| | | |  | | By Dustin Gardiner and Blake Jones | | Presented by |  | | | | 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly split with his own party over transgender athletes. | Damian Dovarganes/AP | DRIVING THE DAY — Former VP Kamala Harris is seriously considering a run for California governor — and has given herself a deadline to decide, Eugene Daniels and Christopher Cadelago scoop this morning in POLITICO. Harris’ timeline is the clearest indication to date that she may enter the race. THE BUZZ: TRANS RIGHTS — Senior officials in Gavin Newsom’s administration discouraged Democrats from introducing transgender rights legislation weeks before the governor publicly split with his party on trans athletes, three people with direct knowledge of the talks told Playbook. But members of the Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus ignored the direction and proposed a package of bills dealing with the topic anyway. The push from Nathan Barankin, Newsom’s chief of staff, and Legislative Affairs Secretary Christine Aurre in a private January meeting illustrates the administration’s sensitivity to politically incendiary trans issues and mounting concern about them possibly reaching the governor’s desk. Newsom is among the nation’s best-known Democrats and widely viewed as a likely contender for president in 2028. Newsom aides also sent similar messages ahead of last year’s election. The caucus’ growing frustration with the governor burst out into the open Thursday after Newsom said on his new podcast that trans women and girls participating on athletics teams matching their gender identity is “deeply unfair.” “We woke up profoundly disappointed and sickened, when you have someone who has been thoughtful and has been a very unwavering ally release a statement like that,” said Caucus Chair Chris Ward, a San Diego Democrat. “This is playing into a lot of the conversation that Donald Trump is obsessing about in order to distract us.” Newsom’s office declined to comment on the meeting. “We continue to have productive conversations with the LGBTQ Caucus — including on legislation supporting transgender Californians,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said. “We value the collaborative, open partnership we have with the Caucus." Newsom has delivered wins to LGBTQ+ rights advocates in the past, signing a bill that outlawed requirements that school staff alert parents when their child shows signs of being transgender at school. He strongly defended that bill in the podcast interview. As mayor of San Francisco, Newsom famously defied state and federal law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But he has also enraged LGBTQ Caucus members, particularly when he vetoed legislation that would have required judges to consider children’s gender identity in custody disputes. “We are profoundly disappointed and angered by Governor Newsom’s comments about transgender youth and their ability to participate in sports,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang, whose group works closely with the caucus, said in a statement. “Instead of standing strong, the governor has added to the heartbreak and fear caused by the relentless barrage of hate from the Trump administration.”
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Newsom's comments enraged LGBTQ activists and lawmakers. | Getty Images | Equality California endorsed Newsom in his first successful campaign for governor in 2018. At the time, the organization said Newsom was “always on the forefront of the fight to advance LGBTQ civil rights” and one of the community’s “most dedicated champions.” Early this week, when the LGBTQ Caucus announced its priority bills for the year, Ward repeatedly emphasized that lawmakers “will exercise our co-equal role” in governing. “We are a co-equal branch, and we have our responsibilities to our community members to put their issues forward,” Ward said at a news conference on Wednesday. While diplomatic, the comments could in hindsight be read as a public assertion of the caucus’ defiance of a governor who had sought to rein in its agenda. The slate of Democratic proposals for the year do not touch on more politically explosive issues like youth athletics. They would speed up changes to names and gender markers on driver’s licenses and make confidential court records reflecting changes to a person’s name and gender identification. Two Republican-authored bills would bar trans women and girls from participating in school sports matching their gender. But they don’t stand a chance in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Despite his comments, Newsom has not backed any policy changes. His previous public remarks as governor have generally been noncommittal on governance of sports participation — a dominant culture war issue. “I got kids that are in sports, so I also understand there needs to be humility and grace,” Newsom told POLITICO in 2023, before drawing attention to scenarios “when a kid’s not standing there on stage because they feel like someone had an advantage, an unfair advantage.” — with help from Jeremy B. White FURTHER READING — To better understand Newsom’s comments on trans athletes in sports and the national political implications, check out California bureau chief Christopher Cadelago’s interview in POLITICO Nightly. GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. 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 bjones@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Kathy started at an Amazon fulfillment center. After participating in Amazon's Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship program, she turned her love for tinkering into a career in robotics. More than 200,000 employees, like Kathy, have used Amazon Career Choice to unlock career growth opportunities to learn and earn more. Read more success stories. | | | |  | ON THE HILL | | | 
Firefighters watch a helicopter drop water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles earlier this year. | Jae C. Hong/AP | FIRST IN POLITICO: BIPARTISAN S.O.S. — Every member of California’s congressional delegation united behind a bipartisan push for more wildfire recovery aid, projecting unity across party lines as President Donald Trump and other Republicans seek to link federal help to conservative policy priorities, our Jeremy B. White scoops this morning. Their joint letter urges congressional leaders to allocate more funding to help Los Angeles rebuild after catastrophic January wildfires that killed dozens of people and incinerated thousands of structures. The letter makes no mention of preconditions or of the $40 billion Newsom previously requested. But the broad list of signatories underscores how the drive for more federal assistance is bridging partisan divides within California’s large House delegation — and testing Republican adherence to Trump’s negotiating line.
