Defending, Protecting, Delivering: Attorney General Bonta Highlights DOJ’s Work Uplifting California’s People, Values, and Resources in 2025

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today highlighted the California Department of Justice's (DOJ) efforts to uplift Californians and protect the state's people, resources, and values over the past year. In 2025, DOJ worked to improve the lives of Californians by protecting public health and safety and advancing justice for all by enforcing and defending laws touching nearly all facets of life, including healthcare, the environment, housing, consumer protection, civil rights, and public safety. Additionally, DOJ acted as a first and last line of defense against an onslaught of illegal executive orders, baseless actions, and wholesale dismantling of our government and the rule of law by the federal administration.

"In 2025, the California Department of Justice worked hard each and every day to protect our people, values, and resources by defending Californians' rights and taking bold action to hold corporate giants, polluters, and bad actors accountable. We worked to make our communities safer and stronger by tackling head-on threats to public health and safety - from gun violence and organized crime to violations of civil and voting rights and beyond. Amid unprecedented federal challenges, we filed 52 lawsuits to defend California's environment, institutions, and laws, ensuring that our state's values and people remain protected," said Attorney General Bonta. "I am proud and grateful to have the support of nearly 6,000 DOJ employees whose dedication to protecting Californians made everything we accomplished together over the past year possible. As we look ahead to 2026, we stand ready to continue advancing justice and defending Californians' fundamental rights as we work toward a better future for all who call this state home."

KEY ACTIONS:

PROTECTING $168 BILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING: Blocked the Trump Administration's attempt to freeze all federal funding to California, including funding for Medi-Cal.

TACKLING THE AFFORDABILITY CRISIS SQUEEZING CONSUMERS: Sued the Trump Administration for its illegal and chaotic tariff regime that sent businesses, consumers, and global economies reeling.

PROTECTING A COMPETITIVE ECONOMY: Secured a settlement with Greystar, one of the largest landlords in California, for its participation in illegal actions driving up rent prices nationwide.

DISMANTLING ORGANIZED CRIME: Tackled organized criminal activity across the state from organized retail theft, to identity theft, to taking down criminal street gangs.

COMBATTING THE HOUSING CRISIS: Fought to make California affordable by taking action to compel cities and counties to plan for thousands of new homes, while protecting the rights of tenants and homeowners.

PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM AND PUBLIC HEALTH: Sued to protect Californians' access to healthcare, from mental health grant funding to reproductive care clinics.

STANDING UP FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT: Sued to protect everything from California's clean vehicles program to solar and wind energy programs.

BLOCKING DEPLOYMENT OF CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD: Successfully challenged the deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles and Portland.

SECURING POLICE REFORM: Reached an enforceable, collaborative agreement with Torrance Police Department to reform its policies and practices and improve accountability.

SAFEGUARDING VOTING RIGHTS: Successfully pushed back against federal and local attempts to impede voting rights.

Read more about DOJ's 2025 accomplishments below:

Protecting Consumers and Their Pocketbooks: Consumer protection, antitrust enforcement, and the financial health of young people, working families, and vulnerable communities is crucial to the wellbeing and equitable economic growth of California. This year, California DOJ went after companies, practices, and policies that compounded the crisis of affordability consumers are feeling - including those spurred by the Trump Administration.

Attorney General Bonta secured a settlement with the nation's largest landlord, Greystar, for participating in illegal actions that drove up rent prices and secured big wins - including anti-theft car devices and money back in consumers' pockets - for those harmed by Hyundai and Kia and Google. He challenged the Trump Administration's unlawful attempt to exclude public servants from public service loan forgiveness; its continued attempts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and intervened when the Trump Administration allegedly green lit the Hewitt-Packard Enterprises/Juniper Networks merger not for the public interest, but to line the pockets of its friends.

Attorney General Bonta supported American families and small businesses throughout the nation by filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's illegal tariffs. He continued educating and warning consumers about California's price gouging protections after states of emergency, especially amid the destructive Southern California wildfires. As part of Attorney General Bonta's work to protect Californians following the fires, DOJ formed a Disaster Relief Task Force, sent more than 700 warning letters to hotels and landlords who were accused of price gouging, and filed charges against four Los Angeles real estate agents and a landlord.

Combating Organized Crime and Promoting Public Safety: In 2025, Attorney General Bonta sought to make California a safer place to call home by partnering with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to combat organized criminal activity and prevent violent crime before it occurs. He held accountable the ringleader of an $8 million organized retail theft scheme spanning 21 California counties, and dismantled an identity theft mill involving an organized retail scheme. Attorney General Bonta took a stand against human trafficking through targeted human trafficking operations, by announcing a new regional task force with partners in Sacramento and supporting survivors. He worked to educate the public and cracked down on sexual exploitation through sting operations throughout the state.

Attorney General Bonta also made combating the fentanyl crisis a top priority. Since April 2022, DOJ has seized more than 16,429,000 fentanyl pills, 7,000 pounds of powder, and made over 580 arrests related to fentanyl. He provided critical support to Los Angeles law enforcement through the Fentanyl Enforcement Program, arresting and apprehending fentanyl dealers and seizing fentanyl from communities. In 2025, he also safeguarded funding that supports victims of crime placed at risk by the federal government's unlawful conditions, and continued to combat fraud, corruption, and unlawful activity throughout the state.

