A tale of two Chief Pams: Federal takeover brings confusion over command of DC police
D.C. and federal officials say they are working together after President Donald Trump announced he was placing the police department in the nation's capital under federal control to crack down on violent crime. But despite the unified tone, the unusual arrangement is raising questions about who gets to make decisions about D.C. police resources, personnel and policy and — in the event of a disagreement — which Pam gets the final say.
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Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Newsom calls for special November election to block Trump from 'rigging' 2026 midterms
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic lawmakers and their allies on Thursday launched a special-election campaign to ask California voters to approve new congressional districts to decrease the size of the state's Republican delegation — a move that could determine control of Congress next year and stymie President Trump's agenda. The effort is a response to GOP-led states, notably Texas, attempting to redraw their congressional maps to decrease Democratic ranks in the narrowly-divided U.S. House of Representatives at Trump's behest. Newsom, speaking to a fired-up partisan crowd at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, said the effort by Republicans represented a desperate effort by a failed president to hold on to power by keeping Congress under Republican control. "He doesn't play by a different set of rules. He doesn't believe in the rules," Newsom said. "And as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done. It's not good enough to just hold hands, have a candlelight vigil and talk about the way the world should be. We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt, and we have got to meet fire with fire." The governor was joined by Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff; Rep. Pete Aguilar, (D-San Bernardino), the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and union leaders essential to providing the funding and volunteers to convince Californians to vote for the "Election Rigging Response Act." The proposed California ballot measure would temporarily toss out the congressional districts enacted by the state's voter-approved, independent redistricting commission. "Our union stands in full support of this ballot initiative. We are ready to do whatever it takes to stop this power grab and fight back against any and all attacks on our democracy, on our students and on public education," said Erica Jones, the secretary treasurer of the California Teachers Assn., which represents 310,000 public school teachers. She said school children have suffered because of the Trump administration's immigration raids, as well as cuts to healthcare funding, after school programs and teacher trainings. "Our students deserve better," she said. "The majority of Americans are not with him on these vicious attacks. So what does Trump want to do? Rig the next election and steal our right to fair representation? He wants to stack the deck to keep slashing public services to pad the pockets of his billionaire donors." Outside the political rally, Border Patrol agents gathered and arrested at least one person. Newsom told the crowd inside that he doubted it was a coincidence. Supporters of the independent commission that currently draws California's congressional maps criticized Democrats' efforts to conduct a highly unusual mid-decade redistricting plan. For Newsom's plant to work, the Democratic-led state Legislature must vote in favor of placing the measure on the ballot in a special election in November, and then the final decision will be up to California voters. "Two wrongs do not make a right, and California shouldn't stoop to the same tactics as Texas. Instead, we should push other states to adopt our independent, non-partisan commission model across the country," said Amy Thoma, spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, which includes Charles Munger Jr., the son of a billionaire who bankrolled the ballot measure that created the independent commission. Munger will vigorously oppose any proposal to circumvent the independent commission, she said. Since voters approved independent congressional redistricting in 2010, California's districts have been drawn once per decade, following the U.S. Census, by a panel split between registered Democrats, registered Republicans and voters without a party preference. The commission is not allowed to consider the partisan makeup of the districts, nor protecting incumbents, but instead looks at "communities of interest," logical geographical boundaries and the Voting Rights Act. The current map was drawn in 2021 and went into effect for the 2022 election. Newsom is pushing to suspend those district lines and put a new map tailored to favor Democrats in front of voters on Nov. 4. That plan, he has said, would have a "trigger," meaning a redrawn map would not take effect unless Texas or another GOP-led state moved forward with its own. Sara Sadhwani, who served on the redistricting commission that approved the current congressional district boundaries, said that while she is deeply proud of the work she and her colleagues completed, she approved of Newsom's effort to temporarily put the commission's work aside because of the unprecedented threats to American democracy. "These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," said Sadhwani, citing the immigration raids, the encouragement of political violence and the use of National Guard troops in American cities. "And if that wasn't enough, we are watching executive overreach that no doubt is making our founding fathers turn in their graves, and we have to take action. These are the hallmarks of a democracy in peril." If voters approved the ballot measure, the new maps would be in effect until the independent commission redraws the congressional boundaries in 2031. To meet Newsom's ambitious deadline, the state Legislature would need to pass the ballot language by a two-thirds majority and send it to Newsom's desk by Aug. 22. The governor's office and legislative leaders are confident in their ability to meet this threshold in the state Assembly and state Senate, where Democrats have a supermajority. Newsom first mentioned the idea in mid July, meaning the whole process could be done in about five weeks. Generally, redrawing the state's electoral lines and certifying a measure to appear before voters on the ballot are processes that take months, if not more than a year. Trump's prodding of Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional maps to create five new GOP seats has kicked off redistricting battles across the nation. That