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The California Legislature hired President Obama’s former attorney general Eric Holder to represent the state in any legal battles against President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Holder served as Obama’s attorney general from 2009 to 2015. He is currently a partner as Covington & Burling, a law firm in Washington, D.C.
In a statement, Holder said that he feels “honored” that California chose his law firm to serve as its legal adviser.
“I am honored that the Legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal adviser as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact California’s residents and policy priorities,” said Holder. “I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the Legislature.”
The state of California, controlled by the Democratic Party with two-thirds of both the Assembly and the Senate, plans to leverage Holder's political expertise against the Trump administration on issues such as immigration and the environment.
Democratic leader of the Senate Kevin de León has already started making preparations to push back against Trump and his immigration agenda.
Early December, Sen. de León filed a bill entitled the California Values Act that would create illegal immigrant “safe zones” and "freeze out ICE."
He told The Times that having Holder on board is a sign that California Senate Democrats are “very, very serious.”
“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California,” said Sen. de León. “This means we are very, very serious.”
The Golden State is home to more than 2.6 million undocumented immigrants. California has 18 counties of sanctuary cities, including Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
President-elect Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
In a press conference following a meeting with Senate Republicans on Wednesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that the Trump administration will be working very closely with Congress on issues such as immigration and border security.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to enforce laws against illegal immigration and to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.