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Political activist Riley Gaines watches as President Donald Trump delivers remarks before signing the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order last month. | Getty Images | ON THE MARQUEE — Speakers at the California Republican Party’s upcoming convention will include Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, politically active investor Grant Cardone and Riley Gaines, the collegiate swimmer-turned-activist against transgender women competing in women’s sports. The state party’s conventions have in recent years drawn central figures in Republican politics including Kevin McCarthy and Trump. This spring’s headliners don’t carry the same level of national name recognition. But Gaines’ visit stands out amid Newsom’s comments on trans athletes — even though her attendance was confirmed before the governor’s podcast went live. All three will speak Saturday March, 15 — the second day of the three-day organizing confab in Sacramento. Gonzales will speak at lunch, Cardone will get an afternoon slot and Gaines will address attendees during a dinner event.
| | | | CALIFORNIA DECODED: The technology industry and its key characters are driving the national political narrative right now, but it is also a uniquely California story. To understand how the Golden State is defining tech policy and politics within its borders and beyond, we’ve launched POLITICO Pro Technology: California Decoded. This new daily newsletter will track how industry players in Silicon Valley are trying to influence state and national lawmakers – and how government officials are encouraging or foiling those figures. Sign up now to get a limited, free trial of this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. | | | | | | | STATE CAPITOL | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: ROLLIN’ TRAIN — San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie sent a letter to legislative leaders on Thursday backing a request to set aside $2 billion in state funding to provide a lifeline to transit agencies — especially BART and MUNI — that face a post-pandemic fiscal cliff. In the letter, Lurie argued that saving transit systems from cuts is crucial to San Francisco’s downtown and economic recovery. “We are still feeling the effects of the once-in-a-century global pandemic that has left our transportation system, downtown and neighborhoods in a state of transition,” Lurie wrote.
| | CLIMATE AND ENERGY | | BILLS COME DUE — Wildfire preparedness may be all the political rage in California right now, but politicians are already getting tied up when it comes to paying for it all. Between divvying up the climate bond money, adding new costly requirements on homeowners and dealing with federal cuts, the debate is just beginning. Read more in last night’s California Climate.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP | NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass defended the Pacific Palisades’ recovery amid a slew of harsh headlines about her handling of the disaster, our Nicole Norman reports. On the two-month anniversary of the fire’s outbreak, she announced that the “Do Not Drink” notice in the area will be lifted today. “Just to give you a comparison in the tragic Camp Fire, it took 18 months. It was done here in two,” Bass said at a news conference at the Unified Utilities Rebuild Operation Center in the Pacific Palisades. She also noted that the EPA removed 300 tons of hazardous materials and completed phase one of debris removal “months ahead of expectations.” Bass also said she was ready to put the drama over her firing of Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley behind her. “A decision was made, the council reaffirmed that decision,” she said. “We have a new fire chief, and it’s time to move on.” PROGRESSIVE SWIPE — Friend of Playbook Betsy Fischer Martin interviewed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a prominent progressive in Congress, on Thursday at Harvard’s Institute of Politics and asked about Newsom’s break with Dems on trans athletes. Jayapal, whose daughter is trans, said she was deeply disappointed with Newsom and compared the approach to conservative Republicans, who she accused of trying to take a “tiny, tiny, tiny” percentage of people “and write them out of existence.” “If that’s really what he said,” Jayapal said of Newsom’s remarks, “it’s the wrong direction.” NO COMMENT — The National Park Service saw the highest number of visits ever recorded in 2024, just as the agency sees mass layoffs by the Trump administration, POLITICO's E&E News’ Heather Richard reports. Park communications staff were told not to release any “proactive communications” that would publicize the historic 332 million visits, according to internal guidance viewed by E&E. More than 4 million people visited Yosemite National Park. Joshua Tree saw almost 3 million and Death Valley saw about 1.4 million.
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| | | | | AROUND THE STATE | | — Jeffrey Scott Brown of Santa Ana, one of the first people convicted over the Jan. 6 riots, will speak at a Laguna Woods GOP event. (OC Register) — San Diego Police Department’s oversight board will not consider shrinking in size amid calls from the City Council to do so. (San Diego Union-Tribune) — compiled by Nicole Norman
| | PLAYBOOKERS | | WEDDING BELLS — J. Baylor Myers, VP of corporate development at BitGo and a former top aide to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the first Trump administration, and Dakota Char-Lee, a paralegal in San Francisco, recently married in Columbus, Ohio. The groom is a direct descendant of Pocahontas, and the bride is the granddaughter of San Francisco designer Joanie Char and the late Chinese-American industrialist Frank Char. The couple met at Oasis Restaurant in Pleasanton, Calif., in 2022. Pic BIRTHDAYS — Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) … Rachel Zuckerman … Katie McCormick Lelyveld … Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher … Adam Kaiser … Katie McCormick Lelyveld … Michael Eisner … Danielle Cendejas, partner at The Strategy Group … BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Thursday): Rob Reiner 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 Lynn Fine to find out how: lfine@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Amazon raised wages for hourly employees to an average of over $22 an hour.
This includes employees like Kathy who started out in one of Amazon's fulfillment centers before using one of Amazon's free skills training programs to launch a career in robotics.
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