Politics

Donald Trump's transition has hurt his popularity, not helped

Scum of the earth lowlife packs a bag for Trump's inauguration

Get to know some of the musicians performing for Trump — and remember those who appeared for Obama

Trump's pick for Commerce secretary assures lawmakers he is not anti-trade

How a liberal Santa Monica high school produced a top Trump advisor and speechwriter

After a bruising defeat, Democrats are hunting for a new leader

Trump's approach might seem new, but Arnold Schwarzenegger tried it first. It was a disaster.

These Republicans hate Obamacare, but aren't ready to give it up just yet

Trump's EPA pick casts doubt on California's power to regulate auto emissions

Three California wines are on the menu for Trump's Inauguration Day lunch

Ex-aide for Costa Mesa congressman pleads guilty to embezzling more than $300,000

What will Feinstein do? California Democrats await senator's reelection decision to plot their own futures

More than 1 in 4 California members of Congress are skipping Trump's inauguration

'We are not going back': California Democrats protest GOP efforts to dismantle Obamacare

Essential Politics: Donald Trump becomes president this week

Gov. Jerry Brown predicts a $1.6-billion deficit as he unveils state budget

Political Road Map: The rules for how California pays for its schools may lead to a surprising result this year

Painting in Capitol depicting police as pigs becomes a political football, with California politicians among the players

Sen. Dianne Feinstein recovering at home after pacemaker surgery

Trump's inauguration is a reminder that rebelling against the ruling class is in America's DNA

Essential Politics: California's list of no-shows has grown for Trump's big day

California's bail system punishes the poor, and it's time for the government to do something about it

What's in Brown's new budget? A $65 vehicle fee, more Medi-Cal spending, a bigger rainy-day fund and more

Marijuana shops are trying to look like the Apple store

Marijuana brands can trademark almost anything, except marijuana

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to pull pot shops out of banking limbo

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

Comedian Tommy Chong’s image grinned from a freeway billboard near Sacramento in recent months, promoting the counterculture icon’s brand of marijuana to passing motorists. But now a campaign has begun to outlaw such ads from all state highways, threatening to block entrepreneurs taking advantage...

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 inauguration hasn't happened yet, and already Trump has started wearing out his welcome

Trump's pick for secretary of State raises concern with aggressive comments about China

Justice Department's internal watchdog to investigate FBI's handling of Clinton email inquiry

Trump's Cabinet picks aren't standing by some of his controversial opinions — or even discussing them

Republican-led Senate takes first step to repeal Obamacare

It's time to tax candy in California, state lawmaker says

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Donald Trump's Cabinet is complete: No Latinos for the first time since 1989

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

'I am willing to be a bridge': Chrisette Michele joins performers willing to weather Trump inaugural storm

Chrisette Michele will perform an R&B set as part of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities, joining Toby Keith, Sam Moore and others at the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration on Thursday night. "My heart is broken for our country, for the hopes of our children, for...

Senators are likely to confirm Trump's national security Cabinet picks on Friday

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

Without a promise to protect young immigrants, Sen. Kamala Harris will not support Trump's Homeland Security pick

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

U.S. stock indexes stay flat; bond yields climb

Railroad stocks chugged higher in early trading on Wall Street on Thursday, but drops for utilities and other companies that pay big dividends meant U.S. stock indexes were treading water once again. Treasury yields continued their march higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2 points,...

Trump Treasury pick Steven Mnuchin expected to be pressed on OneWest foreclosures at confirmation hearing

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

As soon as he is inaugurated, Trump will move to clamp down on immigration

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

Donald Trump has barely said a word about America's longest war. Should Afghanistan be worried?

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

Will California still be able to regulate auto emissions under Trump?

Good morning. It’s Thursday, Jan. 19, and here’s what’s happening across California: TOP STORIES Smog check Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency cast doubt on whether California should continue to have power to impose its own emission rules for cars and trucks, an authority...

Barack Obama built a new kind of Camelot for a new generation

On election night in 2008, I took my college-age daughter and several of her friends to an election-watch event in downtown Seattle. TV network reports were projected on a huge screen and, when the presidential result was assured, the image shifted to the massive celebration in Chicago’s Grant...

Even Trump voters are getting tired of his antics

To the editor: I was one of many citizens who helped President-elect Donald Trump acquire his next job, and I influenced a lot of people to vote like me. I gave Trump my vote for several reasons, with one being that he says what’s on his mind instead of sanitizing and politically correcting everything...

As senators grilled Trump’s climate change skeptic EPA nominee, scientists said 2016 was warmest on record

Unsurprisingly, 2016 was the hottest year on record — the third straight year in which worldwide temperatures have reached record levels. Ironically, Scott Pruitt, the climate change skeptic whom Donald Trump has chosen to run the Environmental Protection Agency, just happened to be testifying...

Today: Trump Makes a Run for the Border. Hustle and Snow at Sundance.

I'm Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today. TOP STORIES Trump Makes a Run for the Border Donald Trump’s aides say they are wasting no time on an issue that helped propel him to the White House: transforming the immigration...

Betsy DeVos embarrassed herself and should be rejected by the Senate

Betsy DeVos’ love of private school vouchers didn’t disqualify her for the role of U.S. Education secretary, even though vouchers are a bad idea. Nor did her lack of experience in public schools.  What did render her unacceptable was her abysmal performance at her confirmation hearing Tuesday,...

