With the Republican Party controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, the GOP has been exerting near-total control of public policy in Washington, DC. The courts, however, have provided a far more competitive playing field for Democrats seeking to resist the administration.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been at the forefront of the legal resistance.
Becerra, a Democrat with a law degree from Stanford, spent more than two decades in Congress and chaired the House Democratic Caucus for his final two terms. When then-Attorney General Kamala Harris was elected to the Senate in 2016, Becerra was nominated Attorney General by Governor Jerry Brown, himself a former AG of the state.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Times published a multi-media story on the "battlefronts" as the AG "is waging war against Trump."
"California has become a flag bearer in the nationwide resistance to Trump administration policies on immigration, the environment, regulation, government ethics and healthcare policy," the LA Times reported. "The state has filed dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump policies and initiatives, added its voice to the resistance via friend-of-the-court briefs in many other cases, enacted legislation to protect interests its leaders feel have been abandoned by Trump, and implemented administrative policies to protect what Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra calls 'California values.'”
The section on the environment and public lands shows California as the "winner" on seven different battlefronts.
The legal battlefield also includes healthcare, education, immigration, civil rights and consumer protections.
Becerra has also be fighting on the Russia controversy being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Watch Xavier Becerra explain progressive policies in the Trump era during an appearance on "The Rachel Maddow" show a month after Trump's election: