Politics

After Clinton's defeat, what's the path for future women presidential candidates?

Trump won votes promising to protect veterans, but major veterans groups are rattled by his plans

As Democrats ponder their future, Joe Biden makes a plea for a focus on the middle class

The long and complicated road to understanding Jeff Sessions and matters of race

Trump team asks State Department for details on programs aimed at helping women

Obama eliminates post-9/11 registry for foreigners, making it harder for Trump to restart it

What happens if Trump tries to abuse his power? Look to the court system

Fierce China critic and UC Irvine professor to head Trump's new trade council

Political Road Map: California secession fever is nothing new. There's a rich history of wanting to slice up the state or split it off

California Gov. Jerry Brown issues Christmas pardons for dozens of convicted felons

Scandals, surprise squeakers and the 'Trump effect': What worked and what flopped in California's five most expensive House races

How state and local government budgets will be affected by CalPERS' trimmed investment expectations

Pot ads along highways? Lawmakers wrangle over legalization's consequences

Former White House aide, also a former L.A. Times employee, joins candidates vying to succeed Xavier Becerra

Prosecutor is ninth candidate in L.A. congressional race to replace Becerra

Union organizer announces run for Xavier Becerra's congressional seat

California secession organizers say they've opened an embassy -- in Moscow

Essential Politics: In the moment coverage of California government and campaigns

California Supreme Court halts voter-approved death penalty measure

Buddhist reverend is newest chaplain for California Assembly

A vast, mostly untapped donor base could propel John Chiang to become California’s first Asian American governor

CalPERS leaders push a plan to assume less from investments, more from taxpayers

Lawmakers try to fix a side effect of reducing drug and theft crimes: Not enough DNA samples for cold cases

California Republicans have nowhere to go but up — and Assemblyman Chad Mayes could be the one to lead them there

Everyone is at odds over Gov. Brown's delta tunnels plan — here's a compromise that could stop the fighting

Essential Politics: Donald Trump's picks, Jerry Brown's plea

Lending money to pot businesses is a high-risk move: 'This is not for the faint of heart'

Here's what Colorado's governor has to tell other states about legalizing marijuana

Legalization is opening doors for new marijuana entrepreneurs. Are we about to see a pot gold rush?

Lynwood moves closer to legalizing commercial cannabis manufacturing

The city of Lynwood is close to approving a measure that would allow businesses to grow medical marijuana within city limits. If it gains final passage, the southeast city of 70,000 would be among the first in Los Angeles County to issue such permits. On a 3-1 vote, the City Council on Tuesday...

Marijuana is now legal in California, but it can still keep you from getting a job

Proposal to allow roadside testing for marijuana use is revived

Taxes get higher on newly legalized pot as California cities and counties move to take their own cut

Legalized pot scores big as voters decide on state ballot measures, including the death penalty and minimum wage

Trump stops the 'drain the swamp' talk as new alligators emerge

Obama will use his executive authority to impose new permanent bans on offshore drilling

With 304 votes, electoral college seals Donald Trump's election as president

The artist and the senator: One built a desert masterpiece, the other a Nevada legacy

All the times in U.S. history that members of the electoral college voted their own way

A&E pulls controversial reality show about the KKK after learning producers paid hate-group members

 The A&E network has announced that it is pulling a reality show about the Ku Klux Klan, which was set to air next month, after executives discovered that outside producers for the series paid members of the group for their participation.  The network said that “Escaping the KKK,” a series about...

After Clinton's defeat, what's the path for future women presidential candidates?

The first woman president was supposed to make history by accumulating such deep experience that few could deny her ability to serve as commander in chief. Hillary Clinton did that, and lost. Now women politicians and those working to elect them — Democrats and Republicans alike — are sifting through...

U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlement-building could backfire

The Obama administration portrayed its historic decision to allow U.N. condemnation of Israeli settlement-building as a way to finally and emphatically demand a stop to the activity. But the move may backfire by hardening positions, both in the right-wing Israeli government and in the incoming...

'Normalize' Trump? That's impossible.

To the editor: Doyle McManus writes as if the opponents of Donald Trump like me question his legitimacy as president-elect. Not so. I fully accept that an unfit con man has been voted in as president, and it strengthens my resolve to fight him. (“Why we should ‘normalize’ Trump,” Opinion, Dec....

Obama's inaction on Syria might have seemed cruel, but it was in America's best interest

To the editor: Abdulfattah Alkhaled wonders at the conclusion of his piece whether any acts of “barbarism” get under President Obama’s skin. I’m guessing the horrors of Aleppo, Syria, have gotten deep under Obama’s skin, as does the prospect of involvement that could eventually lead to the loss...

