With trademark optimism and high-velocity volleys of words, Monique Limón offered a confident if cautious assessment Thursday of how California is standing up to the ongoing political and legal assault from the Trump administration.
In her first extensive interview since the 2025-26 session of the California Legislature ended Sept. 1, Santa Barbara’s homegrown Senate President pro Tempore reflected on her first term in the post — one of the three most powerful in Sacramento — saying state government is aggressively countering a constant round of program cuts, legal actions and hostile rhetoric from the White House.
She acknowledged the difficulty of responding to unprecedented, unexpected changes in how the federal government deals with the state, but insisted California’s history shows it has weathered worse crises and will survive the Trump era.
“I don’t think we’re losing — I think we are defending ourselves,” Limón told Newsmakers. “We’re playing both offense — and all the defense that is necessary.”
“There is no point in this year where we have sat passively as a state…in response to what has come before us,” she said. “When there has been an incident, whether it is ICE at healthcare centers or at childcare centers or at schools, we have responded to it.
“So we have been active agents in ensuring that the California values and laws that are in place remain in place. And we are doing it legally, through the court system, through the merits we have as our state laws allow us to,” Limón added. “We are a state that has seen many challenges over the last 175 years, and we will remain strong…Any setback is temporary.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Limón discussed how the state is fighting the administration’s moves against long-settled protections for California’s coastline, from ordering the restart of offshore oil pumping and transport in Santa Barbara County to plans for sweeping new oil leases and a political strike at the Coastal Commission.
She also talked about what it’s like dealing with a governor simultaneously running for president, her relationship with the man expected to succeed him, and the collapse of a legislative package meant to balance the interests of consumers, insurers and utilities amid a climate-driven wildfire crisis.
And she spoke about how her high-pressure, nonstop job has affected her family and herself — and what she might do when her term ends in 2028.
“It is not a hundred percent clear what I will do next,” Limón said. “But I’m a person who understands that I’ve been given this honor by the people that I represent, and it’s been a great honor to represent them…in the state Capitol.
“And what happens in 2028 is to be determined,” she added.
Check out our complete interview with state Senator Monique Limón via YouTube below or by clicking this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or on SoundCloud. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on weekends.