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Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, seen in 2014, has been hired by the California Legislature o advise members regarding potential conflicts with the incoming Trump administration.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, seen in 2014, has been hired by the California Legislature o advise members regarding potential conflicts with the incoming Trump administration.

California Legislature hires Eric Holder to fend off Trump

SACRAMENTO California legislative leaders upped the ante on their vows to fight attempts by the incoming Trump administration to weaken the states climate change, immigration or other policies, announcing Wednesday that their houses hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help.

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), said Holder and his team from the firm Covington & Burling will serve as outside legal counsel for the Legislature under a three-month, $75,000 contract.

Its very important to prepare California in the event there needs to be a legal fight to protect the policies that have made California the fifth-largest economy in the world, de Len said in an interview Wednesday.

The move comes after Gov. Jerry Brown nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra to fill the attorney general seat vacated by Kamala Harris, who was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The Legislature is holding nomination hearings next week for Becerras appointment, which lawmakers are expected to approve.

Californias attorney general typically serves as the states top attorney, but Rendon and de Len said they began talking in November about bringing on additional legal help after Donald Trump was elected president. They said Holder and his firm ensure they have the best and brightest defense in order to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made.

The renowned firm has represented states and corporations in fights against the federal government.

The Assembly and state Senate will split the firms $25,000 monthly fee, which covers 40 attorney hours, to retain Holder and his team.

The three-month contract is scheduled to begin Feb. 1. Rendon said Holder and the firm will work directly with him and de Len.

The contract calls for Holder, former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, former federal prosecutor Daniel Shallman and others at the firm to advise the Legislature on a wide range of topics where the state could clash with the Trump administration, including immigration, health care, civil rights and climate change policies.

The Legislature made the announcement on the first day of the new legislative session. Democrats have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature, meaning they have a two-thirds voting bloc that could be used to pass taxes or put initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote.

The move to hire Holder comes after de Len and Rendon used their swearing-in ceremonies last month to say they will fight Trump and his Cabinet picks on any effort to increase deportations of immigrants in the country without documentation.

I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal advisor as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities, Holder said in a statement. I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the legislature.

A spokesman at the firm declined to comment further.

Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009 before becoming attorney general in the Obama administration. He resigned as attorney general in 2015 and returned to the firms Washington office.

State Republicans called the move a political stunt and questioned why outside counsel is needed given the attorney generals office serves as the states legal team and the Legislature has an office of its own legislative lawyers.

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, said Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), in a statement. The states incoming attorney general has spent decades in Washington working on federal policies. Its not clear why legislative Democrats needed to hire a D.C. insider to litigate the exact same issues.

What a waste, added state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel (Orange County).

Rendon said the attorney general is tasked with providing legal advice to the state, not lawmakers, and that legislative counsel is a nonpartisan office that cant advise Democrats on strategy.

The rhetoric coming out of the future administration, the rhetoric throughout the campaign we dont think this is overreaction at all, Rendon told reporters Wednesday.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez

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