By Dustin Gardiner and Tyler Katzenberger

Presented by Phenomena Global

Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the Legislature during the first day of lawmakers' new session. So far, the Legislature has let him lead the charge on a special session to "Trump-proof" the state. | Pool photo by Paul Kitagaki Jr.

THE BUZZ: IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT — Donald Trump’s victory not only reinvigorated Gov. Gavin Newsom’s hopes for a future White House run — it recharged his clout in Sacramento.

Newsom is entering the final two years of his second term, ordinarily the lame-duck stretch for an outgoing governor. But Trump’s return to power has given him a new platform and a foil he can use to set the agenda at the state Capitol.

The governor’s eagerness to call the shots over California’s response to the specter of a second Trump presidency was on display Monday when the Legislature kicked off a special session to Trump-proof the state.

Hours before lawmakers gaveled in, Newsom unveiled his proposal for the Legislature to set aside up to $25 million for a legal defense fund to battle Trump decisions that hurt the state.

Newsom’s early move to frame the debate comes only months after he faced open resistance from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire over his last-minute proposal to combat spikes in gas prices. Lawmakers complained it was another example of the governor jamming through his policy goals.

Ultimately, Newsom got his way. But the gas prices episode seemed to preview how legislative leaders might more forcefully push back against Newsom’s agenda, especially if Vice President Kamala Harris defeated Trump.

Three months later, Newsom appears solidly in the driver’s seat — for now. Democrats in both houses were quick to put the key elements of his plan into print on Monday (though there was private grumbling among Capitol insiders that he launched his plan without briefing the Democratic caucuses).

Instead of bucking the governor, Rivas and McGuire are finding more subtle ways to assert their own agendas and set parameters for debate.

In their comments Monday, for example, Rivas and McGuire were far more focused on addressing the state’s cost-of-living problems than the looming legal battles with the Trump administration. It seemed a clear signal to members: Don’t get too caught up in the Trump resistance.

“Are we going to fight to protect the people, the policies and the progress that make California great? Absolutely,” McGuire said. “But we also can't forget we have a lot to fix in this state.”

Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel, who introduced bills detailing Newsom’s plan for additional legal funding, noted that other Trump-proofing efforts would be debated during the regular session — and on lawmakers’ terms.

“We will be on equal footing,” Gabriel told Playbook as lawmakers exited the Capitol.

GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.

You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and tkatzenberger@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @TylerKatzen.

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

CONTEST ALERT: ROOKIE CLASS QUIZ — Congratulations to Harry Ermoian, chief of staff for Assemblymember Marc Berman, who won our new lawmaker quote-matching quiz (and some cool POLITICO swag) yesterday evening.

Ermoian emerged victorious over five other finalists — Aurora Schunemann, Colin Sueyres, Sonia Diaz, Susannah Delano and Ryan Saiki — thanks to his lightning-quick response to a tiebreaker question: Which incoming lawmaker said their top priority was to “get a good AI policy in place?" (spoiler: it was state Sen. Jerry McNerney).

Find the answer key at the bottom of today’s Playbook.

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Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, center, and staffers and consultants attend POLITICO's new member reception in Sacramento. | Allison Stahl

SPOTTED: WELCOME WAGON — Thanks to all who showed up for our Sacramento welcome party for new lawmakers last night. More than 300 Capitol insiders joined us for food and drink at Cafeteria 15L, which of course included POLITICO-branded sugar cookies.

Justin Wesson, Airbnb senior policy manager, speaks during an event the company co-hosted with POLITICO in Sacramento. | Allison Stahl

Among those spotted in the crowd: Assemblymembers Mark Gonzalez, Rhodesia Ransom, Damon Connolly, Heather Hadwick, Matt Haney, Jeff Gonzalez, Carl DeMaio and Catherine Stefani; and state Sens. Jerry McNerney, Josh Becker, Jesse Arreguín and Aisha Wahab. Other guests included veteran consultant Donna Lucas, former FOX News host Steve Hilton and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs.

Want to know what's really happening with Congress's make-or-break spending fights? Get daily insider analysis of Hill negotiations, funding deadlines, and breaking developments—free in your inbox with Inside Congress. Subscribe now.

President Joe Biden embraces Hunter Biden, his son, during the Democratic National Convention last summer. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

PARDON BOMB — California Democrats speaking out about Joe Biden’s “full and unconditional” pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, are split on whether to denounce the outgoing president’s controversial decision as top party brass stay silent.

South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna seemingly criticized Biden’s move in an X post, but he did so by attacking “archaic” presidential pardon powers rather than pointing fingers at the president. “Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency,” Khanna wrote.

Even those defending Biden were short on praise for his decision. East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell in an X post Monday didn’t mention the president and instead directed his ire at people who “defended the 34x felon, who committed sexual assault, stole national security documents, and tried running a coup on his country” — a group he said “can sit out the Hunter Biden pardon discussion.”

Meanwhile, Newsom and other top Democrats with national profiles are steering clear of the political firestorm. The governor didn’t weigh in on the issue when asked for comment by POLITICO yesterday.

Biden’s decision is a striking reversal from his repeated past promises that he wouldn’t pardon his son. The president in his pardon message said it was necessary to correct a politically driven “miscarriage of justice,” referencing Hunter’s conviction on three felony gun charges and his guilty plea to federal tax crimes.

