GOP Assemblyman: Hiring Eric Holder is Unconstitutional

California State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Roseville) is challenging the constitutionality of state Democrats’ plan to hire former Attorney General Eric Holder of the Covington & Burling firm to fight President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Kiley claims the plan to pay Holder and his firm “$25,000 a month [violates] a provision in the state’s constitution that bans hiring outside counsel for work the state’s own lawyers can do.”

According to Reuters, California is expected to push back against the Trump administration via “legal challenges to…executive orders and federal policies” that run counter to the state’s positions on the environment and illegal immigration, among other things.

Yet while such opposition is expected, Kiley stresses that the decision to hire outside firms to file lawsuits ought to be governed by the rule of law rather than political opinions.

He said: “People might have differing feelings about Eric Holder and about the incoming presidential administration, but all of us should be able to agree that as legislators we have a duty to abide by the law.”

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) responded to Kiley’s statement by saying his office had gone through the proper legal channels “before hiring Holder’s firm.”

Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley then weighed in, stressing that the most important thing to consider is the amount of taxpayer funds being spent to oppose Trump’s administration.

He said, “Democrats should focus on solving these real-world problems instead of wasting tax-payer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office.”

Gov. Jerry Brown’s nominee to replace U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as California Attorney General, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), has also vowed to oppose the Trump administration.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.