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| By Dustin Gardiner and Blake Jones |
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 Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney with a knack for fighting culture wars, is Donald Trump's pick to lead the Civil Rights division at the Department of Justice. | Alex Wong/Getty Images |
THE BUZZ: WHOSE RIGHTS ANYWAY — The most powerful civil-rights authority in the country is about to undergo a major conservative makeover — at the hands of a San Francisco attorney. Harmeet Dhillon, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Civil Rights division at the Department of Justice, has gained national prominence for honing her reputation as the ultimate San Francisco contrarian, as well as being a thorn in the side of Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democratic leaders. As Dustin reports this morning, Dhillon has fought for the rights of conservative college students at UC Berkeley, a Google engineer fired for opposing diversity efforts and churches forced to close during the pandemic. “She certainly brings a different lens,” said Mark Geragos, a friend of Dhillon and famed Los Angeles trial attorney whose past clients include Hunter Biden and the Menendez brothers. “The civil rights division, to my mind, has kind of languished.” Dhillon doesn’t shy away from controversy. Her penchant for fighting culture wars likely signals a fundamental shift in the DOJ’s approach to civil rights, upending conventional ideas about whose rights the division is focused on protecting. Her nomination requires Senate confirmation, but she’s unlikely to face major hurdles in the GOP-controlled chamber. And it has sparked worry among some legal observers who say her tactics could paralyze the DOJ’s long-running efforts to protect voting rights and other safeguards for minority groups. “She’ll bring a nontraditional approach to civil rights cases. She labels them as woke, as if to view them in a derogatory way,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Longtime friends and allies of Dhillon said she is likely to use the division’s powers to target universities for alleged discrimination against Jewish or white students, challenge social media companies that censor conservative speech, and ensure left-leaning groups are prosecuted in cases of political violence. As Ron Coleman, a lawyer at Dhillon’s private practice firm, gushed: “This opportunity has to be one that she is absolutely relishing.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. 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.
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| A message from Food & Water Action: Will Gov. Newsom side with the oil and gas industry or Californians after the “worst gas leak in US history?" In 2015, the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility released 100,000 tons of methane and toxic chemicals, endangering public health. Governor Newsom vowed to shut down Aliso Canyon, but his Public Utilities Commission appointees voted to expand it. The PUC will decide Aliso Canyon’s future on December 19th. Learn more. |
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 | EYES ON 2026 | |
NEVER TOO EARLY — House Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with House Democratic leadership, is already sketching out its game plan for the 2026 midterms. In its recent announcement for a new candidate recruitment fund, the group outlined its list of top targets for the coming cycle — and a number of California Republicans are on the list. Some of these districts have been in HMP’s sights before, including GOP Reps. David Valadao and Ken Calvert, who fended off well-funded challenges from Democrats this year, as well as Rep. Young Kim. For the first time, HMP is also targeting Rep. Kevin Kiley, who easily won re-election in November. — Melanie Mason
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Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a potential candidate for California governor in 2026. | Damian Dovarganes/AP |
CAMPAIGN ROADMAP? — Conservative commentator Steve Hilton insists he’s made no decision on entering the 2026 governor’s race. While he makes up his mind, he’s set to give his take through an upcoming book on “the hard truths of his home state’s decline, exploring how and why everything went so badly wrong, and what it will take to turn things around.” “It is something I'm looking at, as I've said before. But I offer these ideas,” Hilton told Playbook, “in the spirit of contributing to the debate about how we turn things around in California. And I’d be delighted for these ideas to be implemented right now. We don't have to wait until 2026 or 2027.” Our colleague Christopher Cadelago first reported in August that the former Fox News host and policy adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron was considering a run. Needless to say, a Republican would face a steep climb to succeed Newsom in California, but the book — which will feature classically GOP calls for cutting the state budget, taxes and regulation — could provide insight into Hilton’s pitch to voters. “The Reasons Behind California’s Collapse and its Road to Restoration” comes out March 25.
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| Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. |
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| SILICON VALLEYLAND | |
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Billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images |
WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS? — Some ambitious Democrats are taking a warmer approach to Elon Musk as he burrows his way deeper into Trump World. Silicon Valley’s Rep. Ro Khanna is trading texts with him. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took a call from him. And Sen. John Fetterman has compared him to the superhero Tony Stark. “He's had an undeniable impact on the Pennsylvania election, and I think the election overall,” Fetterman told our colleagues Holly Otterbein and Brittany Gibson in a story out this morning. “I’ve warned Democrats, if you're just going to make fun of it or to dismiss it, you do it at our peril. And I think that's very clear what happened.”
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| A message from Food & Water Action:   |
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| CLIMATE AND ENERGY | |
OFF THE RAILS — State lawmakers are ready to reevaluate cap-and-trade — which could be bad news for high-speed rail. Find out why funding for the nation’s largest infrastructure project is at risk in last night’s California Climate.
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| TOP TALKERS | |
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Electric vehicles sales are slowing, and the incoming Trump administration could exacerbate the trend. | Jae C. Hong/AP |
LOSING CHARGE — “California’s electric vehicle ambitions are facing a reality check,” writes the Los Angeles Times’ Russ Mitchell. Sales of the plug-in autos have stalled and the incoming White House could spell even more trouble for state Democrats’ goal of slashing roadway emissions. MAYORAL MILESTONE — Karen Bass officially hits the two-year mark as Los Angeles mayor today. She’s been celebrating the occasion in recent days with events around town highlighting her administration’s work on homelessness, the 25 percent drop in the city’s homicide rate and preparing for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games.
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| AROUND THE STATE | |
— San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez pushed back on a county board of supervisors resolution to limit local police’s support of federal immigration raids under President-elect Trump. (San Diego Union-Tribune) — A group of judges is suing California, alleging the state has been stiffing them for years by mishandling the formula it uses to calculate raises. (CalMatters) — The Franklin Fire in Malibu has now torched more than 4,000 acres, destroyed at least seven homes and damaged nine others. (Los Angeles Times)
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| | PLAYBOOKERS | |
| SPOTTED: UNION GUY — Attorney General Rob Bonta entering the Sacramento headquarters of the Service Employees International Union California. He posted on X later Wednesday that he was “discussing the future of the labor movement” at a meeting of the union heavyweight’s state council. PEOPLE MOVES — Four lawyers have been promoted to partner at the firm Munger, Tolles & Olson: Anne Conley, Colin Devine and David Moreshead, based in the Los Angeles office; and Giovanni Saarman González based in the San Francisco office. BIRTHDAYS — Google’s José Castañeda and Nick Pearson … Steven Fenaroli of the California Farm Bureau 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.
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| A message from Food & Water Action: Will Gov. Newsom side with the oil and gas industry or Californians after the “worst gas leak in US history?" In 2015, the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility released 100,000 tons of methane and toxic chemicals. SoCalGas’ disaster forced thousands to evacuate their homes to avoid further exposure to cancer-causing benzene and other chemicals.
SoCalGas took four months to seal the gas leak. Families near Aliso are still suffering the consequences. Instead of shutting it down like Gov. Newsom promised, the PUC allowed Aliso to expand by 3,000%, perpetuating the public health threat.
Over 150 organizations have come together to call for a shutdown of Aliso by 2027, but the PUC is considering kicking the can down the road instead of protecting communities. Gov. Newsom and allies should stand with families, not SoCalGas’ profits. On December 19th, the PUC will decide the future of Aliso Canyon. Learn more. |
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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.
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