SACRAMENTO —  At a somber electoral college ceremony at the state Capitol on Tuesday, electors who had hoped to be celebrating the historic presidency of a Democratic daughter of California cast their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris knowing that Republican Donald Trump will head to the White House next month instead.

It was a starkly different scene than in 2020, when Democratic electors in Sacramento burst into cheers and applause as California solidified Democrat Joe Biden’s win, ousting Trump after his first presidential term, as the Republican refused to accept defeat and made unfounded claims of voter fraud.

This time, quiet lulls filled the Assembly chamber as all 54 of California’s electoral college votes were cast for Harris, the first California Democrat to become a presidential nominee.

“You can talk to your friends. This is not a funeral, this is a good time,” Secretary of State Shirley Weber said as she commended electors, who sat at desks usually reserved for legislators, for their “dedication to democracy” regardless of how they felt about the outcome of the election.

Harris secured about 58% of the votes in her home state of California, defeating Trump by more than 20 points, but lost to him nationally.

Though the popular vote nationwide between Harris and Trump was close, Trump won the electoral college — the system based on population and state representation in Congress — by 312 to 226. Members of the electoral college convened in each state Tuesday to cast votes for the candidate who won their state.

Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, said it was not a sad day of defeat, adding that the Golden State remains “a beacon of freedom” for the nation. Democrats maintain unfettered power in Sacramento, ruling in the governor’s office and in the Legislature, even though they lost a few seats.

And while the election was a big win nationwide for Republicans, who will soon control the Senate, the House and the presidency, Democrats unseated three Republican incumbents in California congressional races, helping to reduce the razor-thin GOP majority.

“Do most of us want a different outcome? Of course,” Hicks said in the Capitol on Tuesday. “But this is part of our democracy — of making our voices heard, coming to the people’s house and honoring the results of the election. I think that’s something that we should all be proud of.”

California’s presidential electors included a roster of Democrats from across the state — city council members and mayors, political strategists, leaders of nonprofits and elected officials such as Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and new Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez (D-Los Angeles).

Family members of politicians also acted as electors, including Karen Waters, daughter of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles); Angela Padilla, wife of Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla; Candice Adam-Medefind, mother of incoming Democratic Rep. Adam Gray; and Elizabeth Cisneros, mother of Democratic Rep.-elect Gil Cisneros.

Trump was not mentioned at Tuesday’s official ceremony, but his looming presidency is inescapable in the California Capitol, where Gov. Gavin Newsom recently launched a special legislative session dedicated to funding litigation against Trump’s conservative policy proposals.

“This process reminds us of what is possible when we honor the voices of the people and the values we hold dear, of freedom, fairness and the right of every individual to have their say and shape the future,” Rivas said in welcoming remarks on the Assembly floor.

Gray, who claimed a crucial congressional seat, ousting Republican Rep. John Duarte in an extremely close Central Valley race, was at the Capitol on Tuesday as an observer.

The newly elected congressman was cautiously optimistic about the incoming administration and said he’s willing to work with Trump on areas where they agree.

“In every election, somebody doesn’t win. That doesn’t preclude us from waking up the next day and still working on the things that are important to our communities,” he said.

Xiomara Flores-Holguin was an elector Tuesday and top volunteer for Democrat George Whitesides’ congressional campaign. Whitesides, a first-time candidate, defeated Republican Rep. Mike Garcia in another closely watched House race in northern Los Angeles County.

Flores-Holguin said she was was filled with “mixed emotions” on Tuesday. She plans to help Democrats revisit voter engagement strategies with a renewed focus on Latino constituents before the next election.

“Coming today feels like there is still a ray of hope that the Democrats will be back,” she said. “We’ve learned some lessons from it and we’re not giving up. We’re not going away.”

FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican senator is introducing legislation to block the federal government from disposing of border wall materials after a controversy over the auctioning of border wall parts made headlines again.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is introducing legislation to prohibit the use of federal funds “to deconstruct, dismantle, or otherwise render inoperable any segment of the physical barrier along the international border between the United States and Mexico.”

The bill would also bar the use of funds “to auction, sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any materials or supplies purchased or otherwise acquired by the Federal Government for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, or reinforcing a physical barrier along such border.”

‘STANDING BY TO HELP’: RED STATE REVEALS PLAN TO PURCHASE AUCTIONED BORDER WALL MATERIALS TO STORE FOR TRUMP

The bill comes in response to the ongoing controversy over the auctioning of border wall materials by the Biden administration.

