Tag: inauguration

Hello.

Former President Donald J. Trump had already left the White House by the time many Californians woke up on Wednesday.

And at 9 a.m. on the West Coast, the nation had a new president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and a new vice president, Kamala Harris – the first wife, first daughter of immigrants and the first Democrat of California to hold the role.

In his first speech to the world in his new post, the one he has worked for decades, President Biden made an urgent call for unity, a call to move forward.

“The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heard,” he said. “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

[Find all the coverage of every aspect of the inauguration here.]

It was, to say the least, a big change.

For many Americans, the day marked an end – a return to some sort of normalcy. Millions of Californians were no doubt part of those sighs of relief.

But Wednesday was also the start of a new era, for the whole of the United States, and in particular for California, which for the past four years has been largely defined by its opposition to Washington.

Here are some themes to follow in the future:

How the Biden administration’s big policy changes will play out in California

After the ceremonies and the scaled-down parade, Mr. Biden got to work. He signed 17 executive orders, memoranda, and proclamations aimed squarely at overturning what aides described as the Trump administration’s most damaging policies.

This included orders quashing efforts to exclude residents who are not citizens from the census and strengthening the Deferred Action Program for Childhood Arrivals.

[Read more about President Biden’s immigration plans.]

On the climate change front, Mr Biden signed a letter to get the US back into the Paris climate accords and reversed cancellations of auto emissions rules, which had been a major point of contention between the United States. California and the Trump administration.

The president said these measures were just the start of more radical changes. And in California, progressives who might see these first steps as insufficient will no longer fight a Republican White House, but will negotiate with members of a Democratic administration – an administration that Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to fully support California.

[Read about all the orders in more detail.]

How Californian-dominated leadership will affect Washington

In the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday, as congressional leaders presented gifts to the new president and vice-president, California’s large contingent was pretty hard to miss.

There was President Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat of San Francisco, presenting the couple with the two American flags that fluttered above the dedication ceremony.

“If we had had lunch, we would have had California wine, right, Madam Vice President?” Ms. Pelosi joked.

[Read more about the presentation of the gifts.]

And minority parliamentary leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield, gave them portraits of themselves being inaugurated shortly before.

“As a very proud California son, I have the honor to present to a very proud California girl,” said Mr. McCarthy.

While Mr. McCarthy and Ms. Pelosi have been congressional leaders for years, Ms. Harris’ rise will undoubtedly change the dynamics, bringing the California perspective to the executive for the first time in decades.

In addition, it will be a decisive vote in an equally divided Senate.

[Read the full story about the new vice president’s role.]

How California Republicans will adjust to the post-Trump era

While Mr. McCarthy was a friendly participant in the inaugural traditions Wednesday, he is representative of the strained position of the California Republican Party.

In a speech last week before Mr. Trump’s impeachment, Mr. McCarthy said that “the president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by Mafia rioters.” But those comments came after Mr McCarthy voted to oppose the election results, along with the majority of his fellow Republicans. And Mr. McCarthy did not vote for impeachment.

[Read about the reaction from Mr. McCarthy’s home district.]

Now Mr. McCarthy – long known as ‘the guy everyone loved’ as Miriam Pawel recently put it in an opinion piece – is facing calls to resign, even from members of the his own party. The Sacramento Bee editorial board went so far as to call him a “soulless anti-democracy conspirator.”

At the same time, he has faced backlash in his own district for not supporting Mr. Trump enough.

It’s hard to say how these forces will come off at the polls, but there are signs the party is changing.

As The Sacramento Bee reported on Wednesday, a pro-Trump Republican leader – Shannon Grove, a state senator from Bakersfield – was ousted from her leadership role in the caucus after she repeated false statements about the Capitol crowd .

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Read more:

• “It was very weird.” Hours after taking the oath, Mrs. Harris took the oath Senator Alex Padilla, who replaced her, as well as Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, newly elected Democrats from Georgia. [The New York Times]

• Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, also made his share of history: He is the first man and the first Jewish spouse of a vice president. [The New York Times]

• Wait so where Mrs. Harris and Mr. Emhoff will live? There is an official residence. Here’s what you need to know about the Number One Observatory Circle. [The New York Times]

• Although there is strong security at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, not much has happened. [The New York Times]

And finally …

If you don’t do anything else to catch up with Wednesday’s debates, you should watch Amanda Gorman’s recitation of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” here. If you saw it the first time, watch it again. (And read his words here.)

On a day when so much history was made with so much of a spectacle loaded with symbolism – Lady Gaga sang the national anthem in a serious dress, Jennifer Lopez performed a song by Woody Guthrie and the first woman of color to become vice- president was sworn in by the first judge of the Latina Supreme Court – Ms Gorman’s voice was most memorable.

Ms. Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in American history, grew up in Los Angeles and described herself as “a skinny black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother,” who can dream of being president. one day, “just find yourself reciting for one.”

And like my colleague Nick Corasaniti highlighted on TwitterMs. Gorman actually told The Times in 2017 (aged 19) that she had presidential aspirations.

“It’s a long, long, distant goal, but in 2036 I am running for president of the United States,” she said. “So you can put that in your iCloud calendar.”

On Wednesday, she described the United States as she sees it: “a nation that is not broken, but simply incomplete.”

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Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, graduated from UC Berkeley and has reported statewide, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles – but she always wants to see more. Follow us here or on Twitter.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from UC Berkeley.