Newsletter: Essential Politics: Weinstein’s fall prompts political backlash

The fragile partnership between President Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer unraveled late Sunday as the White House released its framework for immigration legislation — and it wasn’t what Democrats have in mind.

The White House offered the hard-line immigration proposals as trade-offs for legislation to protect the so-called Dreamers, a move that could kill prospects for a deal to protect roughly 700,000 young people now facing possible deportation through the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The Democratic leaders with whom Trump had signaled a willingness to negotiate called the inclusion of the border wall a nonstarter. The day’s events set a tone for any future conversation and come after Trump talked to Schumer about working with Democrats on healthcare.

“This list goes so far beyond what is reasonable. This proposal fails to represent any attempt at compromise,” Schumer and Pelosi said.

I’ll be interviewing Pelosi in Los Angeles on Oct. 18, and this will surely be part of the conversation. Get your tickets now and stay tuned for information on a livestream.

If Trump insists on each of the proposals the White House released Sunday, the move would probably kill any prospect of legislation. Whether the hard-line proposals truly reflect Trump’s views, however, remains uncertain — he advocated immigration restrictions during his campaign, but also repeatedly has said that he does not want to see the Dreamers deported.

The issue is highly personal in California, where a majority of DACA recipients live. Our team has been sharing stories from people affected.

And The Times’ Brian de los Santos detailed his own story as an undocumented immigrant.

NATIONAL POLITICS LIGHTNING ROUND

Hillary Clinton will be in Davis on Monday to talk about her new book.

Retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker likened the White House to an “adult day care center.”

Vice President Pence further stirred up tension over protests during the national anthem at NFL games by leaving the Colts-49ers game early. Reporters were told he might be leaving early, and the president tweeted he had instructed Pence to exit if anyone took a knee, prompting accusations it was a stunt.

Trump made another cryptic statement on North Korea.

Our team of Times journalists continues to report on Stephen Paddock’s background and the investigation into the Las Vegas shooting.

There might be some minor movement on one specific gun control issue in the wake of the massacre.

We’ve done comprehensive stories about the victims’ lives.

And we ask if the 2nd Amendment should be reimagined for modern times. Share your thoughts.

Trump isn’t unpopular everywhere in California.

The Trump administration launched a broad attack in the culture wars this week, announcing an expanded policy to protect religious liberty and rolling back Obama-era rules that shielded transgender employees and promised American working women access to free birth control.

Get the latest about what’s happening in the nation’s capital on Essential Washington.

WEINSTEIN FALLOUT

A few days after allegations of sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein were reported by the New York Times in great detail, he was ousted from the Hollywood company he founded.

We examined Hollywood’s double standard when it comes to the treatment of women.

And Trump weighed in, as the news media reflected on the one-year anniversary of the release of “Access Hollywood” tapes that revealed his explicit and sexist comments.

California’s senators have both received donations from Weinstein. Sen. Kamala Harris’ staff said Friday she will donate the $5,000 she’s gotten from him since 2014 to a California-based charity. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose $1,375 in donations from Weinstein are more than two decades old, said Sunday she’ll consider what to do with them.

Documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of 2018 gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, said she was among the women toward whom Weinstein behaved inappropriately.

WHAT WILL FEINSTEIN DO?

Feinstein is staying coy about whether she’ll run for a sixth tern in 2018, although she continues to drop strong hints she plans to do so.

“You are going to find out about that very shortly,” she told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” adding that she still has “things to fight for.”

CALLS FOR NEW DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP

House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairwoman Linda Sanchez of Whittier said last week that it’s time for new Democratic leaders in the House, and that includes fellow Pelosi, the House minority leader from California.

On CSPAN’s “Newsmakers,” Sanchez said “it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” an unexpectedly bold statement for a member of the House leadership to make in public.

Watch the full half-hour Sanchez interview with The Times’ Sarah D. Wire and the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe.

CALIFORNIA BECOMES A ‘SANCTUARY STATE’

Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark “sanctuary state” legislation Thursday, vastly limiting whom state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities.

Senate Bill 54, which takes effect in January, has been blasted as “unconscionable” by U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. It’s become the focus of a national debate over how far states and cities can go to prevent their officers from enforcing federal immigration laws. Supporters have hailed it as part of a broader effort by majority Democrats in the California Legislature to shield more than 2.3 million immigrants living illegally in the state.

