Our Fentanyl Enforcement Program works tirelessly to disrupt and dismantle fentanyl distribution operations across the state. Through undercover work, investigations, and partnerships with local law enforcement, the team takes down major trafficking rings and stops the flow of fentanyl into our streets.
And our efforts are paying off.
Since April 2022, The Fentanyl Enforcement Program has seized more than 17 million fentanyl pills, enough fentanyl powder to make 32 million additional pills, and made more than 600 fentanyl related arrests.
I am incredibly proud of the work the Fentanyl Enforcement Program does every day to keep our communities safe—watch their video to hear more from the team members who make this work possible.
We aren’t just stopping the flow of fentanyl into our communities through law enforcement work; we’re also holding traffickers accountable in a court of law through our Division of Criminal Law.
From the streets to the courtroom, our message is simple. To those distributing illicit fentanyl throughout our communities and in the process, inflicting pain, suffering, and death on Californians, we’ll come for you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
We won’t stop until the deaths from fentanyl do.
]]>As California Attorney General, I’ve made combating the affordability crisis one of California DOJ’s top priorities. As of late, much of that work has included antitrust enforcement.
Before your eyes glaze over and you scroll away, hear me out: Antitrust enforcement is about affordability.
When giant corporations monopolize markets, collude to fix prices, or merge to knock out competition, it hurts our economy and results in consumers paying higher prices for fewer options. When we go after corporations that violate antitrust laws, we are fighting for you—your budget, your bills, your pocketbook.
This is about how much you pay for food, streaming services, satellite TV, cable, tickets to live shows, and clothing. It’s about being able to afford your life. It’s about being able to start your own business and have it succeed or fail based on the quality of what you offer—not based on a giant corporation that controls the market and squashes you before you can get off the ground. It’s about ensuring that the deeply American values of innovation, competition, and a free market win out. It’s about protecting businesses that follow the law and working families who deserve to pay fair prices.
We’ve seen throughout history that consolidation in markets at the center of American economic life doesn’t serve our economy, consumers, or competition well. In fact, market consolidation has proven to lead to increased unaffordability, a loss of good-paying job opportunities, and fewer choices for consumers.
If you need proof that antitrust enforcement works, just look at California. California is the fourth largest economy in the world AND we have some of the strongest antitrust and consumer protection laws on the books. That’s no accident.
Antitrust enforcement is good for the economy, consumers, and businesses that play by the rules.
Knowing all of this, it probably comes as no surprise that, historically, antitrust enforcement has been apolitical. Sadly, that’s becoming a distant memory.
More and more, President Trump and his Administration seem to have abandoned the fight for a free and fair market and abdicated their role to hold corporations accountable to the law. They are overruling the career staff and their own hand-picked antitrust experts in favor of corporate interests. Since Trump returned to office, he fired the head of the U.S. DOJ Antitrust Division, agreed to a sweetheart deal with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and greenlit the merger of broadcast titans Nexstar and Tegna.
The Trump Administration has made it abundantly clear that it is more concerned with protecting corporate interests than making life more affordable for Americans.
The American people deserve better.
My fellow Attorneys General and I are stepping up to fill the vacuum the Trump Administration has created.
Live Nation/Ticketmaster
Take our case against ticketing giant Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster. When this case was originally filed in 2024, it was led by a bipartisan coalition of state Attorneys General and the federal government (under then-President Joe Biden). The states and feds teamed up to stop Americans from being scammed when buying tickets to see their favorite artists perform live. That is until the Trump Administration jumped ship and agreed to a lackluster settlement with Live Nation—a decision that shocked even his pal Kid Rock. Thirty-three blue and red states and Washington D.C. stood together and continued our fight in court, leading to an historic verdict that found Live Nation’s conduct illegal.
Nexstar and Tegna Merger
Then there’s the unlawful megamerger between Nexstar and Tegna, two of the nation’s largest local broadcast TV groups. If allowed to proceed with integration, the combined company would reach 265 TV stations across 44 states and Washington D.C., covering 80% of American television households. This merger would give one behemoth the power to raise prices for consumers, control and degrade local news and sports coverage, and it would undoubtedly lead to job cuts. It would result in fewer choices for consumers, and fewer journalists keeping a check on powerful institutions and keeping local communities informed. It also happens to be illegal under the Clayton Act, a law that prohibits mergers that substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.
