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California Policy and Politics Wednesday

Obama applauds Newsom’s California redistricting plan as ‘responsible’ as Texas GOP pushes new maps -- Former President Barack Obama has waded into states’ efforts at rare mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying he agrees with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to alter his state’s congressional maps, in the way of Texas redistricting efforts promoted by President Donald Trump aimed at shoring up Republicans’ position in next year’s elections. Meg Kinnard Associated Press -- 08/20/25

Newsom pollster sees big support for California redistricting -- Gov. Gavin Newsom's bid to redraw California's congressional seats to create more Democrat-friendly districts has a 22-point advantage in support among the state's voters, Newsom's longtime pollster writes in an internal memo obtained by Axios. Alex Thompson Axios -- 08/20/25

California Rep. Young Kim’s newest challenger: An Orange County immigration lawyer -- An immigration attorney who represented an ICE-detained Orange County father of three military sons is the latest Democrat to challenge Republican Rep. Young Kim in a district that could be drawn redder by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gerrymander. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 08/20/25

L.A. student seized by immigration agents alleges they bragged of $1,500 arrest payment -- A Reseda high school student who was arrested by immigration agents Aug. 8 and is being held in a detention facility told a former teacher that he overheard the masked men who seized him brag among themselves that they would receive $1,500 for his arrest, the instructor said. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Community rallies around LA teen detained by Ice while walking dog -- People attend rally for Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, 18, arrested in Van Nuys in what family call kidnapping. Dani Anguiano and Abené Clayton The Guardian -- 08/20/25

How a strawberry delivery driver was caught in a fight between Newsom and Trump -- Angel Rodrigo Minguela Palacios was delivering strawberries to a tearoom in Little Tokyo when Border Patrol agents massed nearby where Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a news conference. Minguela ended up caught in the middle. Brittny Mejia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Poll: California Democrats like Gavin Newsom over Kamala Harris in 2028 -- The governor is the top presidential contender among Democratic-leaning voters in the state, according to the latest Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey. Dustin Gardiner Politico -- 08/20/25

Newsom is the face of California’s redistricting push. That could help him — and hurt the plan -- By launching a campaign to redraw California’s congressional districts, Gov. Gavin Newsom has once again placed himself at the center of the national political conversation. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

How ‘fair’ are Newsom’s proposed California congressional districts? We take a closer look -- The Chronicle analyzed these news maps to see just how gerrymandered they are by traditional “fairness” metrics. We also examined the approach Democrats took to engineering a clearer advantage for themselves. Aseem Shukla in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

California’s in a nationwide redistricting civil war. Who’s favored to win? -- “If all these Republican processes go through, even if California goes through, Republicans are probably going to end up winning this redistricting war,” said Matthew Klein, U.S. House and governors’ race analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 08/20/25

They came to Sacramento for a Christian rally. Then they heard about Newsom’s redistricting -- Conservative opponents dominated the public comment at legislative hearings on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s congressional redistricting plan, though most were at the Capitol for an unrelated rally. Alexei Koseff Calmatters -- 08/20/25

Republicans are suing to block California redistricting plan. Do they have a case? -- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to ask the voters to redesign California’s congressional districts to enable Democrats to add House seats is drawing challenges from Republicans who claim the proposal violates the state Constitution and federal law. But the law doesn’t appear to be on their side. Bob Egelko, Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Stephen Hobbs in the Sacramento Bee$ Seema Mehta and Laura J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

California Common Cause advisory board members quit in gerrymandering fallout -- The departures speak to a fraught moment for an organization that has historically supported independent redistricting and fought the kinds of partisan map-drawing that California Democrats are now pursuing. Common Cause — the national group — last week reversed on its previous position and said it would not oppose California’s effort to counter Texas. Jeremy B. White Politico -- 08/20/25

Adam Schiff forms legal defense fund -- It is the latest chapter in Trump’s escalating effort to leverage the federal government against his political foes. Hailey Fuchs and Gregory Svirnovskiy Politico Shane Goldmacher in the New York Times$ -- 08/20/25

