Skelton: Yes, Newsom suing Trump over tariffs was political. It was also necessary.

Give Gov Gavin Newsom credit You can call it grandstanding and opportunistic but suing President Donald Trump over tariffs was smart bold and much needed Sure it was political Newsom adroitly leaped ahead of other prospective presidential contenders by taking aim through the court system at Trump s allegedly illegal actions on tariffs Someone needed to seek a judicial ruling on whether the president can raise tariffs himself without congressional approval Republican congressional leaders Republican politicians generally are too intimidated by their president to sneeze without his blessing They re meekly ceding their co-equal legislative power to the president And that s worrisome for democracy It s about self-preservation Republican members of Congress who must survive GOP primaries to win reelection fear getting on the bad side of the vengeful president and being primaried Where the hell is Congress Where the hell is Speaker Mike Johnson Do your job Newsom proclaimed while announcing his lawsuit last week at an almond orchard near Ceres in the agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley They re sitting there passively as Trump wrecks the financial system of the United States Really Newsom seemed to be crashing Attorney General Rob Bonta s party Newsom and Bonta jointly filed the lawsuit in U S District Court in San Francisco But Bonta often working with other states Democratic attorneys general already had filed lawsuits challenging Trump policies Bonta s staff had spent notable time drafting the tariff suit before Newsom publicly surfaced as a plaintiff The president is acting as if he s above the law He isn t Bonta noted before introducing Newsom at the almond farm Congress has the duty to set taxes duties and yes tariffs Risky business For Newsom and California challenging Trump in court is a bit risky The president has threatened to retaliate against California by withholding federal funds if state policies conflict with his That includes money to help rebuild fire-ravaged sections of Los Angeles That s not just an idle threat as Trump has shown in pulling back federal funds promised for universities and strong-arming law firms that have opposed him in court cases But as preponderance of us learned as kids you ve got to stand up to a bully And that s what Newsom did No doubt Trump isn t going to give California anything anyway says Democratic political consultant David Townsend This is a good political move by Newsom to position himself as anti-Trump on a solid procedures issue All Democratic voters are looking for a strong anti-Trump leader OK so Newsom is reading the tea leaves and realizes that lots of people are clamoring for a crusader to carry the fight against Trump s policies That was demonstrated on the night before Newsom s announcement when Sen Bernie Sanders and Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez two East Coast democratic socialists attracted nearly people at an anti-Trump rally in a Republican congressional district near Sacramento An essential ingredient of democracy is elected authorities following the citizens will And that s clearly what Newsom is now trying to do on tariffs I can t imagine anything more unifying for California than challenging Trump on tariffs Newsom revealed We were hoping we didn t need to go down this path But we are prepared to go down this path Trump s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families businesses and our financial market driving up prices and threatening jobs Newsom noted in a prepared message The lawsuit represents a shift in Newsom s strategy toward Trump Previously he has been practically mute seemingly trying to play nice to avoid Trump s wrath that could cost California federal money for calamity relief higher mentoring and Medi-Cal healthcare Contrast that soft-tongue tactic with another Newsom announcement last week unveiling a lawsuit challenging Trump cuts to the AmeriCorps utility effort in California We ve gone from the New Deal the New Frontier and the Great Society to a federal regime that gives the middle finger to helpers serving their fellow Americans Newson declared in a prepared report Middle finger Not exactly traditional gubernatorial lingo But no bureaucratic bull either Governors wouldn t ordinarily file a court incident contesting a president s foreign guidelines But this is not like suing Trump for cozying up to Russian President Vladmir Putin puncturing our European alliances or bizarrely threatening to seize Greenland On tariffs California has judicial standing as an aggrieved victim No state is poised to lose more than the state of California Newsom reported We talk about stupidity Newsom continued This tariff action is the poster child for that Agreement dependent Newsom noted that California s gross domestic product was trillion in which was bigger than that of the next-largest state Texas If this were a country it would be the fifth-largest business activity in the world We re the nation s leading agriculture producer and there are more than manufacturing firms employing million people China Mexico and Canada special tariff targets for Trump supply more than of California s foreign imports They re also the top three export countries In all California imported billion in products last year and exported billion worth Related Articles California Democrats will try again to slash high strength bills California launches naloxone accessible to state residents online Steve Hilton former Fox News host launches long-shot bid in California governor race Newsom signs million more for fire prevention plus slew of Democratic priorities Authors with Bay Area ties from left and right lay blame for Golden State s woes What the tariffs add up to is an expected economic downturn in California that will cost the state administration tax revenue and drive the budget deeper into red ink That will stem from collapsing businesses that rely on foreign imports or exports exacerbated by reduced consumer spending as prices rise on everything from food to cars Although Newsom and Bonta insist that Trump can t impose tariffs without congressional consent this isn t a clear-cut matter The Trump-friendly Supreme Court undoubtedly will eventually decide Newsom did the right thing by being the first governor to seek a court answer George Skelton is Los Angeles Times columnist Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency