California Policy and Politics Wednesday

Trump tariffs, immigration policy drag down California economy -- California’s economic outlook continues to be sluggish, as UCLA forecasters predicted Wednesday the state’s unemployment rate will keep climbing as Trump administration tariff and immigration policies continue to have an impact. David Lightman in the Sacramento Bee$ Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

California strongly objects to Trump’s plan to pump more delta water south -- State officials have objected to the plan, warning that it would threaten native fish and reduce water to millions of Southern Californians. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

Pregnant immigrants held for months in detention despite rules against it -- Lorena Pineda was five months pregnant when masked agents picked her up on a street corner near a San Fernando Home Depot in June. Rachel Uranga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

L.A. County pushes to unmask ICE agents, but may not have the holding power -- On Tuesday, L.A. County supervisors advanced an ordinance to ban ICE agents from wearing masks or shielding their identities. The ordinance would also require local, state and federal law enforcement officers to wear identification. June Hsu in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

‘Calling all billionaires’: OpenAI critics urge Musk, Zuckerberg to fund ballot effort -- Critics of OpenAI’s multibillion dollar corporate restructuring want to bring the matter to California voters, launching two different ballot initiatives as well as a campaign website that calls on billionaires like Elon Musk to pitch in on halting the business expansion. Christine Mui and Chase DiFeliciantonio Politico -- 12/03/25

San Francisco’s mayor faces test over his key allies: Business execs -- Riding a city comeback narrative and a wave of popularity, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is facing a test over one of his signature strategies: leveraging his close ties to wealthy tech and business leaders to revive his hometown. Chase DiFeliciantonio Politico -- 12/03/25

San Francisco sues major companies over ultra-processed foods -- Ultra-processed foods, such as breakfast cereals, candies, chips, sodas and energy drinks, are addictive products that are harming Americans’ health and shortening their lives, the city of San Francisco charged in a lawsuit Tuesday against major food and drink companies. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Karen Garcia and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

Newsom will stay in National Governors Association after threatening to leave -- After threatening to leave the National Governors Association over the organization’s silence on National Guard deployments, Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’ll stay in the group but has stopped paying dues. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/03/25

Rob Bonta waves off speculation about California gubernatorial run -- Attorney General Rob Bonta waved away recent speculation that he is reconsidering a run for governor, saying he was “focused on my role as attorney general at the moment.” Lia Russell in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 12/03/25

Food Stamps

Agriculture Dept. Threatens to Withhold Food Stamps From Democratic States -- The Agriculture Department said on Tuesday that it would withhold federal funding for food stamps in more than 20 Democratic-led states that have so far refused to provide the Trump administration with sensitive personal data about recipients. Linda Qiu in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Workplace

Paramount throws in more cash in bid for Warner; Comcast wants to combine assets with NBCUniversal -- Paramount is raising the stakes in its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, upping its offer for the assets with backing from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia, while rival Comcast has proposed creating a new entertainment entity. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund to own almost all of EA under buyout plan, report says -- Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund could reportedly own nearly all of Electronic Arts Inc. under the buyout plan for the video game giant. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

Housing

S.F. ‘sleeping pods’ startup buys downtown building for 400-bed megadorm -- When Brownstone Shared Housing’s more than two dozen, $700-per-month sleeping pods in downtown San Francisco were slapped with an eviction notice this summer for over $150,000 in unpaid rent, most expected that might be the end of the co-living experiment. Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/03/25

Environment

New study: Moss Landing battery fire dumped 55,000 pounds of toxic metals into wildlife-rich marshes -- A major fire in January at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants in Moss Landing showered 55,000 pounds of toxic metals across the landscape within a mile of the plant, a new scientific study has found. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/03/25

Salmon returning to Bay Area creek for first time in 70 years could be sign of environmental renewal to come -- The 20-year effort to bring the fish back to Alameda Creek has finally paid off. Chase Hunter in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 12/03/25

Education

CSU campuses show vastly different results on graduation after 10 years and $3 billion -- Campuses improved four-year rates for freshmen and two-year rates for transfer students. Several campuses regressed or experienced widening disparities across race and income. Amy DiPierro EdSource -- 12/03/25

Street

Oakland needs 200-plus police officers it can’t afford but pays millions to officers on leave -- Roughly 100 Oakland police officers off the job on extended leave — many of whom are awaiting the outcome of plodding misconduct-related investigations — are costing the city millions of dollars a year at a time when it faces both a budget deficit and an officer shortage, according to department data and reports reviewed by the Chronicle. David Hernandez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/03/25