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Democratic House candidate Adam Gray. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP

STILL NO BLINKING — Neither Democrat Adam Gray nor Republican Rep. John Duarte are claiming victory (or conceding defeat) as their nail-biter race for a House seat in the Central Valley comes down to a final handful of signature-cured ballots.

Gray currently leads Duarte by a mere 143 votes, and three of the five counties in the district have posted final vote count updates ahead of today’s election certification deadline, according to California Target Book’s Rob Pyers. Neither candidate’s campaign answered an inquiry from Playbook late Monday asking for their view on the current results.

Policy Change is Coming: Be prepared, be proactive, be a Pro. POLITICO Pro’s platform has 200,000+ energy regulatory documents from California, New York, and FERC. Leverage our Legislative and Regulatory trackers for comprehensive policy tracking across all industries. Learn more.

AFFORDABLE ENERGY — Lawmakers kicked off their Trump-proofing special session yesterday with an energy-conscious flavor. Read the tea leaves on lawmakers' affordability concerns and our list of newly-introduced bills in last night's California Climate.

State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP

DRAMA ALREADY — Session is back, and so is beef between lawmakers. Republican Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil in an X post yesterday accused Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez of trying to boot her from the Senate break room so the Democrat could have “privacy.” Alvarado-Gil didn’t provide further details.

“We are on day 1 of the new session and Grand Wizard Gonzalez of the Latino Caucus is already in my face,” Alvarado-Gil wrote. “Uhhh nope. I am a CA State Senator just….like….you…ni que fuera tu pendeja.” She doubled down on the accusations in a second X post Monday evening.

The bad blood runs deep here: Alvarado-Gil was immediately removed from the Legislature’s Latino Caucus, which Gonzalez chairs, when she switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party in dramatic fashion earlier this year. Neither lawmaker’s office responded to a request for comment.

BYE, ROBOT — California cities are at the forefront of a national effort to prevent landlords from using artificial intelligence tools to raise rent prices, CalMatters reports. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to ban the practice in July, and San Jose and San Diego are now considering similar ordinances. California is one of seven states that joined a federal lawsuit against the nation’s leading rental pricing platform, RealPage, which federal prosecutors allege is an “an unlawful information-sharing scheme.”

THIS PROPERTY IS FOR SALE — Actor and director Robert Redford is selling his wood-shingled Marin County home for $4.15 million, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Records show Redford and his wife, artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford, paid $3.1 million for the four-bedroom house in 2020.

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— A legacy admissions ban, new street-parking fines and click to cancel are among 21 new laws set to take effect in 2025. (San Francisco Chronicle)

— Conservative Christian private schools are finding a foothold in famously liberal San Francisco. (San Francisco Standard)

— Hollywood is losing profits from casual moviegoers who continue to skip out on seeing films in theaters following the Covid pandemic. (Los Angeles Times)

— California appears to be falling short of its end-of-year goal to place 2,000 adults in court-approved mental health treatment plans. (Fresno Bee)

SPOTTED: TRAIN COMMUTER — New Assemblymember Catherine Stefani was spotted taking Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor train to Sacramento for the first day of lawmakers’ session. Stefani, a Democrat from San Francisco, made the trip with her teenage daughter. She was greeted by a jam-packed train filled with hundreds of UC Davis students returning to campus after the holiday. Don’t worry, assemblymember, the train isn’t usually that crowded! Unless, of course, the Giants … or the Warriors … or the 49ers are playing.

PEOPLE MOVES — Curtis Notsinneh has been appointed executive director of the California Workforce Association. He was most recently chief of the division of apprenticeship standards at the state Department of Industrial Relations.

BIRTHDAYS — Jesse Lee … Ozzy Osbourne … Amanda Seyfried

BELATED B-DAY WISHES: (was Monday): Daniela Ruah ... Annie Fixler … (was Sunday) Alex Torres … Markos Kounalakis … (was Saturday) Edward Jones’ David Amann ...

ROOKIE CLASS QUIZ: ANSWER KEY — Here’s who said each quote:

1. Patrick Ahrens: "To strengthen the promise of community colleges as a key driver of our state’s economic success."
2. Carl DeMaio: "To make Republicans a viable, effective voice of opposition, and to inflict consequences on the Democrat supermajority, such that they have to moderate and work in a more bipartisan fashion."
3. John Harabedian: “Figure out how to be in three places at once!”
4. Maggy Krell: “I have a day-one bill that’s very important. It shores up access to medication abortion for Californians in anticipation of potential threats from the federal government or other states.”
5. Catherine Stefani: “In my first year, I want to pass meaningful legislation that curbs gun violence, protects women’s health and safety, and addresses the housing crisis because I’m committed to building a safer and more affordable California for all."
6. Jeff Gonzalez: “Advocate for meaningful legislation that’s community centered and reaches across the aisle.”
7. Suzette Valladares: “Cutting costs. From groceries to gas, electricity to rent, I’m focused on making life more affordable for every Californian.” 
8. Steven Choi: "California is a beautiful state, but heavy taxes and regulations make it difficult to live and do business here. My hope is we can begin to reduce some of these burdens on our residents and businesses so more Californians can begin to afford the Golden State dream once again.”

WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.

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