Despite all of that, President Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly urged the unlawful deal through on social media and in other public comments. My colleagues and I sued and successfully blocked the merger from moving forward while our case proceeds through the court system.
Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Juniper Networks Merger
My office is also intervening in the settlement of the $14 billion merger of Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) and Juniper Networks following serious allegations that the Trump Administration approved it because of backroom deals with their buddy lobbyists, over the objections of the career attorneys and their own chosen leader of the Antitrust Division.
Regulators from across the political spectrum have argued that the Trump Administration’s approval of the HPE/Juniper merger is inadequate. U.S. DOJ’s merger settlement failed to address the anticompetitive harms outlined in its own complaint against the merger. Even attorneys appointed by President Trump himself raised red flags; attorneys who were allegedly fired for opposing this merger.
This is about more than one merger. It’s about whether the Administration will continue using its authority to reward allies and political friends, while undermining ordinary Americans, its own staff, and state officials who hold them accountable.
Amazon’s Price Fixing Scheme
We are also in the midst of making our case in court against Amazon for stifling competition and driving up prices. We originally filed our case in 2022 and this week we released new, damning evidence that paints a clear picture of Amazon’s price fixing scheme and how it’s increasing costs for unsuspecting Americans. We revealed evidence that shows Amazon bullied vendors to hike up the prices of their products sold at other shops or got them to remove the products from other retailers altogether, thereby ensuring Amazon was the cheapest place consumers could find products.
While families struggle to buy necessities, Amazon blatantly worked to ensure that consumers could not find cheaper products out in the marketplace, all the while raking in unlawful profits from Americans who genuinely thought they were getting the best deal. We secured a key win earlier this month when a court rejected Amazon’s effort to convince the court that California’s antitrust laws do not apply to its anticompetitive conduct. We look forward to holding Amazon fully accountable in our trial.
As Attorney General of California, it’s my job to ensure that California continues to be the best place to live, work, raise a family, and start or run a business. Robust antitrust enforcement helps ensure that all Californians and all California businesses can benefit from a vibrant, competitive economy, not just well-connected businesses, wealthy shareholders, and friends of the President. A fair, competitive market creates a level playing field where all businesses have the chance to grow and thrive. Where more businesses can operate and innovate and employ the abundance of talented workers California has to offer.
President Trump and his Administration may have thrown in the towel and may be content to do the bidding of their corporate donors, but I am not.
I will continue to fight monopolies, megamergers, price fixing, and any anticompetitive conduct that violates the law and threatens California’s economy, workers, and your pocketbooks.
]]>Some days I still can’t believe it’s real. Being California’s Attorney General is an awe inspiring, all-encompassing job. It has been the honor of a lifetime and has taught me so much. For my fifth anniversary, I thought I’d share some lessons learned from my first few years as AG.
Lesson #1: People are everything
My parents were social justice warriors. I grew up watching them organize communities for democracy, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and so much more. They’d organize relentlessly to get into a room with elected leaders to make their case and advocate for change, only for the people in power to refuse to listen. I remember thinking that I’d never be like that. Instead, I’d be someone who listens, who turns the words of our communities into action.
I see my job now as being the People’s Attorney. That means Californians’ fights are my fights. Their concerns are my concerns. First and foremost, that means keeping them safe. Public safety is and always will be job #1. Standing up for the people also often means standing against powerful interests. Whether its Big Oil and other corporate giants breaking the law for their own gain, or the lawlessness of the second Trump Administration, we’re proud to hold the line and use every legal tool available to protect the 39 million Californians who call our state home.
I’ve always thought that the people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions, which is why I spend a lot of my time on the road, talking to Californians about the issues that matter most to them. In the past few years, we’ve hosted conversations on gun violence, fentanyl trafficking, challenges impacting our youth, immigration policy, tariffs impacting the business community, environmental justice, copper wire theft, hate crimes, and so, so much more. These conversations are invaluable to me and have helped guide the direction of our office from the very beginning.
It’s also why I created the Office of Community Awareness, Response, and Engagement, or CARE. CARE works to make sure all Californians, especially those from communities that are often overlooked, can connect with our office. And if you’d prefer to learn more about DOJ from the comfort of your couch, watch our webinar series, “Demystifying the Department of Justice” or our virtual Community Briefings. And of course, our inbox is always open. We’re here, we’re listening, and we want to help.
