Politics
Ahead of second Trump term, California vows 'ironclad' abortion access
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers are rushing to introduce legislation that reaffirms the state’s role as a reproductive rights “haven” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House and abortion rights advocates warn of an uncertain future.
Abortion remains legal in California, home to the strongest reproductive rights in the nation — unlike in some states, there is no required waiting period or counseling before the procedure, and minors can get abortions without parental involvement. In 2022, voters solidified abortion access in the state Constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right, limiting healthcare for millions of women.
But as Trump prepares to take the White House again, California’s Democratic leaders are adamant that not enough has been done to secure reproductive access in case of further federal rollbacks.
“The truth is, this is an urgent and dangerous situation,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said at a news conference in Sacramento on Monday, pointing to renewed legal challenges to the distribution of abortion pills. “The right-wing extremists continue to wage attack after attack on our bodily autonomy at the expense of the health or life of pregnant persons.”
Bonta, a Democrat, said new legislative proposals will make reproductive rights in California “ironclad.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s earlier focus on abortion rights after Trump’s first term — including ad campaigns in red states — have drawn criticism from California Republicans skeptical of his national political motives and praise from advocates who say it is better to be safe than sorry. He has signed dozens of bills firming up abortion access in recent years, but some of his plans have proved to be more flash than substance. A temporary law allowing doctors licensed in Arizona to provide abortions in California, for example, expired without any doctors using it.
“He makes the big pronouncements, but he’s not a very good executor of those policies,” said Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher of Yuba City. “It’s kind of become his M.O., to make a big splash and then nothing really ever comes of it.”
Democrats, however, see the need to shore up abortion access given the uncertainty of Trump’s plans. A bill introduced this week aims to ensure availability of mifepristone and misoprostol — the commonly used two-step medication abortion process — even if the Trump administration attempts to interfere.
At issue is how antiabortion government officials could revive and interpret the Comstock Act, a federal law that once banned the mailing of “obscene” materials related to abortions.
While Trump has said he has no plans to ban abortion nationwide, he has repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue and taken credit for appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who reversed the federal right to abortion with their decision in the landmark Dobbs case.
Reproductive health advocates are worried that under his second term, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could limit access to abortion medication. To lead the FDA, Trump has tapped Dr. Marty Makary, who has echoed antiabortion messages on Fox News about fetal pain — something disputed by major medical organizations.
The California bill by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), a legislative newcomer and former Planned Parenthood attorney, aims to ensure that Californians continue to have access to medication abortion for the foreseeable future and protects “manufacturers, distributors, authorized healthcare providers and individuals” from any legal action for distributing or administering the pills.
“There are emerging threats to the availability of mifepristone and misoprostol, and California may not be able to guarantee a continued supply,” the bill states. “Previously, Governor Newsom implemented a plan to stockpile doses of misoprostol. While this effort was successful, the Legislature finds that the state needs to renew its stockpile to ensure that Californians can continue to exercise their constitutional rights.”
Last year, Newsom rushed to stockpile hundreds of thousands of abortion pills after a Texas judge ruled against the authorization of the medication.
“We will not cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services. Medication abortion remains legal in California,” Newsom said then.
But, facing expiration dates, the state released the stockpile to the public before the U.S. Supreme Court decision that rejected the Texas court’s ruling.
In Washington, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee chose to hold on to a similar stockpile in case Trump was elected again.
A spokesperson for Newsom said California “remains ready” to procure more pills if needed.
In another precautionary move last year, Newsom signed a law that allowed abortion providers in Arizona to temporarily practice in California. The action came after the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated an 1800s law that essentially banned all abortions.
No Arizona providers ended up using the program, which expired Dec. 1, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Concerns settled in Arizona after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill that repealed the court decision, and voters last month passed a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion.
The California legislation “was designed to serve as a swift stop gap measure to preserve continued access to abortion care, if necessary, during this very precarious moment,” California Department of Consumer Affairs spokesperson Monica Vargas said in an email when The Times asked for data about the program’s use.
Newsom also signed a law last year that allowed medical residents from states with “hostile” laws to get abortion training in California. The state does not require the California Medical Board to track whether that program is being used as intended, a spokesperson said.
For Republican critics like Gallagher, those programs are instances of “political theater” meant more to draw attention to an issue than provide substantive policy. Newsom this week called a special legislative session in Sacramento to prepare for legal combat with Trump on issues such as abortion and immigration — a move heralded by liberals as smart preparation for an unpredictable president and criticized by conservatives as unnecessary panic.
“In California, abortion is constitutionally protected, and you have a president-elect who has said very clearly he will not support any national abortion ban,” Gallagher said. “This perceived threat that they’re trying to make into a political volley … it’s just Newsom drawing attention to himself.”
Some abortion advocates said that they’d rather have a nimble governor like Newsom and be cautious even if the emergency plans don’t always pan out.
“Now more than ever is the time for innovative policy solutions,” said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, a spokesperson for Essential Health Access. “And inevitably, it is going to be the case that not all solutions we put forth will be equally effective.”
Other bills introduced this week seeking to fill California’s reproductive health access gaps include a proposal to financially penalize cities and counties that block the building of abortion clinics, as has happened in Beverly Hills and Fontana.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) introduced a package of bills that would ensure hospitals enforce laws that require emergency rooms to provide abortion care; make it easier for Medi-Cal recipients to get birth control; and prevent birthing centers from closing.
About 40% of California counties don’t have abortion clinics, including rural areas where transportation can be a hurdle. In September, the state sued a Humboldt County Catholic hospital after a patient said she was denied an emergency abortion even as she feared for her life because of miscarriage risks.
“We have to be absolutely clear-eyed about the political and social moment we’re in right now … when we have a proven misogynist as a president,” said Mia Bonta, who is married to the attorney general, referring to Trump’s sexual abuse allegations and “your body, my choice” refrains that surged after his election.
“I think while California has done an amazing job, we still have a lot of work to do to shore up the infrastructure of support for people who are seeking healthcare and abortion access and protection of our reproductive and sexual freedoms.”
Politics
Scott Walker calls nixing of landmark WI law that led to mass protests in 2011 a 'brazen political action'
Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker spoke out after a county judge in Madison struck down major parts of a 2011 law geared toward public employee unions.
Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled that the provisions of a law known as Act 10, which selectively exempt certain public workers from its restrictions on unionization and collective bargaining, are unconstitutional. The controversial law sought to close a budget deficit by limiting collective bargaining, thereby moderating public workers’ benefits that Walker said at the time helped solve a fiscal situation he was required to address.
The original passage in 2011 led to weekslong protests inside the state Capitol, and even saw legislative Democrats flee to neighboring Illinois to prevent Republicans from reaching a quorum to vote on it. Walker later survived a 2012 recall election over the law’s passage and rode his success into a decent showing in the 2016 presidential race, where he eventually bowed out of the primary that ultimately went to Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Walker, who currently leads the conservative-training nonprofit Young America’s Foundation (YAF), said his law simply took power “out of the hands of the big union bosses and put it firmly into the hands of the hardworking taxpayers…”
“And what this court decision did as brazen political action was to throw that out and put power back in the hands of those union bosses,” he said in an interview, calling collective bargaining not a right but an “expensive entitlement.”
POMPEO CLAIMS TEACHERS’ UNION BOSS IS AMONG THE ‘MOST DANGEROUS PEOPLE’ IN US
Asked about Frost’s assertion that disparate treatment of collective bargaining rights of certain “public safety” workers and other public workers was unconstitutional, Walker said it was a “bogus political argument.”
Frost stripped more than 60 sections of the law from the books.
The law was upheld multiple times at the state and federal levels, Walker replied, adding a new issue is that of a potentially-growing “liberal activist majority” on the officially nonpartisan Wisconsin Supreme Court that may hear any appeal of the ruling.
Walker said that if appealed, the first place the case will land is in Waukesha court, which he predicted would overturn Frost. But a subsequent appeal by the left would bring it before the state’s high bench.
“It’s all the more reason why the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin this spring (2025) is more important than ever,” he said.
Walker went on to discuss the roots of Act 10, and how it was his way of abiding by Wisconsin’s balanced-budget requirement. He noted the original name was the “Budget Repair Act” and that a prior Democratic administration instead chose to cut funding for municipalities, which instead resulted in layoffs.
Instead of risking job loss or Medicare cuts, Walker opted to require public workers to contribute more to their entitlements in return for keeping their pensions solvent.
WALKER SAYS WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS ARE MOTIVATED
In addition, Wisconsin Senate President Chris Kapenga echoed Walker’s claim that partisan politics played a role in the ruling:
“[I]t’s proof there is very little justice left in our justice system. Wisconsin’s legislature should be discussing impeachment, as we are the only check on their power,” said Kapenga, R-Oconomowoc.
“Believing Dane County judges and the liberal majority in our state Supreme Court are independent jurists is almost as far-fetched as believing the border is secure, inflation’s not a problem, or [President Biden] won’t pardon his son.”
“The left keeps telling us, ‘Don’t believe what you see’ — Wisconsinites see right through it,” he said.
As for Walker’s current role as president of YAF, he said his organization is preparing for conservative leadership to return to Washington as he brought it to Madison in 2010.
Walker said he is thrilled by the prospect of seeing many YAF alumni in the new Trump administration, including Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump and formerly ex-Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Sergio Gor, a longtime aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was named Trump’s head of presidential personnel last month. Walker praised Gor’s prior work leading YAF’s George Washington University chapter.
“Four years ago, younger voters sided with Biden by 25 points,” Walker said. “This election, that shrunk right down to 5 or 6 points. And most interestingly, young men four years ago went with Biden by 15 points. In this election, they shifted to Trump by 14. What we need to do is lock that in.”
Politics
What Trump's nominations say about where trade and other economic policies might go
WASHINGTON — Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations have raised hopes that his trade and other economic actions will not be wildly disruptive or bring back inflation. But that could turn out to be wishful thinking.
Based on the record of his first term in the Oval Office and on his current statements of his intent, Trump’s second term may see a break from the largely bipartisan consensus that has shaped U.S. economic policy for more than 50 years.
That consensus has centered on a push for more foreign trade, less government regulation of business, tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus when necessary to sustain steady growth and low unemployment. Though Republicans tended to put more emphasis on one element or another than Democrats, the overall thrust remained pretty much the same.
And supporters of that approach took heart when Trump picked billionaire investor Scott Bessent to be his Treasury secretary. Bessent is a familiar name in the hedge fund world, and for some years he worked under the longtime financier and Democratic backer George Soros. Wall Street immediately cheered the selection by pushing up stock prices.
But on the very next trading day after naming Bessent, Trump announced plans to slap 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as 10% more on Chinese goods that are already taxed heavily thanks to the trade war he launched in his first term. The goal was to press Mexico in particular to curb border inflows of fentanyl and migrants.
On the campaign trail, Trump proposed tariffs of up to 20% on all countries and 60% on China.
And on Wednesday, Trump said he would bring back Peter Navarro as a senior trade and manufacturing advisor. The fiery China hawk and former UC Irvine professor clashed with other, more moderate top officials in Trump’s first administration. Navarro was recently released from a four-month prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in 2021. (Navarro didn’t respond to text messages seeking comment.)
“If there was any illusion that the choice of Bessent was going to have an ameliorating effect, that got completely blown out of the water,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at the Wall Street research firm Fwdbonds, predicting more fireworks inside the White House, and outside.
“At some point companies are going to go down to Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s estate) and start to complain loudly,” Rupkey said.
In some respects, Trump’s picks for other Cabinet and major economic-related posts in the White House are also a reprisal of his past performance. There are billionaires, notably Elon Musk, named to head a new department on government efficiency; and traditional conservative economists, such as Kevin Hassett, an alumnus of the American Enterprise Institute, who’s been tapped as director of the National Economic Council, a key role in helping formulate White House economic policies.
And at least some of Trump’s nominees are unlikely candidates, particularly Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon), a Latina who has been a rare Republican supporter of greater organizing rights for unions and had the backing of the Teamsters’ leader.
Heidi Shierholz, president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, applauded Trump’s choice of Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer has personal connections to the labor movement. But Shierholz wondered what difference she would be able to make. As with Trump’s Labor secretary in his first term, Alex Acosta, she said Chavez-DeRemer was likely to face significant constraints.
“Trump doesn’t suffer dissent; I don’t have high hopes,” Shierholz said.
“Trump’s eclectic style is fully on exhibit in his Cabinet selections,” said Michael Genovese, author of “The Modern Presidency” and head of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Even so, he said, “the single common denominator in staff and cabinet selection has been loyalty to Donald Trump. … Trump likes to break things, and he has a lot of folks around him who are more than willing to do the breaking.”
Genovese added: “After his frustrations in the first term where insiders undermined the president’s wishes, he will not tolerate such insubordination in term two.”
Moreover, if Trump’s first term provides a guide, his economic and other policies also may be strongly influenced by a kitchen cabinet of informal advisors and an inner circle of confidantes who share his instincts and views on the economy, particularly his predilection for tariffs as a primary weapon for rebuilding American manufacturing and reducing the U.S. trade deficit.
That impulse toward protectionism and away from the global economy could again set off a major fight inside the GOP as two fundamentally conflicting visions collide.
One focuses on boosting domestic manufacturing, which could be helped by a reversal of trade deficits and a lessening role of the dollar. This “America First” strategy seeks a return to the policies that prevailed early in the last century, when U.S. manufacturing was protected from overseas competition by high tariff walls — that is, high surcharges on imported goods that make them too expensive to compete with U.S. products.