Newsom’s Tightrope Walk Between AI Regulation and Silicon Valley Cash -- Roughly 30 AI-related bills are moving through the state Legislature in the last weeks of this legislative session, and it’s estimated a dozen or so will land on Newsom’s desk. Rachael Myrow KQED -- 08/20/25

How California plans to boost EVs with no federal help -- From President Trump’s first day back in office, he vowed to unravel California’s sway over the nation’s auto-emission standards by eliminating the state’s zero-emission mandates. He made good on that promise in the first several months of his second term. Tony Briscoe in the Los Angeles Times$ Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union Tribune$ -- 08/20/25

Money for L.A. County voting machines ended up in bribery ‘slush fund,’ feds allege -- An election technology firm allegedly overbilled Los Angeles County for voting machines used during the 2020 election and funneled the extra cash into a “slush fund” for bribing government officials, federal prosecutors say in a criminal case against three company executives. Rebecca Ellis and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Workplace

Silicon Valley tech giants to cut hundreds of Bay Area jobs -- Tech companies Cisco and Oracle are cutting hundreds of jobs across the Bay Area, according to new state filings. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 08/20/25

California’s last beet sugar factory is leaving the state -- The closure means the elimination of hundreds of local jobs and possibly the end of sugar beet farming in the state. Caroline Petrow-Cohen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Ultra-luxurious Santa Monica hotel accused of failing to pay staff minimum wage -- The ultra-luxurious Santa Monica Proper hotel — where rooms range from around $600 to $2,600 a night — has been accused of failing to pay its employees minimum wage and, in some cases, paying them less per hour than it charges guests for a bowl of hummus. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

As Southland heat wave hits, fast-food union says safety rules aren’t being followed -- A year ago, California adopted new safety regulations to protect more than a million workers laboring in warehouses, kitchens, laundry rooms and other hot indoor settings. But the report, conducted in collaboration with the California Fast Food Workers Union, suggests that efforts to implement and enforce the new rules in kitchens have fallen short. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

LA Metro

Metro bus ridership continues to dip. Are fears over ICE raids partly to blame? -- Ridership across Metro’s transit system plunged in June after federal immigration authorities conducted dramatic raids across Los Angeles County, sowing fear among many rail and bus riders. Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Climate

California has a fallback plan for Trump’s clean car attacks. Does it go far enough? -- Amid a legal fight over California’s power to regulate car and truck pollution, state agencies are suggesting policies that need stable funding, legislative action, or lengthy rulemaking. Alejandro Lazo and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde Calmatters -- 08/20/25

Wildfire

Does logging really reduce wildfire danger? New California study finds key exception -- The timber industry and its supporters, joined by many in the Trump administration, have long promoted logging as a way to reduce fire danger. Some even blame declining timber operations in recent decades for the uptick in catastrophic wildfire. A growing body of research, however, suggests the benefits of logging are far more limited. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

City delays release of Palisades fire report at request of federal officials, mayor says -- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California made the request late last week, the mayor said. The city will not release the report until the conclusion of the federal investigation. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Education

Bill Ackman’s New Pet Project Is a School That Embraces AI and Rejects DEI -- Billionaire Bill Ackman has a new fascination: a fast-growing private school that eschews lessons on diversity, equity and inclusion and uses artificial intelligence to speed-teach children in two hours. Cara Lombardo in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 08/20/25

Street

‘Nobody wants to call LAPD anymore’: Outrage follows killing of man with replica gun -- Activists and family members of a man shot and killed by LAPD officers in Boyle Heights flooded a Police Commission meeting Tuesday to denounce the department’s handling of the incident. Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Also

Walters: California’s finances face a perfect storm. It could eventually lead to another tax hike -- A perfect storm of economic, fiscal and political trends is battering California’s already deficit-ridden state budget, leading public employee unions and other interest groups dependent on money from Sacramento to explore hefty tax increases. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 08/20/25