Lesson #2: We ~Can~ Do It All
When I first became an elected official, I got a piece of unsolicited advice: “pick two or three signature issue areas and leave the rest for someone else.” I’ve always rejected that advice. How can I tell a Californian that an issue that’s impacting their life isn’t a priority? At DOJ, the facts and the law are our guiding light, so if we have standing to act and the law is on our side, we will.
We’re tackling crime, cracking down on fentanyl, dismantling organized retail crime schemes, removing illicit firearms from communities, fighting for commonsense gun reforms, combating human trafficking, increasing trust between police and the communities they serve, and addressing hate crimes. We’re also addressing the housing crisis, fighting against attacks on healthcare, holding scammers accountable, defending California’s government programs from fraud, advocating for a competitive market, protecting California consumers, standing up for our environment, safeguarding voting rights, and much, much more.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve told someone about something my office is doing, like our bipartisan robocall task force or a recycling fraud case, and they’ll respond, “wait, California DOJ does that?” And the answer is pretty much always, “yes, we do.” If it involves defending California’s people, values, and resources, we’re on it.
With nearly 6,000 employees up and down the state, California DOJ covers a lot of ground. As someone who has never liked to pick priorities, I love getting to come to work every day and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the work I’m doing will have an impact on someone’s life.
Lesson #3: Celebrate Your Wins
One downside of having an office that’s very busy doing good work is that we’re constantly moving onto the next thing. We’ll win a case, arrest a perpetrator, secure a conviction, or negotiate a settlement and immediately say “what’s next?” I’ve learned that you have to schedule time to stop and celebrate your wins, or else they’ll get lost in all the “to-dos” on your list.
In the interest of reflection, here are a few actions I’m particularly proud of from the last few years.
Tackling the Housing Crisis: Californians are facing a housing crisis of epic proportions. In my first year as AG, I formed the Housing Justice Team to advance housing access, affordability, and equity in California. Since then, we’ve paved the way for
Cracking Down on Fentanyl: DOJ’s Fentanyl Enforcement Team is busy investigating and prosecuting traffickers, disrupting trafficking networks, and taking illicit fentanyl off of our streets. To date, our teams have seized more than 17 million fentanyl pills and 7 thousand pounds of fentanyl powder — enough lethal doses to kill 1.6 billion people — and made more than 600 arrests related to fentanyl. I’m incredibly proud of the work of this team and know we won’t stop until the deaths from fentanyl do.
Taking On Big Oil’s Lawlessness: We’re fighting two major cases to hold Big Oil accountable. The first is a lawsuit against five of the biggest oil and gas giants for waging a campaign of deception around the climate crisis. The second is a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for deceiving the public about the recyclability of plastics. Time and time again, Big Oil has shown it’s willing to lie in order to turn an even bigger profit, leaving our communities holding the bag.
Securing Funding for Our Communities: One of the ways we fight for the people is by taking on corporations that lie to them and cheat the system. Through these efforts we’ve secured billions of dollars in settlements against lawbreaking corporations — wins that deliver critical funding to our communities. This includes $462 million from Juul for illegally marketing to children, $510 million from Walgreens for its role in the opioid epidemic, $273 million from one of the largest student loan servicers in the country, $93 million from Google for violating consumer protection laws, and more.
Lesson #4: Pivot
When Donald Trump announced that he was running for President again, a coalition of Democratic Attorneys General across the nation and I knew that we would have to shore up our legal defenses against attacks he told us he planned to wage. Well before the 2024 election, we got to work drafting a game plan, analyzing Trump’s first term, scouring Project 2025, and coordinating across states and teams to prepare for legal action. This work has paid off.
To date, we’ve filed 66 lawsuits against the federal government, protected nearly $200 billion in federal funding for California, and secured more than 40 court orders stopping Trump’s illegal conduct.
Thanks to our team’s collaboration, tireless dedication, and steady leadership, we’ve ended the unlawful federalization of California’s National Guard, stopped Trump’s illegal tariffs, blocked the attempt to end birthright citizenship, preserved vital programs and services, and prevented sweeping voter restrictions, just to name a few. And we’re doing it on top of all the other important work that Californians rightly expect of us. We know how to balance multiple priorities at the same time, and we will continue to do so.
Lesson #5: You’re Allowed to Have Fun
It’s very easy to get weighed down by the pressing issues facing our state and nation, but I always try to remember that wherever there are people trying to make a difference, there is joy.
