SACRAMENTO, CA (KMJ) – Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra announce they intend to take action – including suing over President Trump’s national emergency declaration.
Speaking Friday morning at the California State Capitol, Gov. Gavin Newsom said President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico is not a true emergency.
Gov. Newsom said he was in Paradise, CA on Thursday, where fire victims are still waiting for money from FEMA
“And they’re waiting for the semblance of hope, something that will normalize things, and yet we’re still playing politics that $12 billion dollar appropriation, and we’re getting into a sideshow around a wall that will impact none of the issues that he asserted. In fact, it will make things worse. Fentanyl will become more prominent in America because of this declaration. Cocaine and Methamphetamine will become more of a problem in the United States of America and in California with this declaration,” said Gov. Newsom.
The Governor said the emergency declaration will take billions away from other crucial military and drug enforcement efforts.
The White House Tweeted “The potential is shocking. So is the reality. Per @NIH, “Among the more than 72,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2017, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl… with nearly 30,000 overdose deaths.” This is a national emergency.
The emergency declaration allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the Trump administration’s declaration is “illegal” and “immoral.”
The Attorney General, standing side-by-side with the Governor at the press conference in Sacramento, explained the process.
“We’re reviewing the declaration which I understand was just issued,” said Becerra. “We’re going to take a close look at what the declaration actually says, versus what the President says it says, and based on that we are prepared to take any and all action including go to court to defend the interests of the people of the State of California.
Attorney General Becerra said the President does not have the authority to make the declaration, and promised in his Spanish-language rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address: “to reject this foolish proposal in court the moment it touches the ground.”
Gov. Newsom said California wants to work in partnership with the President to address the “legitimate crisis with drugs” in this country.
“I don’t want to be a sparring partner with President Trump. We want to be a working partner,” Gov. Newsom said. “But he makes it all but impossible when he plays these games, and manufactures a crisis, and creates the conditions where we have no other choice but to sue the administration.”
Gov. Newsom tweeting to the White House; “CA will see you in court.”
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
