David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, a place where the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness.
Published June 2, 2024 5:00 AM
B Guerrero, an undergraduate student at UCLA, came out to support the UAW strike.
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Topline:
Academic workers at three more University of California campuses are set to go on strike. The expanded labor action comes in response to administration crackdowns on protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
What schools are next? The union representing 48,000 UC workers said Friday that members will walk off the job on Monday at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. Another strike at UC Irvine will follow on Wednesday, the union said.
The backstory: Similar strikes have already taken place at three other campuses, including UCLA. The union has said these actions are necessary responses to what they see as unfair labor practices related to recent campus protests, including arrests, curtailed free speech and wrongful employee suspensions.
What’s next: UC officials have said the strike illegally violates the union’s contract and will disrupt grading, instruction and research. The move comes with final exams just a couple weeks away.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the California Democrat whose district includes the areas surrounding Long Beach up to Commerce, is expected to become chair of the House Oversight committee. After Tuesday's Democratic wins, he put it bluntly in a statement: "LAWYER UP."
Why it matters: With public corruption and failing leadership as two of the top issues concerning voters, congressional Democrats have an ambitious agenda of investigations planned for their return to power in the House and Senate. Their new majorities mean that they will have at their disposal the full investigatory powers of the Congress, which include the ability to subpoena records for review and compel individuals to testify before lawmakers.
What might be investigated: The Democratic Party has a long list of investigative targets. According to conversations with Democratic House and Senate committee staffers, here are some areas the party is likely to prioritize in its oversight work: the administration's handling of — and connections to — the scandals of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, efforts by administration officials to advance the financial interests of the president, his family, themselves and close allies, and the Iran war's cost to the American public.
Read on . . . for other issues the House Oversight committee is likely to take on.
Midterms coverage:Live results | Takeaways | Stories around the country
Democrats won big in the midterm elections, but with President Trump still in the White House, the next Congress is unlikely to see much major legislation signed into law.
Instead, expect to see a lot more oversight. With public corruption and failing leadership as two of the top issues concerning voters, congressional Democrats have an ambitious agenda of investigations planned for their return to power in the House and Senate.
Their new majorities mean that they will have at their disposal the full investigatory powers of the Congress, which include the ability to subpoena records for review and compel individuals to testify before lawmakers.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the California Democrat who is expected to become chair of the House Oversight committee, put it bluntly in a statement: "LAWYER UP."
The Democratic Party has a long list of investigative targets. According to conversations with Democratic House and Senate committee staffers, here are some areas the party is likely to prioritize in its oversight work.
Jeffrey Epstein
Among Democrats' primary targets: the administration's handling of — and connections to — the scandals of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Bipartisan congressional action forced the Trump administration to release extensive documents tied to federal investigations of Epstein's crimes and other alleged offenses, though Democrats maintain that many of the records were improperly redacted or withheld from the public. They also say that the Justice Department has worked to shield Trump from damaging allegations — claims that the department's leadership has denied.
In the new Congress, lawmakers are expected to probe ties between Epstein and other powerful figures, including the president himself, which they say is part of an effort to secure accountability for victims of Epstein's crimes.
In connection with an October report, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said, "Donald Trump says he knew Jeffrey Epstein 'just like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.' Not exactly."
"Evidence involving 11 women tells a completely different and far more damning story about their relationship and the abuse of young women and girls that took place in their network," Raskin said.
The president, for his part, has long denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and has maintained that their relationship ended before the disgraced financier was indicted for soliciting prostitution in 2016.
Public corruption
Democrats also plan to continue their own investigations into what they describe as efforts by administration officials to advance the financial interests of the president, his family, themselves and close allies.
In particular, Democrats highlight the president's continued business interests, including Truth Social, a number of cryptocurrency projects and overseas projects involving his sons and powerful foreign investors.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks to the press on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026. Garcia is expected to become chair of the House Oversight Committee in the new Congress.
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Garcia on the House Oversight Committee, has gone further, linking the high cost of living to politicians on both sides of the aisle acting in their own self-interest rather than the interest of the American public.
