, staff at the Environmental Protection Agency signed a collective bargaining agreement that created mechanisms for employees to report any other employee who they deemed to have had “improper influence” on a scientific study. This is primarily aimed at promoting climate change policies, which Trump has been skeptical of in the past.
Also in May, Politico reported the National Institutes of Health established a scientific integrity council to police accusations of “political meddling” in scientific work. Political meddling could be a relative term based on who is on the council and how they choose to define it.
The National Institutes of Health has come under considerable scrutiny for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the agency’s top officials insisted the coronavirus did not come from a lab leak in China. Now, most federal agencies contend COVID-19 was a lab leak. The NIH was also criticized for lack of transparency in its handling of the pandemic.
Tyler O’Neil contributed to this story.
Fred Lucas is chief news correspondent and manager of the Investigative Reporting Project for The Daily Signal.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal – By Fred Lucas
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
The Democrat Party is dead set against seeing the United States succeed. They are against the American voters and they are proving it. They’re only desire is to burn this nation to the ground so they can rule over the ashes. They are the epitome of evil and they are exposing themselves for what they are. They will never get elected again
If Pritzker or any other Democratic governor tries to interfere with the deportation of illegal aliens, he /she may be the one who ends up in jail.
Nowhere in any of these governors claims are they protecting the rights of their citizens but in reality they’re protecting illegals at yours and my expense. That’s a fact.
Sanctuary States should be cut off from any Federal Assistance whatsoever even if there is a state emergency. If those accursed politicians want to ignore the mandate from the rest of the country then let them be forced to choose between Illegal Aliens and their own citizens so we can see how that goes for them!
Pritzker, if they are your people, step up and finance them.
So much for a “peaceful transition of power”…
The democrats are undermining and obstructing Trump. Only what they are doing is destroying the country. The past 4 years of lies and gaslighting the people is over. And Trump might be slowed a bit but his policies will be executed. The people will demand it. Today’s headline in our local paper said about Biden. A career of honesty and integrity. Laugh of the day. Joke of the day take your pick. Even in the end they lie. For he has done nothing else this is what is left. Hahaha. Like his whole career, lies and more lies.
I only hope the Republicans in Congress and the Senate have the courage to back Trump.
President Trump has his work cut out for him. I pray for him and his staff.
when Jacqueline Simon claims she’s working to uphold an apolitical civil service, SHE’S LYING! when she says the civil service isn’t politicized, SHE’S LYING! Her so-called safeguards against a politicized civil service failed and the civil service has been politicized for years going back even further than when Trump was in office the first time around. If you need any proof this look at what the IRS did to conservative and tea party groups during the Obama-Biden administration.
the law is clear…arrest them and throw them in jail,,,,repeated arrests then imprison…they did that to innocent church goers and peaceful conservative protestors and innocent people
Stick to the principles that got Trump elected. Do the necessary things to make out nation great again. You had my vote and still do.
CUT OFF ALL FEDERAL FUNDS IMMEDIATELY FROM EVERY BLUE STATE ATTEMPTING TO “TRUMP PROOF’ THEIR ALREADY BANKRUPT, CRIME-RIDDEN, DRUG, HOMELESS, AND ILLEGAL INFESTED, SANTUARY CESS POOLS THEY CALL THEIR STATE. And if any of the America-hating, Left-wing, Socialist Commie Blue State politicians (mayors, governors, etc.) stand in the way of the deportations or harbor ILLEGALS, literally drag them off to jail.
there laws against illegal immigration, there are laws against harboring criminals who have broken those laws.
the civil service answers to the President, so does the EPA
these efforts are, or should be, toothless if we’re actually willing to enforce the law. And they’re certainly contrary to the will of the American people. They are themselves criminal behaviour
Gee, this sounds a lot like a Democrat insurrection where they are going to defy the will of the majority in the country that elected the Trump Administration. I sure hope they bring out and prosecute all of the election fraud that those folks perpetrated on the country for God knows how long now and they all get dragged off to prison. To think their form of utopia is overrunning the country with people who are here illegally while mutilating their own children. It is despicable.