The other approach, more favored by Wall Street, sees an open global market as offering lower prices for consumers and more opportunities for American companies to tap capital markets and expand abroad.
American multinational firms and their affiliates spent about $200 billion on plant and equipment in 2022 and employed some 14 million outside the U.S., the latest year for which data were available from the Commerce Department. Their overall foreign sales: more than $8 trillion, with almost half in Europe and most of the rest in Asia.
Globalists are not convinced that reducing the trade deficit is vital to U.S. interests.
And they note that countries previously responded to high U.S. tariffs by increasing their own taxes on American goods. Economists say that will almost certainly push up consumer price inflation, which has been receding from nearly double digits in 2022 but remains about a percentage point above policymakers’ 2% target for core inflation.
“All tariffs on all products all the time, of 10% to 20%, are pretty alarming to business leaders,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management and an expert on leadership and corporate governance.
Sonnenfeld said Trump’s appointment of Bessent was “hugely reassuring” and suggested that he could, if confirmed by the Senate as expected, bring a moderating influence.
“Scott Bessent is definitely the adult in the room,” Sonnenfeld said, contrasting him with another wealthy Wall Street boss, Howard Lutnick, Trump’s choice for Commerce secretary.
“There’ll be some natural tension between Lutnick and Bessent as things unfold,” he said.
Michael Pettis, an American professor of finance at Peking University in Beijing and a nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed that Bessent was an excellent choice.
As in the first term, China is likely to be a key target of Trump’s foreign investment and trade battles, including tariffs, which President Biden has kept in place while adding more restrictions on Chinese access to American technologies.
“Scott Bessent understands the economy systemically,” Pettis said. “I think he could be a very positive influence. The real question is, to what extent he will determine Treasury and economic policy generally?”
Bessent has talked about tariffs as a negotiating tool, and more recently argued for targeted tariff increases on national security grounds as well as to establish a more level playing field. And he spoke of a need for a “more activist approach internationally.”
In recent days, Trump also appointed as the United States trade representative Jamieson Greer, the former chief of staff for Robert Lighthizer, the USTR in Trump’s first term who renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement and pushed through tough trade measures against China.
What’s clear to some who have been following Trump’s appointments is that he wants to avoid the internecine warring in the White House that marked the early months of his first term and to be more forceful in implementing his agenda.
“I think there is a strong economic plan that reasonable minds may disagree on. Tariffs will be part of the overarching plan,” said Daniel Ujczo, senior counsel specializing in trade at the Ohio-based law firm Thompson Hine.
“This administration will not be handcuffed by the old orthodoxy of what you can or cannot do,” he said. “I think there’s a recognition in this administration that these voters elected them to do something. Voters were less concerned about what that something was.”
Politics
Video: ‘You Are Out of Line’: Acting Secret Service Director Clashes With Congressman
new video loaded: ‘You Are Out of Line’: Acting Secret Service Director Clashes With Congressman
transcript
transcript
‘You Are Out of Line’: Acting Secret Service Director Clashes With Congressman
A congressional hearing on Thursday erupted into a shouting match. Ronald L. Rowe Jr., the acting Secret Service director, accused Representative Pat Fallon, Republican of Texas, of politicizing a 9/11 memorial event.
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“Do you recognize this photo?” “Yes, sir, I do.” “OK. Is that a remembrance of Sept. 11?” “It was.” “Was it in New York?” “It was at ground zero.” “Who is usually at an event like this, closest to the president of the United States, security-wise?” “The SAC of the detail.” “Special agent in charge of the detail. Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?” “Actually, let me address this. Could you please, staff leave — no, leave that one up with the circle around me. Thank you. So actually, Congressman, what you’re not seeing is the SAC of the detail off out of the picture’s view. And that is the day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. I actually responded to ground zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills.” “I’m not asking you that. I’m asking you —” “Congressman —” “Were you the special agent in charge —” “I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11.” “You’re trying to be —” “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes.” “I’m not. I’m invoking this —” “You are, sir.” “Gentleman —” “You are out of line.” “Committee will come to order.” “I’m asking you serious questions for the American people, and they’re very simple. They’re not trick questions. Were you the special agent in charge of that day?” “No, I wasn’t. I was there representing the United States Secret Service.” “I’m just asking you yes or no?” “Mr. Fallon, your time has expired.” “It did not affect —” “You know why you were there? Because you wanted to be visible, because you are auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get.” “I was there to pay respect for a fallen member of this agency.”
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