The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after 450 miles had been built during the first Trump administration.

The auctioning of border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department’s logistics agency told media outlets the excess material had been turned over for disposition by the Army Corps of Engineers and was for sale.

Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that auctions have been occurring weekly for some time. The practice made headlines last week when The Daily Wire published video showing unused wall parts being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona even though the materials could be used by the next Trump administration. 

A furious President-elect Trump called the moves “almost a criminal act” and called on President Biden to “please stop selling the wall.” 

TRUMP CALLS FOR END TO BORDER WALL AUCTIONS: ‘ALMOST CRIMINAL ACT’ 

Sen. Bill Hagerty tours the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, Feb. 19, 2024. (Senate Republican Conference)

The president-elect also said he is working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas leaders to reacquire the materials.

“What they’re doing is really an act, it’s almost a criminal act,” he said. “They know we’re going to use it, and if we don’t have it, we’re going to have to rebuild it. And it’ll cost double what it cost years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars because you’re talking about a lot of, a lot of wall.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

A defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.

The official said that border states, including Texas, were given preference for materials and that the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.

“Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California,” the official said. “The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns.”

Hagerty’s bill would supersede any existing law, including the NDAA. His office says the NDAA provision was intended to encourage border wall construction.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

One of Donald Trump’s closing campaign arguments was that he would deliver a new “golden age” for America. This week, he announced that this Trump-powered golden age has already begun.

That’s fitting insofar as Trump has rapidly eclipsed the current president, Joe Biden, in setting expectations and even an agenda for America at home and abroad. It feels as if the clock on the second Trump administration has already started.

So has the usual fight over who should get the credit — or blame — for the economy the next president inherits. This happens to some extent with every new president, regardless of party and not just on the subject of the economy.

Ronald Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, inherited his economy, but Bush’s aides were quick to note that he also inherited an inevitable recession and a savings and loan crisis from the Gipper. In the closing days of this year’s election, Barack Obama complained that Trump had inherited his economic successes in 2017.

Trump has reason to jump the gun on taking credit for the economy now: It’s doing amazingly well.

That’s not to minimize the pain of many Americans or ignore economic problems such as skyrocketing debt, inflation and dislocations in some regions and industries. Even amid a macroeconomic boom, people live in microeconomic circumstances.

The U.S. economy is nevertheless the envy of the world. Don’t take my word for it: The cover of a special issue of the Economist in October described the American economy as just that, the “Envy of the World,” noting that the United States “has left other rich countries in the dust.” The Financial Times reached the same conclusion this month.

It’s a stark contrast to the 1990s, when many expected Europe’s economies to leave ours in the dust. In 2008, the European Union’s economy was 10% bigger than that of the United States. By 2022, it was 23% smaller. The EU grew 21% during this period, but the American economy grew 72%.

Today the U.S. economy generates about a quarter of global output. U.S. stocks account for 65% of global equities, while Japan, China and the United Kingdom combined account for just over 10%. If Britain were an American state, it would barely edge out Mississippi — our poorest state — in per capita gross domestic product.

There are many reasons for this. Americans simply work harder than citizens of other rich countries. Our productivity has outstripped the eurozone’s more than 3 to 1 since 2008. Our business culture is different too: We are the most entrepreneurial country in the world, and we regard business failure not as a cause for shame but as useful experience for the next attempt. America is also better at assimilating immigrants than most countries, and the immigrants we tend to attract generally work very hard.

I could go on. The point is that we have had different presidents with very different policies and even more different rhetoric over the last 30 years. But U.S. economic trends — with the usual dips and spikes — have been largely positive through all of those presidencies.

As the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl put it in National Affairs, “The notion that there is a simple partisan pattern to the health of the economy is an extension of the exaggerated politicization of our understanding of contemporary American life.”

Recent dissatisfaction with the economy, spurred by inflation, fueled the idea that America was doing especially awful under Biden. Again, we live in microeconomies, so it’s understandable that many people had that view. But we’ve still been doing better than pretty much everyone else.

Trump’s focus on the economic downside was typical for a presidential challenger and fair enough. But he was wrong to suggest that our competitors were eating our lunch.

None of this is to suggest that presidents and their economic policies don’t matter. It’s just that they don’t matter as much as presidents and their partisans claim they do.

@JonahDispatch