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California Policy and Politics Friday

California officials refused to give up sensitive voter data. Now the DOJ is suing for it -- The information — which includes voters’ names, addresses, party registration and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers — is necessary to determine whether the state is making “a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists,” Justice Department lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 09/26/25

UCLA chancellor warns of ‘red lines we cannot cross’ in negotiations with Trump administration -- UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk warned university officials on Thursday not to let the Trump administration dictate how the university hires faculty, admits students, teaches or conducts research — as UC officials negotiate with the federal government about restoring more than $580 million in funding slashed earlier this year over allegations of antisemitism on campus. Eric He Politico Jaweed Kaleem in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 09/26/25

Trump’s bid to scrap EPA climate finding may hit CA car emissions, experts warn -- The Trump administration’s latest attempt to roll back environmental protections targets what is widely considered the legal foundation for regulating carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases. Experts warn that undoing it could weaken national climate policy, with ripple effects felt in California. Chaewon Chung in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 09/26/25

California dumps its Trump-battered electric truck rule -- Gov. Gavin Newsom spent Climate Week positioning California as the foil to the Trump administration’s assault on electric vehicles, but the scope of the damage was in full view Thursday as air regulators put the final nail in the coffin for the state’s electric truck sales mandates. Alex Nieves Politico -- 09/26/25

A U.S. veteran spoke out against his wrongful arrest by ICE. Now he’s being accused of assault -- ICE arrested Army veteran George Retes Jr. during a massive July raid at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, where he worked. He was jailed three days without charges. After Retes wrote an op-ed about his arrest, federal officials accused him of assault, an allegation he strongly denies. Melissa Gomez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 09/26/25

Detained immigrants protest over conditions inside newly opened California City ICE facility -- Detained immigrants at the newly opened detention center in California City (Kern County) described the facility’s conditions as inhumane, saying many people do not have access to adequate medical care, clean drinking water or unclogged toilets, according to detainees and immigration attorneys. Jessica Flores in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 09/26/25

79-year-old Van Nuys car wash owner, a U.S. citizen, files $50M claim over immigration raid, injuries -- Shouhed, who is 79 years old, went outside to see agents, who he says did not provide warrants, raiding his business. He asked them what he could do to help them, offering to get the papers many of his workers keep with them, when he was “slammed” into the ground by agents, who sat on his back, one with a knee on Shouhed’s neck, and pinned his arms behind his back, his lawyer said. Sierra van der Brug in the LA Daily News -- 09/26/25

15 transfers. 11 facilities. 4,800 miles: How faster, more frequent transfers of ICE detainees sow fear -- “It is about efficiency for ICE on their end, but with a total disregard for the people that they’re detaining and ripping apart from their loved ones,” said the advocacy director at Detention Watch Network. Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 09/26/25

Insults are already flying in the crowded race for L.A. County sheriff -- Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna will be up for reelection next year. Six candidates have already entered the field to challenge Luna. Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva is vying for a rematch of the 2022 election that he lost to Luna. Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 09/26/25

Daniel Lurie hires new adviser to push S.F.’s huge bureaucracy to deliver results -- Mayor Daniel Lurie is expanding his circle of advisers by hiring a new senior official tasked with keeping the vast San Francisco government bureaucracy focused on setting and achieving clear goals to help execute the mayor’s agenda. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 09/26/25

Garofoli: To win on Prop 50 and beyond, California Democrats need these two groups -- Proposition 50, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that asks voters to allow California to redraw its congressional districts to increase the likelihood of producing five more Democrats in Congress and check President Donald Trump’s power, is not resonating yet with two key elements of the Democratic base: people of color and young voters. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 09/26/25

Celebrities sign letter pressuring California Gov. Gavin Newsom to regulate AI -- A host of who’s who in Hollywood is the latest group to pressure Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would regulate artificial intelligence, according to a letter exclusively obtained by The Sacramento Bee. Lia Russell in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 09/26/25

Housing

Why figuring out how many homes California needs is more art than science -- For nearly a decade now, the Legislature has been churning out bills, Attorney General Rob Bonta has been filing lawsuits and Gov. Gavin Newsom has been revamping agencies, dashing off executive orders and quoting Ezra Klein with the explicit goal of easing the state’s chronic undersupply of places to live. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 09/26/25

Does Senate Bill 79 go too far by overriding local zoning to build housing near transit hubs? -- Critics say the bill is an overreach and would destroy single-family neighborhoods. Housing advocates have praised its passage, saying the state needs more housing, and building near transit hubs makes sense for the state’s workforce. The bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to become law. Several politicians, such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, have asked Newsom to veto it. Phillip Molnar in the San Diego Union Tribune$ -- 09/26/25

Workplace

Tesla worker sues for $51M after alleged robot attack at Fremont plant -- A robotics technician at Tesla’s Fremont factory has sued the automaker and a robotics supplier for $51 million, alleging that a malfunctioning machine struck him and left him unconscious with serious injuries over two years ago. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 09/26/25

Big CA farm loses disability rights case, faces trial over damages -- A federal judge in Sacramento ruled Monday that Grimmway Farms, the world’s largest carrot grower, engaged in systemic disability discrimination against hundreds of its employees by forcing them onto unpaid leave instead of providing accommodations that would have allowed them to keep working. Cathie Anderson in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 09/26/25