includes Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, where Republicans control the statehouse, and New York, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, where Democrats are in power. Democratic lawmakers in Texas fled the state to block the Republican-led legislature from approving a new map that would gerrymander congressional districts to favor of the GOP. The Democrats maneuver worked, since it prevented the legislature from have a quorum necessary to approve the measure. A second special session is expected to begin Friday. The absent lawmakers are facing threats of fines, civil arrest warrants and calls for being removed from office; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to call repeated special sessions until the map is approved. In California, the gerrymandering plan taking shape behind closed doors would increase the Democratic Party's dominance in the state by making five House districts more favorable to Democrats, according to a draft map reviewed by The Times. Those changes could reduce by more than half the number of Republicans representing California in Congress. The state has the nation's largest congressional delegation, with 52 members. Nine are Republicans. A Northern California district represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) could shift to the south, shedding rural, conservative voters near the Oregon border and picking up left-leaning cities in Sonoma County. Sacramento-area Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) would see his district shift toward the bluer center of the city. The plan would also add more Democrats to the Central Valley district represented by Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), who has been a perennial target for Democrats. Southern California would see some of the biggest changes: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) would see his safely Republican district in San Diego County become more purple through the addition of liberal Palm Springs. And Reps. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) and Ken Calvert (R-Corona) would be drawn into the same district, which could force the lawmakers to run against each other. The plan would also shore up Democrats who represent swing districts, such as Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Derek Tran (D-Orange). It could also add another district in southeast Los Angeles County, in the area that elected the first Latino member of Congress from California in modern history. A similar seat was eliminated during the 2021 redistricting. Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report from Sacramento. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NYC Mayor Adams seeks power to force drug addicts into treatment
NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams called on Albany lawmakers Thursday to grant New York City powers to forcibly hospitalize people struggling with drug addiction — a proposal that was quickly met with intense pushback from civil rights and homeless advocates. Adams' plan — unveiled during a Midtown event hosted by the conservative Manhattan Institute — proposes the state Legislature acts to expand the involuntary commitment standards during next year's legislative session. The plan would build on a provision Albany included in this year's state budget that gave the city expanded authority to hospitalize homeless people against their will if they're dealing with severe mental health issues. Adams, addressing a conservative crowd at the Midtown Hilton, characterized the new proposal as a 'lifeline' for those in the throes of drug addiction. 'Doctors should have the ability to seek a court order to mandate treatment for substance abuse even if the person's addiction makes them unwilling to accept treatment on their own,' Adams said to applause, adding that such an expansion would become 'the single most effective tool to help us end the drug abuse crisis we see all around us.' The plan faces a number of obstacles. Lawmakers in Albany may balk at the expanded powers, while Adams, reeling from record low approval ratings and continued fallout from his corruption indictment, faces a difficult path to reelection in November's election, with polls showing he's unlikely to be mayor next year. The proposal also sparked immediate pushback from the advocacy community. The Legal Aid Society, which by statute represents New York City's homeless population, blasted Adams' latest proposal as raising 'serious civil rights concerns' and doing 'nothing to address the root causes of substance use.' 'If the mayor were serious about saving lives, he would invest in proven harm reduction strategies, voluntary treatment, permanent housing, and community-based supports — not policies that amount to state-sanctioned incarceration in medical settings,' the group said in a statement. 'Expanding involuntary commitment laws will not solve the drug war or end the overdose crisis; it will only deepen mistrust, waste resources, and cause lasting harm to the very people the city claims to want to help.' According to a fact-sheet released by Adams' office, the plan, dubbed the 'Compassionate Interventions Act,' would fill a gap in state law that prevents clinicians and police officers from forcing a person into treatment primarily due to suspected substance use disorder. Under the reforms adopted by Albany this year, the city can involuntarily commit anyone who 'appears' mentally ill, and the new proposal says a similar standard should exist for severe drug addicts. The plan stresses the call on whether to force a person into treatment for substance abuse would ultimately lie with a medical professional. The Adams plan says that would bring New York in line with 37 other states that have similar laws. Florida has had a similar law on the books since 1993, and homeless advocates have long argued it infringes on people's civil liberties. The State Assembly and State Senate, which are controlled by super majorities of Democrats, were for years skeptical of the mayor's proposal to expand powers related to involuntary commitments of mentally ill individuals. The proposal to further expand the protocols to include drug addicts could thereby be a tough sell in the capital, especially given Adams' longshot chances at reelection. After his speech, Adams was asked in a Q&A with Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam how he envisions being able to rally support for the proposal, given the anticipated pushback in Albany. 'Our statehouses and even our City Council — they have been hijacked by the numerical minority with far extremist, far left extremist views, and they have gotten in the way, the noise has gotten in the way of real progress around these quality of life issues,' Adams replied. 