My job is challenging, but it can also be incredibly fun. I get to roll up my sleeves and volunteer in our communities, whether that’s packing food for our neighbors in need, wrapping gifts during the holiday season, or visiting an AmeriCorps site and playing a game of “zombie tag” with elementary school students.
I got locked in a sauna to help raise awareness about the climate crisis and talked about our work to combat it.
I’ve been to countless street fairs, parades, and festivals up and down the state celebrating what makes California great — our diverse communities.
I have the opportunity to work every day with some of the most incredible legal minds and public servants in the business — people who put their whole heart into our work, who care deeply about our state and people, and who indulge my dad jokes.
Moments like these help fill up the gas tank so we can keep pushing through the hard moments and continue to deliver justice for our state.
Bonus Lesson: Always Say Thank You
And finally, I couldn’t finish without one last thank you to the incredible staff at California DOJ who make our work possible. I grew up playing team sports and can say confidently that my team at DOJ is the best one I’ve ever been on. From challenging assignments, to demanding days, to long runs (shout out to our incredible Baker to Vegas teams), DOJ staff exemplify a commitment to excellence that extends to every aspect of the office. I’m continually floored by all we’re able to accomplish.
I cannot wait to see what the next year brings.
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]]>California DOJ just conducted the biggest hospice fraud bust in state history.
Last week we took down a hospice fraud ring in Los Angeles County responsible for defrauding Medi-Cal and the state of California of $267 million. We arrested five individuals so far and filed felony criminal charges against 21 suspects.
The perpetrators behind this scheme used stolen identities bought on the dark web, created 14 fake hospice companies, and billed California’s Medicaid system for nonexistent services for people who had no idea they were enrolled and did not receive a single service.
This was a brazen, calculated criminal scheme that exploited Medi-Cal, stole taxpayer dollars, and prevented services and care from going to sick individuals who actually need it. California DOJ, in partnership with the California Department of Health Care Services, put an end to it.
This takedown is just the latest example of California DOJ’s longstanding and ongoing efforts to combat hospice fraud. Don’t just take my word for it, look at the numbers:
Just since I came into this office in 2021, California DOJ has conducted 294 hospice-related investigations, filed 119 hospice-related criminal cases, and secured 51 hospice-related convictions. More information about this work can be found on our hospice fraud website.
And that’s just talking hospice fraud. DOJ’s Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse — an entire division devoted to snuffing out healthcare fraud — has recovered a total of $1.54 billion in Medi-Cal fraud cases over the last decade.
While President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Dr. Oz seem to have just woken up to the reality of healthcare fraud, the truth is our team of agents, investigators, and prosecutors has been on the ground, in the field, and arresting and prosecuting fraudsters who see our public program as their piggy banks for years.
This isn’t a political game for us. This is about safeguarding public funds, protecting the public trust, serving our residents, and delivering programs that dying and vulnerable Californians need.
While the Trump Administration exploits healthcare fraud to score political points, my team will be here, sleeves rolled up, heads down, actually eradicating fraud and holding anyone who targets our state systems accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
]]>It’s no surprise then, that over recent decades, other states and countries have worked hard to get in on the action. Afterall, “As California goes…” stuck around for a reason.
Which means we’ve got to work harder to keep Hollywood — our workers, artists, creatives, and productions — here in California.
I am grateful that many of my colleagues, from Governor Gavin Newsom to Senator Adam Schiff to leaders in Congress and the State Legislature, agree and are committed to doing all we can as a state to keep film and TV productions in California.
Today I had the opportunity to attend a spotlight hearing held by Senator Schiff about this very issue. Senator Schiff and Representatives Laura Friedman, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Lou Correra discussed the work they’re leading in D.C. to fight for our entertainment industry. Actor Noah Wyle spoke about the impact his hit show, The Pitt, has had on the Los Angeles region as a proof point for why keeping productions in Hollywood makes economic sense. We also had the opportunity to hear testimony from Matt Loeb, President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, journalist Jim Acosta, and Jax Deluca, Executive Director of the Future Film Coalition.
As Attorney General of California, my role in this comes down to fairly enforcing our nation-leading antitrust laws, consumer protection laws, and workers’ rights.
A job that’s become more increasingly critical ever since President Trump returned to office and abdicated the federal administration’s responsibilities to hold big corporations accountable to the law and protect a competitive marketplace.