"Millions of dollars in dark money are flowing throughout our political system. Some members of Congress may be trading stocks based on information the public doesn't have. The revolving door between the government and lobbying for large corporations keeps spinning," he wrote last month in an MS Now opinion piece. "Americans are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, and these abuses of power are making it worse. All the while, the wealthiest people in our country are richer than ever."
Immigration
Trump returned to office promising a stricter approach to immigration in the United States. But public support for his deportation agenda has cratered in the wake of a number of high-profile incidents involving federal immigration enforcement personnel, including the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota this year.
While in the minority, Democrats have publicly documented hundreds of incidents of alleged abuse and misconduct by immigration agents and will continue that work in the new term. They are expected to hold hearings on incidents of violence, which have largely gone without congressional oversight in the first two years of the president's second term.
Democrats held a field hearing in Austin, Texas, in October on shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said following the hearing that "ICE is a lawless, rogue agency that is causing generational trauma in communities across the country. House Democrats today are doing the oversight work that Republicans refuse to do — and we will continue to do everything possible to protect our communities from Trump's mass deportation agenda."
Public health
In June, Democrats released a reportdocumenting how they believe that the Trump administration has undermined public health infrastructure and U.S. scientific research into chronic and deadly diseases. That work will continue in the new year, with a particular focus on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Executive power
Trump's muscular use of executive power has been unrestrained by the Republican congressional majority. That is expected to change.
Committee staffers indicate that the president's pet projects — remodeling the White House's East Wing, building a monumental arch, renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, shuttering the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, paving the White House's Rose Garden, among others — will face robust congressional oversight.
President Trump departs after delivering remarks at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Nov. 2, 2026.
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The projects are entwined in a larger constitutional fight over the appropriations process: Congress has the sole authority to decide how taxpayer dollars are spent, and the White House has repeatedly disregarded its declarations and rescinded billions of dollars in congressionally approved spending.
Iran war
Constitutional authorities delegated to Congress will also take center stage in Democrats' U.S.-Iran war oversight. The legislature has the sole authority to declare war, and presidents are required to seek authorization for the use of military force, something that has not happened for any of the Trump administration's military campaigns this term. Democrats also plan to press Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on the war's cost to the American public.
Even before the Democrats take control, a House impeachment vote on Hegseth could come during the lame-duck session.
More war powers votes — efforts to force the president to end the conflict, some of which have attracted limited bipartisan support — are also expected. While previous war powers votes have passed, the votes are largely symbolic and do not carry the weight of law.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk appears alongside President Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office on Feb. 11, 2025.
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Technology titan Elon Musk has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican politics but has lately drawn the ire of Democrats after interruptions to his satellite internet service provider stymied Ukraine's military operations against Russia.
"We will ensure that the 120th Congress will closely scrutinize federal funding awarded to Mr. Musk's businesses, including whether these companies meet their contractual obligations, and whether adequate safeguards exist against political interference, arbitrary service restrictions, and misuse of federal resources," a group of Silicon Valley House Democrats wrote in a letter to the White House in October.
There could also be investigations into the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency effort that decimated the government workforce in the first year of Trump's second term but failed to deliver on the promised trillion dollars in cost savings. It has remained a focus of House Oversight Committee Democrats during their time in the minority.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Topline:
Voters in 10 states made history on Tuesday with their choices for governor.
Historic firsts: Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won her race to be Georgia's next governor, will be the country's first Black woman elected governor of any state. New Mexico's Deb Haaland, who is of Pueblo Indian descent, will be the first Native American woman governor.
Latino representation: Democrat Xavier Becerra will be the first elected Latino governor of California when he takes office, while Democrat Gina Hinojosa will be the first Latina governor of Texas.
Black representation: Voters in Florida, Nevada and Wisconsin elected the first Black governors in their states — Republican Byron Donalds in the Sunshine State, Democrat Aaron Ford in the Silver State and Democrat David Crowley in the Badger State.
Breaking the glass ceiling: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the first woman to win a gubernatorial race in Tennessee. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the first woman to win a gubernatorial race in Tennessee. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar will become the first woman to be governor of Minnesota when she assumes office in January. And in one of the bigger upsets of Tuesday's election, Democrat Amy Acton is poised to become the first woman elected governor of Ohio and the first Jewish governor of the state.
