Column: California’s attorney general says we’re not in a constitutional crisis — yet

Hello and happy Thursday. Organic eggs are $9.99 a dozen and have become so valuable people are stealing them — in Pennsylvania, 100,000 eggs worth $40,000 were heisted just this week, followed by another egg caper in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Denmark, where a dozen eggs are less than $5, offered to buy California (a response to President Trump’s hostile talk on Greenland), which, I have to say, doesn’t sound half bad.

If, like me, recent events have left you feeling less-than-hopeful about the state of everything, then today’s newsletter is just the dollop of hope you’ve been waiting for.

I spoke with California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Wednesday about his many (four and counting) lawsuits against the Trump administration — on birthright citizenship, cuts to federal grants, blocking Elon Musk and his teen titans from grabbing personal information, and restricting how universities pay for research.

It’s a far cry from the 100-plus filed by then-California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra during Trump 1.0, but give it some time. We’re only three weeks in to Trump 2.0.

While many are reeling from the speed at which democracy seems to be crumbling, Bonta has a different take.

“I feel hopeful, I feel optimistic, I feel resolute,” he told me. “I feel proud of California, and California’s role in the big existential questions like preserving our democracy.”

Authoritarianism, or worse, a bro-ligarchy led by Musk, may be our greatest fear. But Bonta said we’re not there yet.

President Trump listens as billionaire Elon Musk speaks on Feb. 11, 2025, in the Oval Office.

(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

In recent days, much has been written about Gov. Gavin Newsom making nice with Trump. It’s to the governor’s credit that he’s putting the needs of the people above his own ego (though also, the least we should expect from politicians) but it still can’t be easy. Once the leader of California’s resistance against MAGA, Newsom now is largely silent as the movement steamrolls everything from civil rights to civil servants.

When it comes to Newsom, Bonta tells me the governor is “walking and chewing gum at the same time,” and “doing what he needs to do, even if it’s not pleasant, but he’s duty-bound to do it and I admire him for it.”

But Bonta, as the state’s top lawyer and therefore not directly in Trump’s orbit, isn’t under those constraints. Like attorneys general across the country, he’s suddenly found himself front and center in whatever this mess is, in “what has become, in this moment, potentially one of the most important offices and elected official positions in the nation.”

With that in mind, Bonta said he’s “going to be absolutely non-negotiable in my position that the president of the United States must follow the law, must follow the rule of law, must follow the Constitution.”

“Every action that the president takes when it crosses the line, we’re there to stop him,” he said.

And so far, Bonta (along with his peers and plaintiffs from other states) haven’t been doing so poorly in courts. The New York Times counts at least 18 rulings that have put the brakes on Trump’s offensive.

During Trump 1.0, a theme emerged among the many lawsuits, regardless of what they, on the surface, were about: violations of the Administrative Procedure Act.

While that sounds super boring, it’s basically a law that says you have to follow certain rules, even when you’re attempting to burn down government. Turned out, Trump rarely followed the rules and rarely had a good legal argument for why not. I asked Bonta whether the same underlying issue was at play again, or whether Trump’s administration seemed better organized this go-around.

“That is the oft-stated narrative about the Trump administration, that he’s more skillful, he’s more savvy,” Bonta said. “I honestly don’t see it, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. ... Most of our cases have the Administrative Procedures Act component to it, either side by side with a constitutional violation or on its own as a violation that there was no rulemaking process, no notice and comment.”

That’s good news for those hoping to push back on the MAGA moves, because many Trump attacks were stopped the first time due to that chaotic approach. It may work at privately owned Twitter, but despite what Mr. Musk thinks of bureaucracy, he doesn’t have the authority to dismantle the U.S. government as he sees fit.

Of course, all this hangs on whether Trump’s administration will abide by court decisions. As I wrote in my column last week, Vice President JD Vance and others have said they think Trump should ignore court rulings if they are not in his favor.

“That’s a very dangerous statement by the vice president,” Bonta said.

But, unlike some (myself included) he doesn’t think we are in a full-blown constitutional crisis yet.

“Everyone has a different threshold for what’s a constitutional crisis,” Bonta said.

For him, it will be when “there is a clear and understood court order that applies to certain conduct of the Trump administration. And the Trump administration knows what the court order is and specifically, brazenly and egregiously defies it and says, ‘I know that the court’s ordering it. We’re not following the court’s order. We’re going to do the opposite.’ That —to me — is ... my threshold, and that has not happened.”

Though we have come close. A Rhode Island judge this week ruled (in a case that California is part of) that Trump wasn’t fully complying with his orders and continued “to improperly freeze federal funds and refused to resume disbursement of appropriated federal funds.”

Still, Bonta said he has faith that the judiciary — and its power — will hold, even at the mostly conservative Supreme Court, where some of these cases will almost certainly land.

“I don’t think they’re a rubber stamp for Trump’s positions,” Bonta said of the high court.

But he also sees the fights continuing throughout the Trump presidency, one reason he said he decided to bow out of the already-crowded 2026 governor’s race.

“We’re going to continue to see attorneys general at the forefront here for the next four years. This is what we do. This is what we’re called to do,” he said. “This is our job to protect the rule of law, to defend the Constitution.”

What else you should be reading:

The must-read: Many Groups Promised Federal Aid Still Have No Funds and No Answers
The what happened: Elon Musk denies orchestrating ‘hostile takeover’ of government
The L.A. Times special: Feds won’t test soil after L.A. wildfire cleanup, potentially leaving contamination behind

Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria

P.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach trolled Elon Musk in committee Wednesday. I’ll let you decide if it was appropriate or not, but it’s undeniably funny.

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