Just this week, a coalition of Attorneys General and I sued to stop a megamerger between two broadcasting giants — Nexstar and TEGNA. The president has urged this deal go through, despite the fact that it breaks the law, and will undeniably cut competition, raise prices, reduce local news and sports offerings, and result in fewer broadcast jobs.
Then we’ve got Hollywood’s hottest topic: the Paramount and Warner Brothers proposed merger.
Let me be clear: This is not a done deal.
Paramount and Warner Brothers haven’t cleared regulatory scrutiny. My office has an open investigation into it and we are being vigorous in our review.
The impact of this potential merger would be enormous. It could hamper competition, drive down wages, jack up prices, reduce the number of shows and films produced each year, result in job losses, and hurt content quality.
The American people deserve a robust entertainment, sports, and news ecosystem. They deserve choice — choice in what the content is, how they get it, who creates it. And they deserve content that rises to the top because of what it offers, not because of back door deals.
We cannot stand by and allow let a couple of mega corporations currying favor with the President to control the pipeline of content development and delivery.
It’s no accident that California is the fourth largest economy in the world.
We didn’t get here in spite of our commitment to antitrust laws, consumer protection laws, and workers’ rights. We got here because of it.
We got here because we’re committed to a competitive economy where the best products, services, and content win out. We got here because of the homegrown creatives, workers, and businesses that bring our favorite movies and TV shows to the screen.
California’s proof that you can have some of the strongest laws on the books AND one of the strongest economies in the world AND be home to one of the most impactful industries there’s ever been.
As Attorney General, it’s my responsibility to make sure all of that continues to be true. I will.
Our lawsuits are always about defending and protecting Californians, as they should be. As they’ll always be.
Our lawsuits have helped Californians put food on the table and roofs over heads. They’ve provided healthcare for the sick, education for our children, funding for our streets and roads, support for victims of crime, enhanced public safety for our communities. And they’ve ended the militarization of our streets.
More than anything, this year has proven that we shouldn’t be hopeless, because we’re not helpless. We can — and are — holding the Trump Administration accountable to the rule of law.
If Trump doesn’t want to lose in court, he should stop breaking the law. If he continues to be a repeat offender, he’ll be a repeat loser. You’ve got my word.
]]>One year has made it clear: The Trump Administration’s lawlessness is bad for business, bad for workers, bad for families, and bad for our economy.
As I have proven 54 times in one year, when Trump breaks the law or harms our people, CA will fight back.
More in my Substack.
https://substack.com/@agrobbonta/note/p-185249481?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2yrxvo
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Today marks one year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and began his sweeping, often illegal, campaign to remake America.
Over the last year, Trump has doubled down on his vendetta against California, other democratic-led states and cities, and anyone who dares to speak out against him.
He has repeatedly attacked so much of what makes our nation great: our rights and freedoms, our children, families, immigrants, workers, seniors, and small businesses.
Sadly, none of Trump’s lawlessness came as a surprise.
Trump laid out his plans in Trump 1.0, in his campaign speeches, and in Project 2025, which allowed my team at California DOJ and I, along with my fellow Democratic Attorneys General, to prepare.
We went into Trump’s first year suited up and ready to hit whatever curveball the federal administration threw our way — and we have delivered.
In just one year, I have taken Trump to court 54 times and won, repeatedly. California DOJ has secured a victory 80% of the time, including 12 final rulings and 35 preliminary injunctions and other emergency relief.
As we’ve racked up the wins, more than once, the Trump Administration has waved the white flag, backing down instead of duking it out in court.
Out of our 54 cases, 27 have centered on federal funding our state and communities rely on. Thanks to our lawsuits, we’ve returned approximately $188 billion to California children, seniors, workers, schools, and communities.
We ended the unlawful federalization of California’s National Guard and stopped the militarization of our streets, defended birthright citizenship, blocked sweeping voter restrictions, preserved AmeriCorps, and blocked Trump from clawing back funds for childcare, cutting-edge medical research, and FEMA’s disaster mitigation.
If Trump wasn’t used to losing in court before, he has got to be by now. If he wants to stop losing, he should stop breaking the law. But you’ve got my word, as long as he’s a repeat offender, he’ll be a repeat loser.
I really don’t think it is too much to ask that the President of the United States uphold the Constitution, as he swore an oath to do, and to operate within the bounds of his authority, which not for nothing, is expansive and incredibly powerful as it is.
Unfortunately, that has not been our reality.
