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USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
Obama weighs in on Newsom's California redistricting strategy amid Texas debate
Obama endorses California Gov. Newsom's proposed redistricting strategy Former President Barack Obama is speaking out about Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed redistricting plan for California. And he's all for it. During a National Democratic Redistricting Committee fundraiser in Martha's Vineyard on Aug. 19, Obama said he believes Newsom's strategy is a "responsible approach." California voters will get to decide on redistricting options in November. Citing Newsom, Obama said, "He said this is going to be completely responsible. We're not going to completely maximize it,' according to the Associated Press. "We're only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn't go into effect." Obama's remarks come as Texas Republicans are expected to vote on a new congressional map intended to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats up for grabs in the 2026 elections. The vote comes after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout, temporarily delaying the bill's passage in a special session of the state legislature. Live updates: Texas Republicans set to approve Trump-backed new congressional map "I'd love to see the people of Texas reject what's happening, but it doesn't look like, unlike in California... they're being given the option of deciding whether this is a smart thing to do or not," Obama said, CNN reported on Aug. 20. In response, Newsom thanked Obama on social media on Aug. 20, saying the state has to stop President Trump's 'attempts to rig our elections.' "California will redraw our maps and neutralize any attempts Donald Trump makes to steal Congressional seats," Newsom said. "Thank you, President Obama for backing Proposition 50 and standing up for America's democracy." Meanwhile, Trump is continuing to encourage Texas GOP House members to do their part to ensure the state has a new redistricting map. '... which is exactly why Texas Republicans need to help us WIN the 2026 Midterm Elections, and pass their new Bill, AS IS, for the ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP!,' Trump said in a Truth Social post on Aug. 19. 'I call on all of my Republican friends in the Legislature to work as fast as they can to get THIS MAP to Governor Greg Abbott's desk, ASAP.'
Los Angeles Times
a few seconds ago
- Los Angeles Times
Why many voters in deep-red Northern California are fuming about Newsom's maps
COTTONWOOD — When the talk turned to politics at the OK Corral bar in this historic stagecoach town on Tuesday night, retired nurse Ovie Hays, 77, spoke for most of the room when she summed up her view of Gov. Gavin Newsom's redistricting plan. 'I don't want Democrats around,' she said. 'They have gone too far in controlling us. We won't have a say in anything.' Nearby, a man in hard-won cowboy boots agreed with Hays — using much more colorful language. He works as a ranch hand and said he'd just come from fixing a goat pen. 'The morons in charge, and the morons that put [those] morons in charge need to understand where their food comes from,' he said. He declined to see his name printed, like a lot of folks in this part of Shasta County and neighboring counties. In its current form, California's 1st Congressional District, which sweeps south from the Oregon border almost to Sacramento, is larger than Massachusetts or Maryland or eight other states. This is farm and forest country. From the glittering peaks and dense forests of Mt. Shasta and the Sierra Nevada, rivers course down to the valley floor, to vast fields of rice, endless orchards of peaches and golden, rolling grassland full of more cows than people. Voters here are concerned with policies that affect their water supply and forests, given that the timber industry limps along here and fires have ravaged the area in recent years. This is also Republican country. For the last 12 years, this district has been represented by Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a rice farmer from Oroville who is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. But if voters approve the redistricting plan in November, the deep-red bastion that is LaMalfa's district will be cleaved into three pieces, each of them diluted with enough Democratic votes that they could all turn blue. The northern half of the district would be joined to a coastal district that would stretch all the way down to the Golden Gate Bridge, while the southern half would be jigsawed into two districts that would draw in voters from the Bay Area and wine country. Northern California finds itself in this situation because of power plays unleashed by President Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Newsom and others. To ensure GOP control of the House of Representatives, Trump pressured Abbott to redraw Texas' congressional maps so Republicans could take more seats. Newsom responded by threatening to redraw California's maps to favor Democrats, while saying he'd holster this pistol if Texas did the same. The California Legislature is expected to approve a plan Thursday that would put new maps on the November ballot, along with a a constitutional amendment that would override the state's voter-approved, independent redistricting commission. If voters approve the new maps, they would go into effect only if another state performs mid-decade redistricting. Under the proposal, Democrats could pick up five seats currently held by Republicans, while also bolstering some vulnerable Democratic incumbents in purple districts. Now, voters in Northern California and other parts of the state find themselves at the center of a showdown. And from Marysville to Redding this week, many — including those who call themselves Democrats — said they were outraged at what they saw as another example of urban California imposing its will on rural California, areas that city people generally ignore and don't understand. 'Their needs and their wants are completely different than what we need here,' said Pamela Davis, 40, who was loading bags of chicken feed into the back of her SUV in Yuba City. Her children scrambled into their car seats, chatting happily about the cows and ducks they have at home on their farm. Davis, who said she voted for LaMalfa, said voters in California's cities have no understanding of water regulations or other policies vitally important to agriculture, even though what happens in farming areas is crucial to the state overall. 'We're out here growing food for everybody,' she said. 'Water is an issue all the time. That kind of stuff needs to be at the top of everybody's mind.' For years, folks in the so-called north state have chafed at life under the rule of California's liberal politicians. This region is whiter, more rural, more conservative and poorer than the rest of the state. They have long bemoaned that their property rights, grazing rights and water rights are under siege. They complain that the state's high taxes and cost of living are crushing people's dreams. The grievances run so deep that in recent years many residents have embraced a decades-old idea of seceding from California and forming a 'State of Jefferson.' Some residents, including LaMalfa, said if redistricting were to go through, it could further fuel those sentiments. And even some voters who said they abhorred Trump and LaMalfa and planned to vote in favor of the redistricting plan said they worried about the precedent of diluting the rural vote. Gail Mandaville, 76, was sitting with her book group in Chico and said she was in favor of the plan. 'I just am really, really afraid of the way the country is going,' the retired teacher said. 'I admire Newsom for standing up and doing something.' Across the table, Kim Heuckel, 58, said she agreed but also wondered whether a member of Congress from a more urban area could properly represent the needs of her district. 'I'm sorry, but they don't know the farmlands,' she said. 'We need our farmers.' We do, chimed in Rebecca Willi, 74, a retired hospice worker, but 'all the things we stand for are going down the drain,' and if the redistricting in Texas goes forward, 'we have to offset it because there is too much at stake.' In an interview, LaMalfa predicted that California's voters would reject the redistricting plan. 'We're not going anywhere without a fight,' he said. But should it pass, he predicted that his constituents would suffer. 'We don't have Sausalito values in this district,' he said, adding that politicians in the newly redrawn districts would be 'playing to Bay Area voters; they won't be playing towards us at all.' One of the biggest issues in his district recently, he noted, has been concern over wolves, who have been roaming ranch lands, killing cattle and enraging ranchers and other property owners. With redistricting, he said, 'if it doesn't go to the dogs, it will go to the wolves.'