The communists are fighting for the rights of illegals, but not one of them would contribute privately from their personal account, not one of them would sponsor one individual never mind the whole family. Celebrities are the same. Shameful hypocrites and liars that they are.Where is all that hate coming from and why, this country is so good to them. Not many of them would leave it to go settle somewhere else, why, if it is so bad here.It’s like a tumor deep inside the body eating it away and there is no treatment strong enough to destroy it for good.
WOW, I am so looking forward to watching Homan take down these snowflakes and jail them if needed!
Not surprised!!
Every one of these Democratic Governors, from California to Illinois to New York, are bald face liars when they say they are protecting Democracy. Not one of them paid attention when the subject of Democracy was discussed in schools. The one and only thing they care about is protecting their Power base. They will coerce and lie to constituents at every opportunity just to get votes. I pray that someone, someday will ask those voters if they have seen any improvement in their life since those phonies were elected.
May I suggest to the governors of the states that don’t want to enforce the laws that the federals sent all the illegals to their states and see how long that have that stand
Unfortunately I live in one of the states with a loser for a governor.
useless gov. murphy should. spend more time trying to stop people from moving out of this god forsaken state. yes phil NJ is number 1 in something. thats people getting out of the . .this over taxed poorly managed state. wake up people phil will throw you out of your home and give it illegals and the rest of the people left in this horrible state will be paying for them to live in your old home. get out now while the getting is good. F you phil
If these states insist on keeping illegals in opposition to “We the People” shoulod lose all federal funding.
I live in the insane state of California and I truly hope Trump passes legislation that makes it a crime to harbor illegals so he can prosecute criminals that reside in California. The communist/Dems in this state are insane and I have tried to vote these walking sacks of sh** out of office for as long as I can remember. Hopefully Trump pulls all federal funding to this state, let’s see how thier Trump proofing holds up.
Where is the old democrat party?
All the blue states should be attacked with every tool the federal government has to make the blue states so poor and helpless that maybe the people will wake up and throw out the lying filthy liberals.
Well,I live in Illinois,not the corrupt leftist dickoc rat part.The north east part of this state dictates what the red part has to suck up.We don’t like it,but thats what we have to tolerate,unless we can boot the criminals out.This state has NOT has a good governor since JIM EDGAR,what a sick state this is.
Any state who resists President Trump’s orders should be declared enemies of the state and all federal assisted cut off immediately.
This is treason and should be treated as such. The democrat party has become so evil and I hope they implode and become no more.
It’s time for law, order and true justice to return to our courtrooms. It’s time to get rid of corrupt lawyers and judges. It’s time for We the People to be able to know that good guys will not be wrongly imprisoned and that bad guys will be taken off the streets, one way or the other.
It’s time to return to the true American way for all citizens.
It’s time to return to God.
If these blue states only want to stick to Trump – at the expense of the tax paying American citizens in their states! If they give illegals priority, then No Federal Funding – of any kind.
Some of these agencies want to control the way their employees think, but yet, they call the rest of us Marxist.
Why do these people hate America so much?
It’s to figure out how to get on that U-Haul list of those leaving CA!
They still have no clue why they’ve lost. This is what stuck on stupid looks like. Those voters deserve what they’ve got.
Fine. Trump will Marx, Lenin and Mao proof the whole country.
“The GSD’s mission is to strengthen the foundations of American democracy, protect the rule of law, …”
And in order to accomplish this, they will violate federal laws.
Like I’ve always said, “Democrats are despicable “
It’s much ado over nothing really. Most of this stuff is policy and not law. Although it may take longer than day one, it will be vanquished.