Gang-scarred Stockton fed up after mass killing at child’s birthday party: ‘No one will forget’ -- Though the city of Stockton has battled gangs and worked to quell violence in its streets before, a brazen and horrifying shooting at a toddler’s birthday party over the weekend that left four people dead, including three children, has left city leaders reeling like never before, officials say. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

San Francisco school shooting: Student hospitalized and juvenile suspect in custody, police say -- The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to the scene around 12:15 p.m. where they found a juvenile male, apparently a student, suffering from a gunshot wound and were told the shooter had fled. Dominic Fracassa, Brooke Park, St. John Barned-Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/03/25

L.A. County supervisors vote to ban ICE agents from wearing masks -- L.A. County supervisors advanced a proposed ban on masks for law enforcement officers working in unincorporated parts of the county. The county’s lawyers say the ban will likely be challenged by the Trump administration, which will argue federal law takes precedence. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

L.A. City Council votes against proposal to ban police use of ‘less-lethal’ launchers -- A proposed ordinance that would have restricted the LAPD from using weapons that launch hard foam projectiles was defeated 8 to 4 on Tuesday, with three council members absent. Sandra McDonald and Libor Jany in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/03/25

Climate

Top Journal Retracts Study Predicting Catastrophic Climate Toll -- In April 2024, the prestigious journal Nature released a study finding that climate change would cause far more economic damage by the end of the century than previous estimates had suggested. Lydia DePillis in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Also

San Francisco sues Coca-Cola, Kellogg over ultra-processed foods. What that means -- In a historic action, San Francisco on Tuesday became the first government to file a lawsuit against food manufacturers over ultra-processed snacks and drinks that officials argue are wreaking havoc on Americans’ health. Karen Garcia and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ Allyson Chiu and Rachel Roubein in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Are Suddenly Behaving Like New York Cabbies -- For years while training on the streets of San Francisco and eventually transporting passengers, Waymos were the most polite drivers on the road. Katherine Bindley in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 12/03/25

Native American tribe reclaims land at the edge of Yosemite National Park -- The tribal nation that calls Yosemite National Park its ancestral home has reclaimed a stunning piece of its historical territory with the acquisition of nearly 900 acres along the western edge of the park. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/03/25

POTUS 47

Private Hiring Sank in November, ADP Says -- Private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November, ADP estimated, a swing from the 47,000 private-sector jobs that ADP estimated were added in October. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see 40,000 new private-sector jobs. Matt Grossman and Chao Deng in the Wall Street Journal$ Ben Casselman in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Trump Appears to Fight Sleep During Cabinet Meeting -- President Trump began the meeting by criticizing media coverage about him showing signs of fatigue. Last month, he appeared to doze off during a meeting in the Oval Office. Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Hegseth Says He Did Not See Survivors of Boat Attack Clinging to Wreckage -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that he had not noticed survivors in the water during U.S. military strikes that killed 11 people in the Caribbean in September. Helene Cooper in the New York Times$ Tara Copp and Alex Horton in the Washington Post$ -- 12/03/25

Family of Colombian man killed in U.S. boat strikes files formal complaint -- The family of a Colombian man killed in a U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean filed a complaint Tuesday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), alleging the United States committed human rights violations in an “extra-judicial killing.” Frances Vinall in the Washington Post$ -- 12/03/25

Immigration Officials Target Afghans for Deportation in Wake of D.C. Shooting -- The stepped-up enforcement comes as the Trump administration has also moved to reassess the vetting of Afghans who came to the country under the Biden administration. Hamed Aleaziz and Nicholas Nehamas in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Trump rails against Somali migrants: ‘I don’t want them in our country’ --President Donald Trump ended a Cabinet meeting Tuesday with a rant against Somali migrants, accusing them of having “ripped off” Minnesota and using dehumanizing language to attack a group he has increasingly targeted in recent weeks. Amy B Wang and Caroline O'Donovan in the Washington Post$ -- 12/03/25

GOP frets ‘dangerous’ result in Tennessee --“Tonight is a sign that 2026 is going to be a bitch of an election cycle,” said one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Republicans can survive if we play team and the Trump administration officials play smart. Neither is certain.” Aaron Pellish and Meredith Lee Hill Politico -- 12/03/25

Trump Calls Affordability a ‘Con Job’ as His Edge on the Economy Slips -- President Trump on Tuesday downplayed the cost-of-living pains being felt by Americans, declaring that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody” as his political edge on the economy continues to dissipate. Erica L. Green in the New York Times$ -- 12/03/25

Regime change is back. MAGA is getting comfortable with it -- Trump on Tuesday teased an imminent land strike against Venezuela and suggested he might attack other countries as well. Megan Messerly, Eric Bazail-Eimil and Diana Nerozzi Politico -- 12/03/25