How Trump can succeed

Will Donald Trump be a “transformative” president? His predecessor did us the favor of defining the term. “I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not,” presidential candidate Barack Obama said in 2008. Reagan...

Stop blaming anti-war progressives and 'Bernie Bros' for President Trump

In the two months since the election, there has been an energetic, oftentimes vitriolic, effort on the part of Hillary Clinton surrogates (and the large contingent of neoconservative Republicans who supported her) to blame her defeat at the hands of Donald J. Trump on Democrats like myself who...

How to stop Trump: Lessons from the tea party

Donald Trump represents a grave threat to liberal democratic values. On Capitol Hill, Republicans are falling in line and some moderate Democrats have signaled a willingness to cut deals. But ordinary Americans have the power to resist. We know this is true because we have seen local, grassroots...

Words of encouragement for Donald J. Trump from James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States

Sir: How long have I waited for your advent, prayed for someone like you to come along? All these years, since my death in 1868, I have watched each election cycle, hoping that finally my savior would appear, a man — heaven forbid it should be a woman! — who would rescue me from my status as the...

Local unions plan rallies against Trump, L.A. schools announce Unity Day 2017

Teachers unions plan protests against President-elect Donald Trump across the Southland on Thursday, while Los Angeles school officials, concerned about student walkouts, have declared that Friday will be Unity Day 2017. Trump will be inaugurated Friday in Washington, D.C. as the nation’s 45th...

How Trump will deal with America's longest war is anyone's guess

Donald Trump has minced few words about his plans to  build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and  end the threat from Islamic State extremists. But the president-elect has been virtually silent on his plans when it comes to Afghanistan, home to America’s longest war. With 8,400 U.S. troops leading...

As soon as he is inaugurated, Trump will move to clamp down on immigration

Aides are clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump to take the first steps toward transforming the immigration system as soon as he takes office Friday, fulfilling a major campaign pledge while deepening the fears of immigration advocates about what’s to come. Gone will be the temporary...

Here's one way Rep. Linda Sanchez thinks Democrats should fight Obamacare repeal

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

For the Record

State budget: In the Jan. 12 California section, a column about Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal referred to Joe Nation as a former Republican assemblyman. Nation is a former Democratic assemblyman. Baseball Hall of Fame: In the Jan. 18 Sports section, an article about Baseball Hall of Fame candidates...

Have climate policies helped San Joaquin Valley? New report says yes

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Developer Rick Caruso agrees to shave height of apartment tower

The developer of a residential tower planned near the Beverly Center offered new concessions to the city on Wednesday, saying he will reduce the height of his project by nearly 23%, taking it from 240 feet to 185. Businessman Rick Caruso, appearing before the Los Angeles City Council’s Planning...

California withdraws request to let people in country illegally buy insurance on Obamacare exchange

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Biodiesel faces a mixed forecast as the industry gathers in San Diego

As a new presidential administration comes into power, ambiguity reigns for the biodiesel industry. But at the same time, the California market appears to be growing solidly for the fuel derived from a diversity of products including soybeans, canola oil and animal fats. “We have learned to thrive...

Trump is said to pick former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead Agriculture Department

Senate Hearings: EPA and Treasury Secretary picks Jan. 19, 2017, 9:32 a.m. This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration: Trump plans to move quickly on immigration Reports say former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is Trump's pick for Agriculture...

For attorney general nominee Xavier Becerra, immigration is a personal issue

Rep. Xavier Becerra recalls proudly working alongside his father as a teenager on sweaty construction jobs in Sacramento to help make ends meet. The son of immigrants, Becerra and his family of six lived in a cramped, 685-square-foot house. Those memories are close to the surface each time he finds...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein just gave an extremely heavy hint about her 2018 plans

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Organic egg and meat producers will have to follow stricter animal welfare rules, USDA says

Organic meat and egg producers will have to abide by stricter animal welfare standards under a new rule announced Wednesday by the Agriculture Department. The rule is a victory for animal rights groups two days before President Obama leaves office. The regulations will ensure that organically grown...

Rep. Xavier Becerra commits to staying with state attorney general job for foreseeable future

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti calls for 'Dreamers' to be protected at mayors meeting in Washington

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Obama (again) discreetly disses die-hard Democrats

President Obama had a lot of words of consolation for his admirers in his last news conference as president, and a few veiled words of warning for his successor. (He said that, while he wanted to be “quiet a little bit” after leaving office, he would speak out if he thought “our core values may...

Update on: Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...

Bond yields and the dollar's value rise on a listless day for stocks

The stock market hasn't been this boring in years. The Standard & Poor's 500 remained at a near-standstill Wednesday, the ninth day in a row that it has moved less than 0.4% up or down. That's its longest streak of listlessness since the summer of 2013. Other indexes were mixed. The S&P 500 rose...

Asian American band the Slants takes its trademark battle to the Supreme Court: Is it free speech or a racial slur?

A trademark dispute involving an Asian American band that calls itself the Slants provoked a lively Supreme Court argument Wednesday over free speech, political correctness and the government’s refusal to sanction what it sees as a racial slur. The justices struggled over whether the refusal by...

Update on: Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake

Essential Politics: Becerra gets confirmation hearing in state Senate, Gov. Brown's budget team admits to math mistake Jan. 19, 2017, 10:09 a.m. This is Essential Politics, our daily look at California political and government news. Here's what we're watching right now: A state Senate committee...