Trump Admin 'Can't Keep Up' With Legal Challenges as Justice Department Left Short-Staffed by Cuts, California AG Says

California Attorney General Rob Bonta says the Trump administration is struggling to defend its policies in court due to a hollowed-out Justice Department that "can't keep up" with the mounting legal challenges from state officials.

Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has aggressively rolled out sweeping policies on immigration, voting rights, environmental deregulation and birthright citizenship.

In response, Democratic-led states, especially California, have revived their strategy of using the courts to block federal actions. During Trump's first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. That legal resistance is now resurging, but this time with even more muscle and resources, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

According to Bonta, California has already filed or joined 22 lawsuits against Trump's second-term administration. Thanks to a $25 million funding boost approved by the state legislature, Bonta's office has hired additional legal talent, many of them former federal attorneys, to build out a war room of sorts.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice, especially its civil rights division, is reportedly understaffed and overwhelmed. Attrition and budget cuts have gutted its capacity, forcing local U.S. attorneys to appear in court for matters usually handled by Washington-based specialists.

"Their own strategy of 'flood the zone' — and the confusion and chaos and shock and awe — has almost this boomerang effect, where we've responded and the ball's back in their court now and they can't keep up," Bonta told the Chronicle. "This speed and this volume has repercussions on their ability to defend themselves."

The staffing shortages are having real legal consequences: in nine of the 22 lawsuits, federal judges have already granted preliminary injunctions in favor of California. Bonta anticipates that, at the current rate, his office will match the volume of lawsuits filed during Trump's first term by the 2026 midterms.

The mismatch in resources, an emboldened California legal team versus a shorthanded federal one, is giving states a significant courtroom advantage. If the Justice Department remains under-resourced, legal experts suggest it could lead to a wave of policy paralysis for the Trump administration.