'And so the first thing that I did when I became mayor, I went out and purchased a bunch of ear plugs and put them in my ears so I could ignore the noise.' Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Adams' proposal comes from the 'same old, failed playbook.' 'Forced treatment can greatly increase the risk of a fatal overdose, raises serious due process and civil liberties concerns, and contributes to harmful stereotypes about people with substance use disorders,' she said. On the funding question, Adams' plan proposes to allocate a $27 million new investment in expanding services for those in need of addiction care. It was not clear over how long of a period that funding would be allocated, and the blueprint is light on details on what exactly the new services would involve. Spokespeople for Gov. Hochul and state legislative leaders didn't immediately return requests for comment. Fabien Levy, Adams' deputy mayor for communications, said he didn't know whether Adams' team has had conversations with the governor about the proposal. In his speech, Adams argued the drug addiction crisis has been a problem in the city for years. Asked by the Daily News why Adams is first now rolling out the new proposal, Randy Mastro, his first deputy mayor, said, 'It's always right to do the right thing.' 'This administration has worked so hard for the past three and a half years to address these issues, and we're going to continue to put out policies,' Mastro said. _____
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
As Texas and California ramp up their redistricting fight, a new study finds gerrymandering erodes confidence in democracy
Researchers identified a connection between highly partisan congressional maps and lower confidence in the integrity of elections. The ongoing partisan battle over gerrymandering could further undermine the confidence of Americans in their democracy, the results of a new study suggest. 'We know that confidence in U.S. elections being conducted fairly has been dwindling — gerrymandering just adds gas to that fire,' Shaun Bowler, a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside, who coauthored the study, told Yahoo. Right now, Texas Republicans are trying to redraw their state's congressional district map to make it more favorable to their party, potentially securing up to five additional seats for the GOP in the House of Representatives in next year's midterms. That effort is currently on hold, though, because Democratic state lawmakers have fled Texas in order to block the legislature from having enough members present to formally meet. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he is moving forward with a plan to counter Texas's redistricting effort by asking voters to approve a measure that would allow Democrats to redraw the state's maps. Democrats in New York and Illinois have said they may follow California's lead. Meanwhile, the GOP has been looking at putting more favorable maps in place in other red states like Ohio and Missouri. While we can't know how the redistricting tit-for-tat will ultimately shake out, there is reason to believe that this high-profile fight over congressional maps could weaken voters' already-weakening faith in the U.S. political system, Bowler said. 'A lot of the time gerrymandering really doesn't make the news ... which means a lot of the time it's not very visible to voters,' he said via email. 'But this time ... the news is going national. Even international. So a lot more voters will hear about it. And a lot don't like it.' Americans as a whole have less confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections than they did two decades ago. The biggest cause of that decline is a sharp drop among Republicans tied to President Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. But polls show that faith in democracy was dipping well before Trump became the GOP's standard-bearer, indicating that other factors are playing a role as well. Bowler and his coauthor, Todd Donovan of Western Washington University, analyzed surveys from more than 30,000 voters to understand how gerrymandering impacts views about the integrity of our elections. They found that, while belief in Trump's claims about the election was the most important driver of low trust in democracy, gerrymandering does appear to have a noticeable effect on whether voters think the elections in their states are fair. Unsurprisingly, the biggest drop in confidence was among voters who were on the wrong side of partisan gerrymanders. Democrats in states with strong pro-Republican gerrymanders like Wisconsin and Ohio were more skeptical of the integrity of the elections in their states than Democrats in other states. The same was true for Republicans living in states with gerrymanders designed to benefit Democrats, like Illinois. But Bowler emphasized that this isn't purely about sour grapes. Voters who belong to the party that benefits from a gerrymander can also be affected by the perception that the electoral victories they had hoped for were earned illegitimately, he argued. 'To some extent it doesn't matter if it is 'your' side doing it or not,' he said. 'It's not really fair play.' Bowler expanded on that point in a press release about the study. 'If they didn't win fair and square, why should I believe what they say?' he said. 'Why should I pay my taxes? You get an erosion of civic behavior.' A separate poll released on Thursday added more evidence to support Bowler's argument. It found that Californians oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposal to redistrict their state in response to Texas's potential gerrymander by a two-to-one margin. Other national polls have found that few Americans support the Texas GOP's redistricting plan. They have also found that strong majorities believe partisan gerrymandering is a major problem and that the practice should be illegal. Bowler told Yahoo that even lawmakers who might be indifferent to changes in voters' faith in democracy should be wary of going too far out of their own self-interest. 'Let's say you are a Republican voter in Texas and have voted GOP for years … because of gerrymandering, there is maybe less incentive to turn out and vote,' he said. The belief that results are all but decided well before Election Day could also undermine a party's fundraising, which could make a difference in races where the outcome is more in question, he added. In their study, Bowler and Donovan also looked at how corruption — or even perceptions of corruption — among a state's elected officials affected voters' faith in democracy. They found a similar decline in trust among respondents in states where lawmakers had been convicted of crimes like bribery and campaign finance violations or had faced highly publicized accusations of corruption.