It didn’t take long for federal officials to respond. On Friday, Trump’s top immigration chief Thomas Homan blasted the new law, saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “would have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites.”

Other bills signed by Brown on Thursday would expand workplace protections against ICE raids, prevent landlords from evicting tenants with the threat of deportation, and prevent some cities and counties from adding beds to immigrant detention centers.

OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTION

If the Trump administration tries to sell federal land in California, a new law would give the state the first chance to buy it.

The biggest donors to California ballot measure campaigns could be easier for voters to identify under a long-debated bill Brown signed on Saturday.

Rules for disabled parking placards in California are about to get tougher after an audit that found widespread problems with the program.

California prosecutors will soon be able to combine child sexual assault and trafficking cases from different counties.

Sexual extortion will be considered a criminal act in California.

Brown approved two measures meant to aid Californians buying health insurance on the state’s Obamacare exchange.

California is updating its dating services contract law to include sites like Match.com and Eharmony.

Commercial bus riders who choose not to buckle up could be fined under a new California law.

BROWN VETOES ‘BODY SHAMING’ BILL

For many people, the phrase “body shaming” entered the public lexicon after a Playboy model posted a mocking picture of an elderly lady in a gym shower. Lawmakers approved a proposal to ramp up fines by $1,000 in an attempt to deter such behavior, but Brown vetoed it.

NEW RULES FOR L.A. DEVELOPMENT

For decades, the city of Los Angeles has forced developers who want to build projects with 50 or more homes to complete an in-depth environmental analysis — no matter what zoning codes say.

But a new law authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) aims to wipe away Los Angeles’ rule and similar ones around the state that slow growth and add to the cost of home building in an attempt to address California’s housing affordability crisis, Liam Dillon reports.

SKELTON’S TAKE

George Skelton had a message for the NRA in his column: Get real. He writes that Paddock was the typical law-abiding citizen the group says it’s trying to protect, until he wasn’t.

One of California’s most repeated gripes is that Washington shortchanges the state on taxes, Skelton writes in his Monday column, with some arguing the state sends more money to Washington than it gets back. But California isn’t actually being cheated, Skelton says, arguing that the main reason the state pays more in taxes than it receives is because it’s a younger and more prosperous state, therefore its residents pay higher taxes and get less back in Social Security and other retiree benefits.

GOP SMELLS AN OPPORTUNITY IN VOTERS FUMING OVER GAS TAX

Approving California’s latest gas tax increase was a heavy lift for Democrats and the business groups that touted it as a way to finally address California’s crumbling roads. But just as the law is set to take effect, the tax measure is facing rough political waters that could dismantle the $52-billion package.

The latest challenge comes in a letter sent by 11 congressional Republicans who say they support nascent efforts to repeal the tax by putting a ballot measure before California voters next year. One GOP consultant who’s been pushing one of the measures calls it “a gift” from Democrats that could be a political weapon in a closely watched election year.

A reminder you can stay up to date in the moment via our Essential Politics news feed on California politics.

POLITICAL ROAD MAP: FROM WORST TO FIRST

California’s independent commission that draws political maps, as well as former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure states draw their legislative and congressional districts fairly. And they’re speaking from decades of experience.

In his Sunday column, John Myers takes a look at how it took 50 years of gerrymandered redistricting efforts in the state -- favoring both Democrats and Republicans alike -- before the process changed. That change boosted the Golden State from worst to first in its national reputation for fairly drawn political maps.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- On this week’s California Politics Podcast, the topics include the looming showdown with federal officials over the state’s new “sanctuary” immigration law and the efforts by Republicans to get some political mileage from the gas tax hike.

-- Los Angeles Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard joined other Latino Democrats in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in asking the Trump administration to extend the Oct. 5 deadline for DACA renewals to January.

--- Pay teachers the same as lawmakers? Backers of a ballot initiative hope to put that question before voters in 2018.

-- The Republicans’ latest effort to repeal Obamacare may be dead now, but new ads warn that “like a zombie,” another repeal could return.

-- GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter is facing a second challenger from his own party.

-- Orange County Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva threw her weight behind Dave Min, one of several Democratic challengers running against Rep. Mimi Walters.

-- Hundreds applied to be on California’s pot advisory committee. Here’s who got picked.

-- In case you missed it, our terrific “Dirty John” series has concluded.

LOGISTICS

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