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won her race to be Georgia's next governor, will be the country's first Black woman elected governor of any state. The 56-year-old served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018-2022 and then as an adviser to former President Joe Biden. Her defeat of Republican billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson makes Lance Bottoms the first Democrat to win a governor's race in the state in more than two decades.
Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms hugs a family member during an election night watch party at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia.
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New Mexico's Deb Haaland, who is of Pueblo Indian descent, will be the first Native American woman governor. The Democrat, who defeated Republican Gregg Hull, served in Congress before becoming Interior secretary under Biden. She made history in each of those roles, too — as one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first Native American cabinet secretary.
Latino representation
Democrat Xavier Becerra will be the first elected Latino governor of California when he takes office, while Democrat Gina Hinojosa will be the first Latina governor of Texas. Becerra, a former California attorney general and former member of Congress who served as U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration, will succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom after handily defeating Republican Steve Hilton, a political outsider.
Texas Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa speaks during her election night watch party at Assembly Hall on Nov. 3, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
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Hinojosa, a Texas state representative, defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the country's most influential governors and an ally of President Trump. Hinojosa's win follows a demographic shift in the state, which has seen a surge in its Latino population. Hinojosa will be Texas' first Democratic governor in more than 30 years.
President Donald Trump listens as Republican Rep. Byron Donalds speaks at a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Fla. Donalds won his election and is set to become Florida's first Black governor.
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Donalds, who had the backing of President Trump and a hefty election war chest, beat Democrat David Jolly by campaigning on affordability and promising to continue the conservative politics of outgoing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Donalds has been in Congress since 2021 and served two terms in the state legislature.
Crowley, a Milwaukee County executive, defeated Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, whose campaign massively outspent Crowley's. Crowley actually suspended his campaign during the primary, but reentered it — with the support of outgoing Gov. Tony Evers — after the candidate Crowley backed dropped out. Crowley campaigned on his record as a "deal maker" who can work across the political aisle.
Breaking the glass ceiling
Other women gubernatorial candidates notched historic wins in three states.
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the first woman to win a gubernatorial race in Tennessee. Although Blackburn, who defeated Democrat Jerri Green and multiple independent candidates, had long been a favorite for this race, her victory was narrower than expected. Her campaign focused on curtailing immigration, confronting China and cutting wasteful government spending.
Amy Acton waves to supporters during a campaign rally with former President Barack Obama at Cleveland Public Auditorium on Oct. 24, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar will become the first woman to be governor of Minnesota when she assumes office in January. She defeated Republican Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Demuth, like Green in Tennessee, would also have been the first woman governor of her state.
In one of the bigger upsets of Tuesday's election, Democrat Amy Acton is poised to become the first woman elected governor of Ohio and the first Jewish governor of the state. She will be the first Democrat to serve in the office in two decades. Acton, who served as the state's chief public health officer during the pandemic, defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in an election marked in the final weeks by vicious mudslinging and an attack ad that garnered national criticism.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Makenna Cramer
is closely covering this year’s elections.
Published November 4, 2026 11:03 AM
L.A. County had eight helicopters landing across seven helipads on election night.
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Topline:
A few hours after polls closed on election night, eight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department helicopters took off from the far corners of the county to bring ballots to the processing center in the city of Industry.
Why it matters: L.A. County is massive — more than 4,000 square miles — and the helicopters help get ballots from places such as Lancaster, Palmdale, and Van Nuys to Industry quicker than a car could. Plus, there’s a lot less traffic.
The backstory: The partnership between the department and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk goes back decades.
Read on ...to go inside the operation.
A few hours after polls closed on election night Tuesday, eight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department helicopters took off from the far corners of the county to bring ballots to the processing center in the city of Industry.
The roar of the rotor and rushing wind echoed throughout a parking lot, landing just outside the center where a team of sheriff's officials were waiting.
With the pilot still on board, sealed boxes and bags of ballots were handed off from the helicopters, put on carts and rolled toward waiting cars as the numbers were checked, and checked again.