The Trump Administration militarized our streets — undermining public safety, heightening tension between law enforcement and our communities, hampering local businesses, and misusing and disrespecting members of our military.
It actively fought to keep food out of hungry families’ mouths.
It drove up prices of groceries, gas, utilities, and rent through unlawful tariffs.
One year has made it clear: The Trump Administration’s lawlessness is bad for business, bad for workers, bad for families, and bad for our economy.
I refuse to stand idly by as Trump breaks the law, hurts our people, and targets our communities.
As I have proven 54 times in one year, when Trump breaks the law, I take him to court. When Trump harms our people, I fight back.
I will never turn my back on our rights, our freedoms, our people.
I am grateful that I do not stand alone. I stand beside Governor Newsom, a coalition of courageous Democratic Attorneys General, public servants across the state and nation, and everyday people who are willing to stand up for what’s right.
If a year of resounding successes in court, marches that flooded our streets, and acts big and small that spoke out against this administration’s unlawful policies taught us anything, it’s this:
We ought not be hopeless. Because we’re not helpless. Not when we stand united. Not when we stay engaged. Not when we stand up for what makes our nation great: our Constitution, our democracy, our people.
As California Attorney General, you’ve got my word: I always will.
]]>I can’t walk into work without thinking about what brought me here.
I’m a first-generation Latina lawyer from Southeast Los Angeles. My parents immigrated from El Salvador. They worked in factories, in restaurant kitchens, in dishwashing jobs. Their efforts to provide our family a good, stable life were tireless. And yet, it was still hard to make ends meet. I grew up watching how easily they could be treated as expendable, how language barriers and lack of legal awareness could be used against them.
That never left me.
Now, as a Deputy Attorney General in the Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section of California DOJ, I get to use one of the most powerful tools in the country to fight for people like my parents and the millions of Californians whose work is taken for granted and exploited. In this role, I work closely with teams across the Public Rights Division to hold employers and corporations accountable when they attempt to profit off of our most vulnerable communities. I’ve also worked with our federal accountability partners to hold the Trump Administration accountable when it breaks the law.
I’m the youngest attorney in the section. And while it can be intimidating sometimes, I’m surrounded by attorneys who are brilliant, generous, and deeply committed to justice. That sense of collective purpose is what fuels me and reminds me of home, because in Latino culture, collectivism isn’t just a value, it’s a survival strategy. We fight together. We protect each other. We advance together.
That’s not theoretical for me.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is down the street from where my parents still live. That reality — that proximity to fear and trauma — isn’t distant history. It’s ongoing and terrorizing hardworking communities. Even though my parents are U.S. citizens now, they still ask me if they should carry their passports, just in case. I think often about the fact that the time period we are in isn’t unique, and the suffering and uncertainty is just one version of what communities all around the world continue to feel today.
It’s so easy to feel helpless in moments like that. But choosing to act and choosing to be part of institutions that can stop harm is how I push back against that helplessness every day. That’s why I’m especially grateful to work for an Attorney General who leads with courage and stands up for workers, immigrants, and the values that make our communities stronger.
I started this job right before the election and it’s been one of the greatest honors of my life. I get to wake up each day and try to make sure the people who don’t have the access, or language, or representation, or means to fight back, aren’t forgotten or dismissed.
When I think about the future, I think about the people of California who don’t get a say. Who are most often the ones impacted the hardest. I want every worker to have equal opportunity, dignity, and someone looking out for them.
This work isn’t just a career for me.
It’s the response to a childhood where I watched how power worked and who it ignored.
Working at California DOJ is my way of refusing to let that story continue unchecked.
— Cindy Ventura
Deputy Attorney General
Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section
Today is Black Friday, a uniquely American holiday where the promise of deep discounts drives people out in droves to shop until they drop.
But today, the stores may seem emptier than usual.
And for good reason — Americans across the country are paying more for nearly everything, leaving little to no room in household budgets for toys, a new pair of shoes, or the latest, greatest tech gadget.
1 in three Americans say their personal financial situations have gotten worse in the past year, and almost half of all Americans say it’s harder to pay for groceries now than a year ago.
We’re in an affordability crisis impacting all but the very richest Americans.
And where is the President of the United States in the midst of this affordability crisis? Building a gold-plated ballroom and driving prices UP.
President Trump has tried his hardest to make tariffs his signature policy of his second term, haphazardly instituting tariffs on America’s trading partners, and collecting billions of dollars in tariff revenue while ignoring their impact on family budgets.