Addressing Gun Violence: From the courtroom to on-the-ground in our communities, Attorney General Bonta continues to make the fight against America's gun violence epidemic a top priority. In 2025, the Attorney General's team worked in the field to take guns out of the hands of those who are no longer legally allowed to possess them and proved through the APPS Report that California's gun policies are working. The Attorney General fought in the courtroom to defend age-based restrictions on purchasing firearms, uphold restrictions on large-capacity magazines and assault weapons, and defend commonsense regulation on ghost guns. He held those who violated the law accountable, and pushed back against federal cuts to Community Violence Intervention programs that support victims and interrupt cycles of violence.

The Attorney General also sponsored a package of gun safety legislation signed by Governor Newsom to strengthen accountability tools against the skip-the-background-check ghost gun industry, ensure California consumers are fairly informed about laws governing the illegal manufacture of firearms, and address the proliferation of DIY machine guns. He also supported new legislation developed by his Office of Gun Violence Prevention to strengthen implementation of court protection and restraining orders to prevent gun violence. In 2025, DOJ published the Crime Gun Tracing report, which provides detailed information and transparency about firearms recovered from crimes in California and provides new details about DOJ's inspections of gun shows and firearm dealers.

Tackling California's Housing Crisis: As California continues to face a housing shortage and affordability crisis of epic proportions, Attorney General Bonta ramped up his enforcement of California housing laws. He announced a settlement with the City of Artesia to bring it into compliance with the Housing Element Law, which requires every city and county in California to periodically update its housing plan to meet its share of the regional and statewide housing needs. In partnership with the Newsom Administration, he reached a settlement with the City of Norwalk requiring the city to repeal its unlawful ban on new housing for California's most vulnerable residents. Following a three-year investigation, he filed a lawsuit against a notorious California landlord for subjecting tenants to unsafe units marked by cockroach and rodent infestations, leaking roofs, overflowing sewage, and other problems.

Attorney General Bonta also secured a decision requiring the City of Huntington Beach to, among other things, adopt a housing element within 120 days and restricting the City's land use authority until it does so; secured a settlement with Mission Rock Residential California, Inc., which manages over 30 apartment buildings in California, resolving allegations of unlawful rent-increase practices and other violations of state and local tenant protection laws; and helped ensure that an affordable housing project in the City of La Cañada Flintridge could move forward without continued obstruction by the city.

On the legislative front, Attorney General Bonta sponsored Senate Bill 786, which will set clear rules to avoid disputes that delay home building and ensure swift and effective relief in housing element litigation and Senate Bill 808, which will create a new judicial process to resolve project entitlement and permitting disputes quickly and efficiently. SB 786 and SB 808 both take effect on January 1, 2026.

Safeguarding Reproductive Freedom, Access to Healthcare Coverage, and Promoting Public Health: Attorney General Bonta remains committed to safeguarding reproductive freedom, protecting access to healthcare coverage, and promoting public health. In 2025, he pressed forward with his lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Hospital, which alleges that the hospital violated multiple California laws due to its refusal to provide emergency abortion care to people experiencing obstetric emergencies. He also filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's attempts to prevent Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements. Attorney General Bonta played a leading role in opposing the Trump Administration's efforts to eliminate veterans' and their families' access to abortion care, and also launched a statewide survey to assess how hospital emergency departments are complying with reproductive healthcare laws, particularly when abortion care is the medically necessary emergency treatment.

On the healthcare and public health front, Attorney General Bonta sued the Trump Administration for promulgating an unlawful final rule that would create significant barriers to obtaining healthcare under the ACA. He also sued the Trump Administration for attempting to unilaterally cut "indirect cost" reimbursements, which cover expenses to facilitate biomedical research at research institutions throughout the country; for failing to disperse National Institutes of Health grants; over the unlawful mass firings and dismantling at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and over the unlawful termination of $11 billion in critical public health funding - funding appropriated by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the U.S. is better prepared for future public health threats. Recently, Attorney General Bonta secured a final court decision declaring that the U.S. Department of Education acted illegally by discontinuing grants awarded through Congressionally-established school mental health funding programs.

Protecting the Environment: In 2025, the Attorney General stood up against attacks on our environment and public health. In the face of the Trump Administration's attempts to undermine environmental justice efforts, Attorney General Bonta issued multistate guidance affirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives. He successfully challenged the Trump Administration's unlawful attempt to freeze the development of wind energy and is challenging the federal government for its unlawful attempt to upend California's clean vehicles program. He protected funds owed to California to support clean energy and climate resilience - from the Trump Administration's illegal attempt to freeze $3 trillion in national funding, including funding under the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law, to its funding cap that slashed support for vital state-run energy programs. He also challenged and secured a preliminary injunction blocking the Federal Highway Administration's directive unlawfully withholding billions of dollars in funding approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The Attorney General also took on corporate polluters and fought to protect the health and safety of California communities. In October, he settled and filed lawsuits against major plastic bag distributors for unlawfully selling non-recyclable plastic bags in California. He secured Proposition 65 settlements with companies that exposed Californians to toxic heavy metals without required warnings, from Amazon's sales of skin lightening creams, to companies selling seafood products. He also worked to protect Californians from wildfire ignition risk, announcing a final settlement agreement regarding the Otay Ranch Village 13 project that resolved concerns pertaining to the project's wildfire and greenhouse gas impacts.