These Demo-Commie scum bags need to be extricated from the human race. They are a disease worse than any virus
“You come for my people, you come through me.” The logical response is “If you insist sir”
I learned that when I was protecting a close friend from the Sicilian “hoods” who said they we going to throw him out of the men’s room at HS for being a girl. He was anything but, but short of moxie due to both alcoholic parents. I stepped in between them and said “Well you’ll have to fight me first.” “If you insist” was the reply.
Just for fun I goggled the two worst hoods. Tommy is serving life for a mob hit, and Sal died in a mob hit. The world is better place.
Just think what could be done if these governors spent their time making things better for the people of their states rather than ragging on Trump.Did they hear what the People said on election day (clearly rejecting the Biden/Harris leadership and direction)?
It looks like Newsom will be on the ropes now so perhaps he will be rethinking some of his many errors. Or maybe not!
All the President needs to do is tell the treasury that these blue states forfeit federal funds going to them. And federal agencies can be 100% defunded. With no money we’ll see what power they have.
Never can trust the Left..too Evil! Trump must be covered with protection at all times. And he should not allow any of the two-faced demons lock him into any issue which they will turn around to their advantage. And we know who we are thinking about. The new arrivals at the recent party.
I’ve always been a fighter for states’ rights as per the Constitution. However, our nation’s borders are under the authority and care of the US government, not the states.
Immigrants who come across our borders illegally have by that term already committed a crime. It is the authority of the US gov’t to round them up & returning them to their native land. My concern is what happens when those nations refuse to take them back as some are doing?
What these Dem states are doing is not within rights spelled out in the Constitution. So Pres Trump by law has the authority to expel the illegals, criminals first. The Dems are so full of misguided OWO agenda or hate of Trump that they can’t SEE what they are actually doing, or they’ve bought into the delusion that a OWO is better for mankind. I doubt that’s the case though.
How is the left’s claim of ‘protecting liberties’ involve killing unborn humans and taking scalpels, multiple times, to young children, calling it a ‘sex change’ while, in reality, they are removing their sex organs, effectively castrating them. They do not even do this for violent sexual offenders, so why are they allowed to do this to children who have not reached the age of reason and are also placed into the 80% suicide bracket. It is also time time to end the funding of so-called sanctuary cities and make them pay for their unconstitutional ushering into our country of those of cartel, violent, criminal groups (no background checks) who should not be here. .
To think that the Communist regime would not react this way would be foolish. There way of life is being threatened and their not going to sit around and watch this happen. I’m sure Trump and his team are prepared for this situation. Trump has “The Dream Team” in place, or will be in place soon. Then it’s game over for the Communist regime! There is always a way around these situations. Now the freeloading government employees are going to have to produce or it’s the soup line for them! Taxpayers have had enough!
Do not let Trump rename the Gulf of Mexico, which has been name since 1700s. THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS by Johnny Horton in 1961 is one of the best songs ever & if Trump changes the name , then the history of this song will be lost on future generations. Trump has bigger fish to fry than changing names of historical sites.
The governors that resist deportations will be arrested if they actually attempt to shield illegals. By doing so they are aiding and abetting criminals, as “illegal aliens” are by law have committed a crime. .I hope these worthless liars do try so we can round them up and remove them from our government forever.
Instead of “Trump Proofing” California, maybe Gavin should be FIREPROOFING IT! Califirnua regulations drove out home insurance, there’s no hydrant water because California refused to refill them from Northern California water, the forests have not been maintained/no control burns, the fire chief is more worried about DEI then firefighting water, the LA Mayor just got back from Ghana (she cut LA firefighting budget by $7M resulting in layoffs)… in 2028,when Gavin runs for President, I hope the GOP runs his proud pronouncements of how he tore down four dams to help salmon migrate and saved the Delta Smelt!
Interesting that these blue state governors don’t know Trump, but they will.
What Trump needs to do is publicly identify the sanctuary states. Because the governors are not working with the federal government, these states will be the last states to have illegals, gangs, killers, criminals of every sort removed from them.
After all the criminals flock to the sanctuary states the governors will come crying to Trump for help removing them.
So?