In fact, tariffs are projected to cost the average American an extra $132 this holiday season alone.
And for many of America’s small businesses, the chaos and cost of tariffs are driving them closer to closing their doors.
These tariffs aren’t just horrible policy, they’re illegal. My office sued President Trump over these illegal emergency tariffs, and earlier this month, I was proud to join my fellow Attorneys General at the U.S. Supreme Court as it heard oral argument in a group of cases challenging them in court.
I’m optimistic that the Supreme Court will knock down these unlawful tariffs and restore order to our economy.
However, President Trump isn’t just satisfied by driving costs up, he’s also actively working to make life even more unaffordable for the lowest income Americans. This week alone, my office has had to sue President Trump twice for actions targeting those who are already struggling.
First, we took President Trump to court for attempting to illegally restrict funding for a critical federal program that helps communities combat homelessness and provide affordable, safe, and stable housing to our most vulnerable residents. These unlawful restrictions would force tens of thousands of formerly homeless individuals and their families back onto the street.
Then, just a day later, we took President Trump to court once again, this time challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent guidance illegally restricting eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — one of the most essential anti-hunger programs in the United States. This uninformed, sloppy guidance misstates who’s eligible for SNAP and threatens to deprive thousands of lawful permanent residents of the food benefits that Congress guaranteed to them.
No President has ever worked harder to deprive hungry Americans of access to basic nutrition; but our coalition of Attorneys General isn’t giving up the fight. We’re asking a court to step in and stop the USDA before any further damage can be done.
The lengths to which the Trump Administration is willing to go to make life less affordable for American families is staggering. In addition to driving up costs with tariffs and targeting low-income Americans, they’re attempting to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, weaponizing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, pulling funding from critical programs that support countless families, and so much more.
And while President Trump and his billionaire friends may pretend otherwise, we know that these policies don’t just hurt individuals, they’re detrimental to our economy. For every person forced to cut their budget yet again due to tariffs, every SNAP beneficiary unable to go grocery shopping, every teacher making a student loan payment instead of visiting a local business or buying a house, our economy suffers.
So, whether you’re heading out to shop this Black Friday, or staying in and going over your budget yet again, you deserve better.
At the California Department of Justice, we are focused on our people and our economy. We’re taking actions to bring down prices, while the President continues to drive them up — suing landlords for colluding to raise rents, taking on monopolies, and holding bad actors that defraud Californians accountable. We will always take action when someone is seeking to take advantage of Californians — whether that be a greedy corporation or the President of the United States.
]]>The truth is, our children are facing a public health crisis and we all need to talk more about it.
Everyone should know about the relationship between excessive time spent on social media and depression, anxiety, body-image issues, susceptibility to addiction, and more in young people. In fact, adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of poor mental health, including depression and anxiety.
Everyone should hear the tragic, all-too-common stories of real children and families who’ve been torn apart as a result of the harmful impacts of social media. I’ve had the opportunity to hear these heartbreaking stories and talk to parents like Victoria Hinks, whose 16-year-old daughter Alexandra took her own life last year after being served an endless stream of dark and toxic social media content that hurt her mental health.
Children, teens, and families must be made aware of the dangers social media poses to them before they even log on.
That’s why I cosponsored Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan’s Assembly Bill 56, which gives California a new tool to protect our children. Recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, AB 56 will require social media platforms to display a warning label the first time a child or teen logs on for the day, then again after three hours of cumulative use, and every subsequent hour.
Announcing the introduction of AB 56 alongside Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and the Hinks family.
While AB 56 is a step in the right direction to providing more transparency about the harms of social media, we know that warnings are not enough, so at California DOJ, we’re also fighting these harms on multiple fronts.
Last year, we cosponsored a landmark law to protect youth from social media addiction. SB 976, The Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, resets the social media defaults for young users to provide a less addictive experience — limiting companies’ ability to use algorithmic feeds to keep children scrolling, minimizing notifications designed to draw young people away from their real lives and onto their screens, hiding “likes” and other engagement metrics, and much more.
It’s no surprise then that the platforms who have spent years actively cultivating social media addiction among children and teens to boost corporate profits challenged this law in court.
My office is proud to lead the defense of the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, and recently secured a ruling allowing much of this law to go into effect.