Protecting California's Immigrant Communities: Attorney General Bonta is committed to defending California's immigrant communities in the face of the Trump Administration's inhumane mass deportation agenda. He successfully challenged the Administration's attempt to impose illegal immigration enforcement conditions on unrelated homeland security, transportation, and crime victims funding. He has also sued to block the President's effort to build a mass surveillance database using Medicaid data and SNAP data.

When President Trump signed an illegal executive order day one in office attempting to end birthright citizenship, Attorney General Bonta immediately went to court - and won multiple court orders blocking the order. And for six months, Attorney General Bonta has fought the illegal federalization and deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles and later, in Portland, culminating in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in December rejecting the Trump Administration's nearly limitless conception of presidential authority to federalize the National Guard and the activities those troops can engage in.

Safeguarding the Civil Rights of Californians: This year, Attorney General Bonta continued to take action to protect the civil rights of all Californians. He secured an agreement requiring Torrance Police Department to reform its policies and practices - creating a new model for collaborative reform for police departments across the state. He also announced a milestone in the San Francisco Police Department's reform process, finding substantial progress and strong organizational and cultural commitment to reform. After the County of Los Angeles failed to make the necessary reforms to protect the health and safety of youth in its care, Attorney General Bonta took the unprecedented action of seeking receivership of Los Angeles County juvenile halls. He also sued the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department over inhumane conditions at the county jails and the City of El Cajon for illegally sharing Californians' license plate data with out-of-state law enforcement, threatening their privacy and safety.

Standing up for the Rule of Law: Attorney General Bonta was outspoken this year in defense of the rule of law. Along with other state attorneys general, he issued an open letter to the legal community in response to President Trump's calls for the impeachment of federal judges and threats of retribution against law firms. He stood with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie in amicus briefs in support of their lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration's retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms that represent clients or positions it disagrees with. And he issued a separate statement on the need to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system is undermined, and our laws are broken.

More recently, the Attorney General sent letters to the U.S. Department of Justice raising alarm about the abuse of executive power with the indictments of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey and challenging Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr's campaign of censorship that led to the suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Protecting Safety and Privacy Online: Attorney General Bonta continued to defend laws to protect children online and was a leader in sounding the alarm of risks posed by emerging AI technology to children including by directly engaging with tech leaders and supporting legislation to limit children's access to harmful AI companion chatbots. He opposed everysingleone of the Trump Administration's proposals for an AI regulation ban and remains committed to defending California's right to protect its residents.

Attorney General Bonta successfully blocked Apple's attempt to avoid answering for anticompetitive conduct that resulted in higher prices for consumers and secured a court decision holding Google accountable for playing unfairly in the advertising space. He continued to robustly enforce California's nation-leading privacy laws, including by conducting an investigative sweep into the location data industry and securing settlements with businesses that interact with consumers in a wide variety of settings, including: a mobile app gaming company, streaming service Sling TV, website publisher Healthline Media, and an education software company, Illuminate Education.

Attorney General Bonta warned California's immigrant community about cruel immigration scams, reminded customers of 23andMe of their right to delete their genetic data, established a Social Security complaint page for people who experienced disruptions to their benefits due to the Trump Administration's funding cuts, and continued his fight against annoying and illegal robocalls, which are often a vehicle for scams and financial losses.

Safeguarding Voting Rights and Free and Fair Elections: Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting our democracy and the right to vote. He secured an appellate decision holding that Huntington Beach's voter identification law is unlawful secured a court decision invalidating Fresno County's unlawful attempt to amend Fresno County's charter to move elections for district attorney and sheriff away from the presidential cycle to the gubernatorial cycle.

At the federal level, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit and secured a preliminary injunction blocking President Trump's unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions. In addition, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to congressional leadership opposing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would create unnecessary and burdensome proof of citizenship requirements, risking the disenfranchisement of millions of eligible voters.

Standing Up for LGBTQ+ Americans: In the face of continued widespread attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, Attorney General Bonta fought to safeguard and advance the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, working to ensure all individuals in California and across the nation can fully participate in their communities without discrimination or other unfair roadblocks. He supported the incorporation of LGBTQ-inclusive books in school curriculums, defended transgender students' rights to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity from federal and state-level threats, and pushed back against an Executive Order seeking to ban transgender individuals from military service.

The Attorney General blocked an attempt to undo a state law protecting transgender students from being outed by schools without their consent. The Attorney General also opposed the Trump Administration's efforts to restrict access to gender-affirming care, including by challenging its claims that gender-affirming care does not meet professional healthcare standards and is grounds to disqualify practicing providers from Medicaid and Medicare.