The Hill
a few seconds ago
- The Hill
Gabbard to slash offices, nearly half of staff at ODNI
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard plans to slash 40 percent of the agency's staff by October in a move she said would help transform the head of the intelligence community into 'ODNI 2.0.' Gabbard's cuts would reassign roles or eliminate various centers within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), including those that monitor foreign efforts to influence Americans, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including biological weapons, and a team monitoring for cyberattacks. A fact sheet from ODNI boasts the department has already slashed 500 jobs and that the future cuts would save an estimated $700 million from the agency that helps coordinate among the 18 different agencies that make up the sprawling U.S. intelligence community. Targeted in the restructuring is the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which has dedicated itself to tracking the efforts of U.S. adversaries to influence the U.S. public through social media and disinformation campaigns designed to sow division and shift votes. The Trump administration argues the center has been used 'to justify the suppression of free speech' and cited its work in responding to the Hunter Biden laptop. ODNI also accused the Foreign Malign Influence Center of 'falsely alleging Putin 'aspired' to help President Trump win the 2016 election,' though that conclusion is shared by most reports that have evaluated Russia's efforts in the 2016 contest, including in a bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Gabbard argued that other elements of the intelligence community already monitor foreign influence campaigns, 'making FMIC redundant' — the same argument used for the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center. The fact sheet argues it biosecurity mission is no longer needed after the COVID-related national emergency. 'It has become apparent that taking action to address global health issues falls well outside of ODNI's core mission,' ODNI states. Gabbard said the need for the shift was part of 'ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable.' 'Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence,' Gabbard said in a statement. 'ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people.' The shift comes a day after Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials, many with ties to prior Democratic administrations. Even as a top Democrat agreed ODNI could use a revamp, he argued Gabbard was not the person to deliver it. 'Twenty years after it was established, there is broad, bipartisan agreement that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is in need of thoughtful reform. The Intelligence Authorization Act directs Director Gabbard to submit a plan to Congress outlining her proposed changes, and we will carefully review her proposals and conduct rigorous oversight to ensure any reforms strengthen, not weaken, our national security,' Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. 'But given Director Gabbard's track record of politicizing intelligence — including her decision just yesterday to revoke security clearances from career national security officials — I have no confidence that she is the right person to carry out this weighty responsibility.' Mark Zaid, a longtime national security lawyer, said the redesign was a clear effort to cut staff that might push back against the Trump administration 'This isn't about reform. It isn't about strengthening our intelligence agencies. It is about the Installation of loyalists & getting rid of anyone who opposes the patrimonialistic/authoritarian policies of Trump, regardless of whether DEM or GOP,' he wrote on X. Gabbard also proposes eliminating a number of other offices she accused, without evidence, of leaking intelligence of political biases. Among those slashed is the External Research Council, which Gabbard said amounted to 'politically appointed partisans who brought their external biases,' as well as the Strategic Futures Group, responsible for long-term forecasting on threats, which Gabbard accused of being used 'to push a partisan political agenda.' It's not entirely clear how many staff work at ODNI, but that figure has been a target of Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) who earlier this year said the office had nearly 2,000 staff. 'The ODNI staff is measured in the thousands, when it should be measured in the dozens, maybe a few hundred,' Cotton said at a hearing at the beginning of the year. 'I promise, that's going to change.' Cotton on Wednesday praised the move, even as he referenced the need for congressional review. 'Congress created the ODNI to be a lean organization that used small staffs to coordinate across the Intelligence Community and execute specific, important tasks. Today's announcement is an important step towards returning ODNI to that original size, scope, and mission. And it will help make it a stronger and more effective national security tool for President Trump,' he said in a statement. 'I look forwarded [sic] to working with Director Gabbard to implement these reforms and provide the ODNI with the legislative relief necessary to ensure our Intelligence Community can focus on its core mission: stealing secrets from our adversaries.'