The partnership with the Los Angeles Sherriff's Department goes back decades.
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Election officials rely on the partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to securely transport ballots to the central ballot processing center where they are ultimately counted and reported.
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Sheriff officials were waiting for the helicopters with carts and cars on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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Why helicopters?
It comes down to size. L.A. County is massive — more than 4,000 square miles — and the helicopters help get ballots from far-flung places such as Lancaster, Palmdale and Van Nuys to Industry quicker than a car could. Plus, there’s a lot less traffic.
“If you relied on vehicle transportation, the early results will be skewed based on the geographical proximity to the counting center,” Richard Thomsen, a sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department’s air support, told LAist. “This way, we can grab a broad early return from all over the county, bring it in and they can start counting those ballots.”
L.A. County is massive — more than 4,000 square miles — and the helicopters help get ballots from places like Lancaster and Palmdale to the city of Industry quicker than a car could.
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An election official said they take the security of ballots "extremely seriously."
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The backstory on helicopters and elections
The partnership between the department and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk goes back decades.
Lately, its' become even more important as election officials are asked to move at a “lightning pace,” according to Mike Sanchez, communications manager for the RR/CC.
If the county relied on vehicle transportation only, the early results could be skewed based on the geographical proximity to the processing center, according to officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
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Election workers have chain of custody protocols, including counting ballots and sealing them in containers.
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“That's exactly what the sheriff's department provides is getting ballots back to us quickly, and just as important, getting them back to us securely,” Sanchez told LAist.
The ballots are transported by land, air and sea, he added. Catalina Island, for example, uses a boat to get ballots to the mainland.
Sanchez noted that there is “dual-custody,” meaning one single person isn’t left alone with ballots or voting equipment.
“We have extreme processes and protocols in place to ensure the security of their ballots and their votes,” Sanchez said. “And security really is at the heart of everything that we do.”
The helicopters are used throughout the county into the early hours after election night.
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"We as the sheriff's department, and the employees of the sheriff's department and ultimately employees of the county of Los Angeles, are committed to the process of ensuring that ballots are counted fairly," said Michael VargasMachuca, a sergeant with the department.
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How it works
Once election night rolls around, the helicopters are already waiting at points around the county, including helipads, local airports and even parking lots converted to temporary helipads.
The pilots are greeted by a group of sheriff's officials who know exactly how many sealed containers of ballots are being transported. Sheriff’s and election officials said the numbers are documented and reconfirmed at every handoff.
Michael VargasMachuca, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and Richard Thomsen, a sergeant with the department's air support, ahead of Election Day.
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Then, the choppers take off. The numbers and takeoff time are radioed back to the ballot processing center, and when they land, they’re counted again.
“Every step of the way there's confirmation, there's a chain of custody,” Michael VargasMachuca, a sergeant with the department, told LAist. “If you think about it like evidence, there's no break in that continuity.”
Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra speaks to supporters during an election night watch party at Drake's: The Barn in West Sacramento on Nov. 3, 2026.
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Topline:
California Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra will take the reins during a delicate time for California.
The backstory: He faces the prospect of deeper federal healthcare cuts, skyrocketing wildfire costs and a persistent cost-of-living crisis. But many of the specifics of his policies are still unknown after he ran a quiet race as a Democrat in a safe blue state, promoting few programs and avoiding making commitments.
New taxes: Becerra opposed the billionaire tax ballot proposition, saying he does not think taxing assets is a stable way to provide state revenues. And while he’s said he believes the wealthy should pay their “fair share” in taxes, he hasn’t explicitly endorsed any new income taxes. But he has signaled that he supports the idea of taxing corporations whose workers are paid so little they qualify for public benefits, or potentially ending tax credits to those companies.
Read on... for more on Becerra.
California Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra will take the reins during a delicate time for California.
He faces the prospect of deeper federal healthcare cuts, skyrocketing wildfire costs and a persistent cost-of-living crisis. But many of the specifics of his policies are still unknown after he ran a quiet race as a Democrat in a safe blue state, promoting few programs and avoiding making commitments.
Here’s what to know about what Becerra will tackle and how he’ll govern.