Message from Syria: You, Americans, have blood on your hands

Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, The Times’ letters editor, and it is Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. Happy holidays to all our Opinion subscribers; I truly thank you for the time you spend each week catching up on The Times’ commentary. Now, let’s take a look back at the week in Opinion. Subscribe to...

Residents in 'limbo' as regulators delay cleaning any lead-tainted homes near Exide battery plant

The cleanup of thousands of lead-contaminated homes near a closed Vernon battery recycler has been at a standstill for months, with regulators arguing they cannot remove tainted soil from any properties until a yearlong environmental review is completed next summer. But legal experts, county health...

The hunt for dollars to build the $64-billion bullet train

The California High-Speed Rail Authority quietly approached federal officials in July to discuss an ambitious solution to its most pressing problem, one that has hung over the project for more than five years. The state does not know where to find all of the $64 billion it will cost to get the...

Hot Property: Your holiday reading

First, there was Reader’s Digest. Then there were CliffsNotes. More recently, SparkNotes joined the quick-read category. For you, dear reader, we have the Hot Property newsletter — the year-round gift that keeps on giving. Here we condense the labor of a week or more into easy-to-digest bites....

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris files new pimping and money-laundering charges against operators of Backpage.com

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris announced new criminal charges Friday against the operators of classified ad website Backpage.com, accusing them of laundering earnings from escorts as well as pimping children and adult women on their websites.  The charges come two weeks after a Sacramento judge threw...

Trump's comments on nuclear weapons rattle U.S. officials and foreign leaders

Donald Trump shook up long-standing international security norms Friday by reportedly suggesting a renewed arms race, a day after he tweeted that the United States should “greatly strengthen and expand” its nuclear weapons capability. Trump’s meaning was sufficiently cryptic, perhaps deliberately...

President Obama signs defense bill that could spur new space-based arms race

President Obama has signed legislation that, by striking a single word from longstanding U.S. nuclear defense policy, could heighten tensions with Russia and China and launch the country on an expensive effort to build space-based defense systems. The National Defense Authorization Act, a year-end...

U.S. declines to veto U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building

In a dramatic departure from long-standing U.S. practice, the Obama administration on Friday stepped aside and allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a violation of international law. Traditionally, the United States has...

Saturday's TV highlights and weekend talk shows: 'Hail, Caesar!' and more

  SERIES Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks It’s up to the titular Time Lord to save the day once again in the conclusion of this six-part series that used animation to re-create some long-lost 1960s-era episodes of the venerable British sci-fi drama. 11 p.m. BBC America SPECIALS Huntington Park...

Trump's comments on nuclear weapons rattle U.S. officials and foreign leaders

Donald Trump shook up long-standing international security norms Friday by reportedly suggesting a renewed arms race, a day after he tweeted that the United States should “greatly strengthen and expand” its nuclear weapons capability. Trump’s meaning was sufficiently cryptic, perhaps deliberately...

Obama personally authorized U.S. abstention from U.N. vote on Israeli settlements

Trump's transition teams asks State Department to identify programs that sought to help women Dec. 23, 2016, 2:28 p.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump's transition team asks State Department to detail programs that helped...

Stocks inch up in slow pre-Christmas trading

Wall Street traders sometimes root for year-end “Santa Claus rallies,” but on Friday, hardly a creature was stirring as stocks finished slightly higher on the quietest full day of trading in more than a year. Healthcare companies brought in most of the gains. Major U.S. indexes stayed in a narrow...

Call me a coddled snowflake, but Trump's fetish for nukes is infinitely more terrifying than his other outrages

An editor whom I greatly respect believes essays about media coverage holes — “The press isn’t paying enough attention to this thing I care about!” — do not generally make for engaging reads. She’s right, of course. There are too many things that are undercovered, and too many that are overcovered;...

JBL at 70: This Northridge operation still knows how to throw sound

At least one participant at the upcoming presidential inauguration will care more about how clearly the speeches will be heard than about anything said that day. JBL speakers will be used to swear in Donald Trump, just as they were at President Obama’s two inaugurations. JBL makes more than 3,000...

Gov. Jerry Brown pardons 112, commutes one sentence in pre-Christmas tradition

Essential Politics: 'Calexit' group opens Russian embassy, California members of Congress lobby Trump Dec. 23, 2016, 11:26 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: Leaders of an effort to split California...

Who was naughty and who was nice in 2016?

Many Americans may feel as if Santa came a month and a half early to fill their stockings with a yuge lump of coal. The remarkably acrimonious campaign and Donald Trump’s surprising win continue to leave such a deep mark on the American psyche, it’s easy to forget the other notable people and events...

Chinese newspaper criticizes Trump's choice of UC Irvine professor Peter Navarro as new trade advisor

A Chinese state newspaper on Friday accused a trade advisor picked by President-elect Donald Trump of “anti-China alarmism” and warned both sides would suffer if commerce is disrupted. The China Daily editorial was more forceful and openly critical of economist Peter Navarro than China's foreign...

