Politics

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida emerges from a meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members at the Capitol on Wednesday. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following continued scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast … Read more

Former acting Atty. Gen. Matt Whitaker waves as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 15. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen former acting Atty. Gen. Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO, the … Read more

Boichik Bagels employee Iris Gonzalez holds a pumpernickel bagel with lox and a tomato slice at the Boichik factory in Berkeley on Nov. 14. (Paul Kuroda / For The Times) I’m having trouble tearing my eyes from the bagel-making machines — the industrial device that rolls the dough into the perfect shape, round with a … Read more

There’s plenty of evidence in recent memory to back up the conclusion that Congress seems allergic to most tough votes. And few topics are more politically combustible than illegal immigration. With that in mind, mark your calendars for early March. That’s when some 800,000 American residents — none of whom are citizens — lose their … Read more

Daniel Lurie, center, ran for mayor as a change agent, saying revitalizing San Francisco requires a new approach to political leadership. (Jeff Chiu / AP) In his victory speech three days after winning election, surrounded by hundreds of supporters in Chinatown, mayor-elect Daniel Lurie declared a new day in San Francisco. “Your call for accountable … Read more

Mark Ridley-Thomas at an interfaith service in March 2023 before his criminal trial. On Nov. 21, 2024, his lawyers will argue before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in their long quest to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict on corruption charges (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) For more than three decades, Mark Ridley-Thomas … Read more

California water agency considers spending $141 million on Delta tunnel project The powerful board of Southern California’s largest urban water supplier will soon vote on whether to continue funding a large share of preliminary planning work for the state’s proposed water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The 38-member board of the Metropolitan Water … Read more

Trump’s promises to conservatives raise fears of more book bans in U.S. The national furor in recent years around banning books on race and gender in public schools is intensifying as President-elect Donald Trump threatens to shut down the Department of Education, emboldening conservatives to end “wokeness” in classrooms. Battles over books in school libraries … Read more

President-elect Donald Trump arrives before the launch of a SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday in Boca Chica, Texas. (Brandon Bell / Associated Press) Hello and happy Thursday. There are 60 days until the inauguration, and today I’m wondering if size matters. I’m referring, of course, to the size of Donald Trump’s win. The president-elect — and … Read more

Members of the Oath Keepers on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press) Out of more than 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, David Dempsey is among the most notorious. Dempsey, of Van Nuys, was accused by … Read more