As my office continues defending California’s nation-leading legislation in court, we’re also in active litigation against Meta and TikTok to hold these mega corporations accountable for harms to youth mental health.
Our lawsuits seek to force Meta and TikTok to pay for the harm they’ve caused and make substantive changes to the functionality and algorithms of the social media platforms themselves.
I am grateful that California does not stand alone in our commitment to protecting our children online. I recently had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable held by Secretary Hillary Clinton and Pinterest CEO Bill Ready that focused on how we can create a thriving digital future for our children. Together, experts and stakeholders from government, industry, non-profits, and research institutions from around the world came together to figure out how we can better tackle an issue that defies borders and politics. We touched upon legislation, litigation, policy, design, business, and innovation. It was an enlightening and inspiring conversation that I left full of hope and new ideas.
Discussing ways to protect our children online with leaders and policymakers.
For too long, social media companies have been allowed to chase infinite profit while protecting our kids online has been an afterthought. After something goes wrong. After we realize the crisis we’re in. After we see that our kids are glued to their screens all day and all night. But now, people across the world are waking up, demanding that protecting kids, designing with kids in mind is at the forefront of the conversation.
That does not mean forsaking profit. Being pro-consumer, pro-child safety is not anti-business, just as seatbelts didn’t put a dent in car sales. California’s proof. We are the fourth largest economy in the world and we have some of the strongest consumer protections on the books.
California is proof that we can protect our people and safeguard our children while also supporting innovation and a vibrant economy.
]]>At California DOJ, we’re committed to doing our part to fight it—we’ve taken action throughout the state to enforce our housing laws and pave the way for more housing.
In “California Values: Housing Justice,” our legal team takes you inside the fight for affordable housing in Elk Grove.
]]>]]>]]>]]>]]>When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, our founding fathers rose up against a tyrannical king and vowed to form a government of, by, and for the people.
In the aftermath of the American Revolution, our founding fathers then turned to the task of building a new nation that fulfills the righteous vision laid out in our Declaration of Independence—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They penned the U.S. Constitution to protect our rights, safeguard against future tyranny, and ensure that no one would ever exercise unchecked power over the American people again. Since then, each and every president has sworn an oath of office to uphold and defend our Constitution.
The presidency is not about wielding unchecked power; it’s about leading with integrity, putting the wellbeing of the American people above oneself, and enforcing law and order. If any president, regardless of party, cannot fulfill that foundational role of the executive office, if they break our laws and turn their back on our Constitution, they must be held accountable.
Since January 20, I have had to sue President Trump 29 times for violating the Constitution, breaking the law, and abusing the power bestowed upon the president. It shouldn’t be too much to ask that our president deliver on his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. But if he doesn’t, I will take action—I already have.
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Today is Juneteenth.
As we honor the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in the United States, we also look at our nation’s own history and grapple with one fundamental truth:
Until all of us are free, none of us are.
Today, we stand at a crossroads in America, where once again, some of the loudest voices in the room in the most powerful offices seek to demonize, diminish, and scapegoat anyone deemed “other.”
History is being erased, our communities are being targeted, and our federal government is all too willing to break the law in order to instill injustice wherever it can.
Just this week, a federal judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan went on the record to say the Trump Administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health funding supporting research into topics disfavored by the President were not only illegal, they were discriminatory.
“I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable. I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”
- U.S. District Judge William Young
Earlier this year, I co-led a coalition of Attorneys General in opposing these unlawful cuts, and I’m glad to see funding restored in our plaintiff states as our case continues. Because, in California, we know that our diversity is our strength.
From scientific research to economic development, cultural institutions to pop culture, and so much more, California’s success is rooted in our commitment to welcoming, empowering, and uplifting different backgrounds, outlooks, and lived experiences.
Those who wield diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as a lightning rod of controversy only do so because they’re threatened.
Their fear has made California a target—but we will not back down. We will keep fighting.
As the late, great John Lewis once said, “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week or one year…Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”
For generations, Black Americans have led the fight for freedom in our nation. From thousands of African Americans serving as elected officers in the Reconstruction Era, to the civil rights movements of the 60s and today, Black organizers have exemplified the power of peaceful protest and activism.
As we celebrate Juneteenth, we honor their contributions and recognize that there is no honor without action. We all have an obligation to shape our country—to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
It may not be this Juneteenth, or the one after, but one day, we will fulfill America’s greatest promise: freedom, liberty, and justice for all.
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