Politics

Rep. Darrell Issa, center, at a meeting with President Trump in January about fire recovery in Pacific Palisades. (Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press) As court orders against his administration mount, President Trump has ramped up his attacks on federal judges in recent days, railing against their authority and calling for their impeachment. In particular, the president seems … Read more

Here’s the kind of help that Cold War doughboy Patrick J. Buchanan probably could do without just now: “Comrade and brother-in-arms! . . . Your slogans are close and understandable to us,” said fellow presidential candidate Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, Russia’s bellicose ultranationalist leader. “You say the [U.S.] Congress is ‘Israeli-occupied territory.’ We have the same … Read more

Stung by criticism that the Senate mishandled the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, members of the Senate Ethics Committee decided Thursday that they no longer want to drop charges of ethical misconduct against Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.). The committee’s dramatic reversal increases the likelihood that the panel will vote soon to recommend some … Read more

Though his wide grin belied a furious temper, Kevin Shelley — son of a congressman and protege of a political legend — had been the darling of San Francisco Democrats until his future swerved out of control. In a year, accolades that Shelley earned for smoothly steering the first election to recall a California governor … Read more

A small lesion was removed from the tip of President Reagan’s nose Wednesday in what the White House physician said was a routine procedure performed under a local anesthetic at the White House. A similar procedure was performed two years ago on the 76-year-old President, when a skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma was … Read more

Karen Weldon, an inexperienced 29-year-old lobbyist from suburban Philadelphia, seemed an unlikely choice for clients seeking global public relations services. Yet her tiny firm was selected last year for a plum $240,000 contract to promote the good works of a wealthy Serbian family that had been linked to accused war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. Despite a … Read more

Were California voters especially wise Tuesday when they adopted both Proposition 25, which erases the Legislature’s crippling two-thirds vote requirement for adopting a budget, and Proposition 26, which imposes a new two-thirds mandate for imposing or raising a fee? End the gridlock, perhaps they were saying, but not at the expense of taxpaying families or … Read more

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) had languished for months near the bottom of the polls on the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Brynn Anderson / Associated Press) Rep. Eric Swalwell abandoned his uphill run for president Monday and announced that he will instead seek a fifth term in the House. The 38-year-old congressman from … Read more

IN 1972, Robert Redford played the title role in “The Candidate,” a movie about a young California politician with an uneasy relationship with his father, a former governor played by Melvyn Douglas. Ever since, Jerry Brown has been a mirror and a megaphone of political celebrity. Two years earlier, Brown had first appeared on a … Read more

A farmworker’s son and a dairy farmer battle to represent the Central Valley in Congress As a teenager, David Valadao had a long list of chores to do before school every day. He’d jump on his tractor, buck hay and feed the family’s dairy cows on their Hanford farm. After school, it was more of … Read more