Politics

President Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget plan sees a $1.08-trillion budget deficit for the ongoing budget year and a $966-billion deficit gap in the 2021 fiscal year starting Oct. 1. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) President Trump unveiled a $4.8-trillion election-year budget plan Monday that recycles previously rejected cuts to domestic programs such as food … Read more

Seth MacFarlane has donated a total of $4.6 million to Democratic groups and candidates, according to a Times analysis of federal campaign filings. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Comedy is Seth MacFarlane’s forte, but when it comes to politics, he’s a serious money man. While building a multibillion-dollar entertainment franchise with the Fox animated … Read more

The evidence in the Jan. 6 investigations is overwhelming — literally The amount of evidence collected as part of the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection rivals what the Hubble telescope has amassed in its three-decade orbit. And sorting through it all has ground many of its criminal cases to a halt. To speed … Read more

At the funeral for President George H.W. Bush, former Sen. Alan Simpson recalled his friend’s reaction when Simpson and other allies urged him to go along with a tax increase to shrink the budget deficit. “OK, go for it, but it will be a real punch in the gut,” Bush said, knowing the political heat … Read more

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has ended a marathon filibuster of the proposed tax compromise, ceding control of the Senate floor after more than 8 1/2 hours. “It has been a very long day,” he said as he concluded his remarks, including a five-hour period in which he spoke without interruption. “I do believe that if … Read more

Protesters against COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates demonstrate near the New Mexico state Capitol in Santa Fe in late August. (Cedar Attanasio / Associated Press ) Perhaps the most unrealistic of President Biden’s campaign promises was his repeated suggestion that he could bridge the deep gulfs that divide American society. As the anniversary of his … Read more

Fans enter Angel Stadium before opening day of the 2014 season. (Jeff Gross / Getty Images) The city of Anaheim wanted out of the business of running a stadium. By selling Angel Stadium and the surrounding property to Angels owner Arte Moreno, the city would let him build a village atop the parking lots, and … Read more

Former state Sen. Paul Carpenter’s convictions for fraud and money-laundering were upheld Wednesday by a divided U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Carpenter, a Democrat from Cypress, is serving a sentence of seven years and three months in federal prison. He fled before his scheduled sentencing in February 1994, saying he needed treatment for prostate … Read more

As an attorney, Mariana Pfaelzer once said that an effective lawyer had to think “as deeply and widely” as possible about a case: “You keep testing to see how far the ripples go.” As the federal judge who Monday declared key portions of Proposition 187 unconstitutional, Pfaelzer has set off a shock wave that may … Read more

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris addressed the nation Saturday night. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Good evening. Congressman John Lewis, before his passing, wrote: “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” And what he meant was that America’s democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for … Read more