Homeless

To Get People Off the Street, He Pays for a One-Way Ticket Home -- For years, John Alle complained to Los Angeles officials about homelessness. Now, fed up, he’s trying to make a dent in the problem on his own. Eli Saslow, Erin Schaff in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25

Climate

‘Hidden costs’ of climate emergency are worsening California’s affordability crisis – report -- The climate emergency is significantly increasing costs for California households in the form of rising utility bills, lost wages and growing healthcare expenses, worsening the state’s affordability crisis, according to a sweeping new report. Dani Anguiano The Guardian -- 09/26/25

Education

How this teen pushed California to change special education policy -- As a child, Saran Tugsjargal’s school gave her a long list of labels that described her disabilities. But there was one that stuck out the most: emotionally disturbed. Emma Gallegos EdSource -- 09/26/25

Street

Prosecutor Believes Shooting at ABC Affiliate Was Politically Motivated -- The suspect in the shooting in Sacramento, a retired California lobbyist, was ordered to remain in custody without bail. His lawyer questioned why federal lawyers were involved. Felicia Mello in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25

California shrank prisons with sentencing changes. A new study shows how that’s working -- California over the past dozen years enacted a series of criminal justice laws that were meant to give more people an opportunity to be resentenced and thin out the state’s severely overcrowded prisons. This week a state agency released the most-comprehensive look yet at how those changes are playing out among formerly incarcerated people. Cayla Mihalovich Calmatters -- 09/26/25

Also

Sara Jane Moore, who tried to kill President Gerald Ford in San Francisco, dies at 95 -- Moore, who had been a psychiatric patient at the time, pleaded guilty to the attempted assassination and served a 32-year federal prison sentence, which had originally been a life sentence. It remains unclear how Moore died. She was 95. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 09/26/25

Lopez: From a Catholic school alum, a response to President Trump’s call to prayer -- I’ve been wondering lately what my favorite Catholic school teachers would make of today’s political discourse. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 09/26/25

POTUS 47

‘They will pay a huge price for this’: Shutdown-ready Trump expects Democrats to blink -- Many Democrats believe the White House is bluffing and insist Republicans will bear responsibility for a shutdown in the public eye because the GOP controls the government. Dasha Burns Politico -- 09/26/25

‘Pain on the bureaucracy’: Russ Vought’s crusade upends the shutdown fight -- The White House budget director could have a prime opportunity to further execute on his small-government ideology. Jennifer Scholtes and Megan Messerly Politico -- 09/26/25

Trump to Slap New Tariffs on Pharma, Big Trucks -- President Trump announced many new tariffs Thursday, including a large one on drugs from pharmaceutical companies that aren’t building plants in the U.S. Joseph Pisani, Peter Loftus and Liz Essley Whyte in the Wall Street Journal$ Andrew Jeong in the Washington Post$ -- 09/26/25

The TV Boss Who Kicked Kimmel Off His Stations and Started a Firestorm -- Nexstar’s Perry Sook has taken aim at ‘the unbridled and ubiquitous reach of Big Tech and Big Media’; Kimmel remains blocked from the company’s ABC stations. Joe Flint in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 09/26/25

James Comey Indicted on False Statement Charges -- A federal grand jury in Virginia indicted former FBI director James Comey on Thursday on charges of making false statements and obstruction, days after President Trump demanded the prosecution and ousted the U.S. attorney who determined there was insufficient evidence to bring the case. Sadie Gurman and Lydia Wheeler in the Wall Street Journal$ Salvador Rizzo, Jeremy Roebuck and Perry Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 09/26/25

‘We will not live on our knees’: A defiant Comey mounts a video defense -- A defiant James Comey is mounting a defense in the court of public opinion — insisting in a video on Instagram that he’s innocent and won’t be cowed by President Donald Trump. Aaron Pellish Politico Salvador Rizzo, Jeremy Roebuck and Perry Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 09/26/25

Trump Gets the Retribution He Sought, and Shatters Norms in the Process -- A prosecutor’s drive to indict James Comey trampled over the Justice Department’s long tradition of keeping a distance from politics and the White House, and raised the prospect of more arbitrary charges. Alan Feuer, Jonah E. Bromwich and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25

Fed Independence Reaches Its Moment of Truth as Supreme Court Weighs Cook’s Fate -- High court to decide whether Trump can remove board member, which former officials see as threat to central bank independence. Nick Timiraos in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 09/26/25

Auto Industry Is Flashing a Warning Sign on U.S. Economy -- The auto industry is flashing warning lights on the state of the U.S. economy. Automakers’ profits are getting squeezed by tariffs. A subprime auto lender recently collapsed, and some car retailers are warning that consumers are pulling back. Christopher Otts in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 09/26/25

Gabbard Ends Intelligence Report on Future Threats to U.S. -- Some issues in the document, which is issued every four years, had become politically inconvenient, former officials said. Julian E. Barnes and Helene Cooper in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25

As Trump Tightens Visas, China Woos World’s Science Graduates -- A new visa for science and engineering graduates is part of China’s effort to establish itself as the world leader in science and technology. Vivian Wang in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25

President Trump’s Approval Rating: Latest Polls -- President Trump’s approval ratings have ticked down slightly over the last few weeks as polls from Quinnipiac University and Reuters/Ipsos have shown some small growth in disapproval of his job performance. Ruth Igielnik in the New York Times$ -- 09/26/25