Barabak: Power grab may energize Newsom and Democrats. But it won’t fix their bigger problem -- Gerrymandering California may please Democrats in the short term, but it won’t rescue them from the political wilderness. Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t seem to care. For him, it’s all about 2028. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Hiltzik: Trump wants NASA to burn a crucial satellite to cinders, killing research into climate change -- By any reasonable metric, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory has been a spectacular success. Originally designed to support a two-year pilot project, it has been operating continuously in space for more than 10 years and could continue doing so for three decades more. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

Why the Bay Area will be the center of the ‘flying car’ revolution -- The race is on in Silicon Valley to create the region’s first air taxi network, a futuristic mode of transportation in which riders flit from Wine Country to Palo Alto in planes the size of a charter helicopter. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

Bear caught behind counter at Tahoe ice cream shop -- Deputies responding to an early morning call on Sunday discovered a large black bear behind the counter of the Ice Cream Shop at Camp Richardson — apparently drawn to the strawberry ice cream. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

California resident tests positive for the plague. Officials blame Lake Tahoe flea -- It is believed that the person contracted the rare and dangerous disease after being bitten by an infected flea while camping in the South Lake Tahoe area, according to El Dorado County health officials. The patient is under the care of a medical professional and recovering at home, health officials said. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

United and Delta sued for allegedly selling window seats without windows -- The lawsuits, filed Tuesday in federal courts in San Francisco and Brooklyn, allege the carriers misled customers by labeling certain seats as “window” during booking, even though aircraft design left those spots against blank walls. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 08/20/25

2026 Esports World Finals are coming to Los Angeles and El Segundo -- The city of Los Angeles, an epicenter of sport championship events, is adding yet another tournament to its host list: global competitive esports. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 08/20/25

POTUS 47

The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis -- The Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters long before they even go to the polls. Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot. Shane Goldmacher, Jonah Smith in the New York Times$ -- 08/20/25

Trump Wants Universities to Show Him the Money, or No Deal -- President Trump has personally stipulated that hefty financial penalties be part of agreements his administration is negotiating with the elite universities. Critics call it extortion. Michael C. Bender, Alan Blinder and Michael S. Schmidt in the New York Times$ -- 08/20/25

U.S. Is Prepared to Use Air Power to Support Planned European Force in Ukraine -- President Trump signaled on Tuesday that the U.S. is prepared to use air power to support a European security force in Ukraine but ruled out deploying American ground troops. Lara Seligman, Michael R. Gordon and Max Colchester in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 08/20/25

Trump Administration to Screen Immigrants for ‘Anti-American’ Views -- The Trump administration plans to scrutinize social media for “anti-American ideologies” when deciding to grant visa or green-card applications. Jack Morphet, Victoria Albert and Michelle Hackman in the Wall Street Journal$ Grace Moon in the Washington Post$ -- 08/20/25

Trump Says Smithsonian Focuses Too Much on ‘How Bad Slavery Was’ -- The remark, made as the president has ordered a wide-ranging review of museum exhibits, added to his pattern of minimizing Black history. Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 08/20/25

Trump budget officials claim sweeping spending power from Congress, records show -- The Trump administration is asserting new power to withhold billions of dollars from low-income housing services, education assistance, medical research grants and other programs approved by Congress, centralizing sweeping authority in the executive branch and potentially inflaming tensions between the two branches. Riley Beggin and Jacob Bogage in the Washington Post$ -- 08/20/25

New Details Emerge on Fox Hosts’ Efforts to Bolster Trump in 2020 -- The documents were released as part of a defamation case against Fox Corporation filed by Smartmatic, an election technology company. Katie Robertson in the New York Times$ -- 08/20/25

Elon Musk Pledged to Start a Political Party. He Is Already Pumping the Brakes -- Musk has told allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is reluctant to alienate powerful Republicans by starting a third party that could siphon off GOP voters. Brian Schwartz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 08/20/25