Gov. Gavin Newsom is pleading with his Democratic friends in Washington to help the Golden State prepare its defenses for Trump 2.0.
The governor is in D.C. today to lobby the outgoing Biden-Harris administration over a series of last-minute funding decisions and federal waiver extensions before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Trump has already lashed out at Newsom and California officials over the effort to “Trump-proof” the state, and the former president has a history of using the Oval Office to punish California by withholding or threatening to claw back funding.
Now, Newsom has two months to build a firewall.
The governor landed in the Beltway on Monday afternoon and was set to spend the next 36 hours meeting with White House officials and California’s congressional delegation. Izzy Gardon, a Newsom spokesperson who’s traveling with the governor in Washington, said focus areas include “disaster funding, the approval of state healthcare initiatives aimed at improving access to health and mental healthcare for Californians and crucial climate and clean-air efforts.
Newsom has vowed to make California a leader of the resistance against Trump’s second term — especially when it comes to disagreements over the state’s voter-ID and climate laws, as well as protections for patients seeking abortions and LGBTQ+ rights.
POLITICO’s California team is tracking the policy areas where the outgoing administration could aid Newsom and state Democrats. Here are our reporters’ insights:
Disaster aid: It’s tough to parse which threats Trump may follow through on, but Newsom appears to be taking Trump’s promise to withhold disaster relief funding from California seriously. The governor is pressing the Biden administration and its Federal Emergency Management Agency to fulfill several outstanding funding requests. They include reimbursements for $5.2 billion in emergency coronavirus relief spending by state and local governments that could be in jeopardy. That’s on top of the untold amount of California’s budget that Newsom wants to set aside to backfill any lost disaster aid — a proposal he floated first to POLITICO last month. — Blake Jones, education and budget reporter
Electric cars: Newsom will advocate for the eight waivers that California still hasn’t received from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to let it phase out fossil fuel-burning cars, trucks and trains. EPA has until President Joe Biden’s last day in office, Jan. 19, to approve the waivers, which give California authority to enforce stronger-than-federal air standards. Trump — who’s consistently attacked California’s electric vehicle policies — has promised to revoke California’s zero-emission rules once in office. Any waivers that haven’t already been approved, however, can simply be denied. — Alex Nieves, climate reporter
Land preservation: Newsom has thrown his weight behind campaigns led by environmental and tribal groups asking Biden to designate three new national monuments: the Kw’tsán National Monument and the Chuckwalla National Monument in the Southern California desert, and the Sáttítla National Monument in the Shasta-Trinity highlands in Northern California. The designations would forbid development, including renewable energy projects, from nearly 1 million acres total and further California’s efforts to conserve 30 percent of its land and coast by 2030. Biden earlier this year expanded the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California’s Coast Range and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument near Los Angeles. — Camille von Kaenel, environment reporter
Federal health waivers: California has several big health care programs pending federal approval, including efforts related to reproductive health, behavioral health and funding for Medicaid. The two programs Newsom is focusing on most for this trip are getting approval on a behavioral health program that uses Medicaid dollars to strengthen the broader system for mental health care so people have treatment options outside of institutional settings. He’s also gunning for approval of the state’s MCO tax, which could bring in billions at almost no cost. Voters just overwhelmingly said they wanted this tax to be renewed by approving the statewide ballot measure Proposition 35. — Rachel Bluth, health care reporter
High-speed rail: Another big pot of money with a target on its back is California’s embattled high-speed rail project, which is relying on billions of dollars in federal funding to complete the Central Valley leg of the route that could eventually connect Los Angeles to San Francisco. Congressional Republicans have introduced multiple bills in recent years to block funding. But former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in persuading the Biden administration to award California $6 billion for rail projects last year, including $3.1 billion for the Central Valley portion of the bullet train. Newsom and Democrats on the Hill will surely be looking for ways to get that funding out the door sooner than later. — Alex and Dustin
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