He’s open to new taxes
Becerra opposed the billionaire tax ballot proposition, saying he does not think taxing assets is a stable way to provide state revenues. And while he’s said he believes the wealthy should pay their “fair share” in taxes, he hasn’t explicitly endorsed any new income taxes.
But he has signaled that he supports the idea of taxing corporations whose workers are paid so little they qualify for public benefits, or potentially ending tax credits to those companies. The state Department of Finance is studying what that kind of tax would look like and is expected to deliver recommendations to lawmakers next year.
He has also said he’s considering a controversial proposal for the state to tax drivers based on their miles driven as a way to pay for road and highway repairs. The state collects that funding through gas taxes, but that source is expected to decline by $31 billion over the next decade as more drivers adopt electric vehicles.
“I take no pleasure in telling people taxes are for a purpose,” he told reporters last week. “I believe that users should pay for (roads).”
Big decisions on climate and energy
Becerra has emphasized the need to keep energy affordable while California continues its clean energy transition.
One program he’s pushing would give low-income households two hours of free electricity each day during daytime hours when solar energy is abundant and usage is low. The program, which he’s calling “power hour,” would be limited to utility customers who already qualify for assistance programs.
He’s said he wants to “continue the path toward clean energy, but while we’re on that path we have to make sure we stabilize the prices,” including by drilling more oil in-state and will decide whether to keep California’s 2030 deadline to ban the sale of new gas cars on the state of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
He’ll also face pressure from investor-owned utilities that have been pushing lawmakers and outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom to reduce how much they must pay to insurance companies and fire victims when their equipment sparks destructive wildfires.
If Newsom doesn’t resolve the issue in the next two months, Becerra will have to deal with it when he takes office; so far he’s declined to take a position, calling the debate a “food fight” between insurers and utilities.
Healthcare for undocumented immigrants
As a first-term congressmember from Los Angeles in 1993, Becerra caused a splash on Capitol Hill by arguing with an elder Democratic statesman over a plan to single out legal immigrants for social safety net cuts — he opposed it. He’s said he will seek to reverse restrictions to Medi-Cal that forced tens of thousands of immigrants who are in California illegally off the program.
Immigration has remained a key issue throughout his career. As governor, he’s promised to enforce new state laws that aim to curb immigration agents’ use of force and activities on state property.
Newsom had expanded immigrant health coverage gradually to all income-qualifying adults but he began rolling back some coverage last year amid a budget deficit and unexpectedly high healthcare costs.
“My values and my fiscal beliefs tell me that anyone who works hard in California should have access to the healthcare they need for themselves and for their family and they should be able to afford it, and that includes undocumented,” Becerra told KQED.
Continuing Newsom’s death penalty moratorium
Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019 when he took office, citing his moral opposition to executions, and during his terms he began to dismantle the state’s death row at San Quentin. Prisoners sentenced to death have since been moved to other prisons.
California has not executed any inmate since 2006. Newsom is considering whether to commute the death sentences of more than 560 prisoners to life sentences without parole but even if he doesn’t, don’t expect Becerra to resume executions.
As attorney general, Becerra defended death sentences and said he supported them in principle, but said during the campaign that he would continue California’s moratorium over concerns about racial bias and wrongful convictions.
He calls himself a ‘pragmatic progressive’
In a party undergoing a yearslong identity crisis over how far left to push its policies, Becerra chooses incremental change over progressive moonshots.
In his more than two decades in Congress, he had the ear of both progressive advocates and established Democratic leadership and was a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, though the pair had a testy moment in 2009 when Becerra wanted her to push harder for a public option in the Affordable Care Act.
This year, he backed away from his longtime support for single-payer healthcare, saying it’s a longshot for California with the Trump administration unlikely to give the state permission to launch.
Even before that, he said he valued experience over grand promises like Medicare for All. As President Joe Biden’s health secretary, for example, he said he focused on expanding coverage.
“When I was helping Hillary Clinton in 2016, my daughters wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders,” he said in an interview. “And I kept saying to them, I get it, I understand. I want Medicare for All … But we got to get (things) done, and I want someone who’s actually been in the thick of things.”