Necessary evidence or privacy intrusion? Bill seeks to expand DNA collection

Essential Politics: 'Calexit' group opens Russian embassy, California members of Congress lobby Trump Dec. 23, 2016, 11:26 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: Leaders of an effort to split California...

Barbara Boxer letter to The Times: 'Our democracy depends' on holding new leaders accountable

Essential Politics: 'Calexit' group opens Russian embassy, California members of Congress lobby Trump Dec. 23, 2016, 11:26 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: Leaders of an effort to split California...

Trump team seeks to ease fears on women's programs at State Department

Trump's transition teams asks State Department to identify programs that sought to help women Dec. 23, 2016, 2:28 p.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump's transition team asks State Department to detail programs that helped...

Donald Trump's market-moving tweets are a huge scandal waiting to happen

An undercurrent of amusement has been detectable in some of the news coverage of Donald Trump’s recent market-moving tweets, as though it serves big companies right to have a few billions stripped off their market values because the president-elect is holding them to account. But it’s no laughing...

L.A.'s legal defense fund for immigrants will only embolden Trump supporters

To the editor: Like the vast majority of Latinos, I am not a supporter of Donald Trump. But for Los Angeles city and county leaders to use $5 million in taxpayer funds for the legal defense of the undocumented is mind-boggling. It is overreaching decisions like this one by mega-liberals that awoke...

Trump ran as a pragmatist; he will govern as a right-wing ideologue

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg wrote that “not since Nixon have we had a leader less beholden to a fixed ideology.” Yet, when we see who his choices for cabinet positions are, we see nothing but ideologues. (“Is Trump the kind of Republican Obama said he wanted?” Sept. 20) Consider a few: Sen Jeff...

Tax return requirement a ridiculous overreach

When Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns during the presidential campaign, it was an affront to transparency and long-held tradition. But it wasn’t illegal, just suspiciously secretive. Trump’s excuse that he was being audited was just that: an excuse. There’s no law that would have...

No charges for government critic who penned racist comments and images about L.A. City Council member

Prosecutors have declined to file charges against a vocal critic of the Los Angeles City Council who submitted a card during a public meeting with racially incendiary drawings, including a burning cross. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said the card submitted by Encino attorney...

New push to rename L.A. freeway after Barack Obama

There are Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards in Los Angeles, Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive in Manhattan and Gerald Ford Drive in Rancho Mirage. Now, state Sen. Anthony Portantino has introduced a resolution to name a portion of the 134 Freeway that runs from Glendale and into...

Jerry Brown's controversial tunnel project moves forward

Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to build two giant tunnels to send Northern California water southward moved a step closer Thursday to final state and federal decisions, with the state's release of a 90,000-page environmental review supporting the $15.7 billion project. Brown's administration is pushing...

Carl Icahn dismisses conflict-of-interest fears in role as Trump advisor on regulations

As voting returns signaled Donald Trump’s win on election night last month, billionaire investor and Trump supporter Carl Icahn heard the news that stock-market futures were plunging in response. Futures essentially are bets on how the market will open the next day, but Icahn figured prices would...

Extending California family leave law to smaller businesses once more on the legislative agenda

Essential Politics: 'Calexit' group opens Russian embassy, California members of Congress lobby Trump Dec. 23, 2016, 11:26 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: Leaders of an effort to split California...

California's five most expensive House races

Essential Politics: 'Calexit' group opens Russian embassy, California members of Congress lobby Trump Dec. 23, 2016, 11:26 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: Leaders of an effort to split California...

Trump, who doesn't settle lawsuits, gets OK to settle Trump U lawsuit

Mr. I-Don’t-Settle-Lawsuits received the go-ahead this week to settle his lawsuits over alleged fraudulent practices by Trump University. U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego issued an order giving preliminary approval to a settlement agreed to by Trump’s lawyers last month. According...

The days of stay-at-home moms are 'long gone,' report finds

The days of stay-at-home mothers are behind us, says a new report from the Center for American Progress, which analyzed national labor data and found that, across the country, the share of moms who financially support their families continues to grow. Nearly two-thirds of American moms these days...

As Democrats ponder their future, Joe Biden makes a plea for a focus on the middle class

Over a career in elected public office lasting more than 46 years, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has seen campaigns from the rudimentary, family-run effort that first launched him unexpectedly to the U.S. Senate as a 29-year-old to the sophisticated, data-driven juggernaut that helped elect him and...

Is Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband, quietly trying to sell New York Observer?

Jared Kushner appears to be ready to pick up sticks and move to Washington, D.C., with his wife Ivanka Trump to become an adviser (either officially or unofficially) to his father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, and there’s at least one piece of Manhattan he wants to shed before he goes:...