Political Breakdown
Join hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos as they unpack the day in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—Political Breakdown pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.
Episodes
July 15, 2025 • 23 mins
President Trump's massive domestic policy bill allocates an unprecedented amount of money to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's budget, significantly expanding their ability to carry out Trump's aggressive deportation agenda.
Already, weeks of intensified raids by federal immigration agents have generated fear and panic among many immigrant communities in California. Scott is joined by the Los Angeles Times immigration reporte...
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July 11, 2025 • 27 mins
In November, Orange County Congressman Derek Tran became the first Vietnamese American to represent Little Saigon in Washington, D.C. Tran barely defeated Republican incumbent Michelle Steel, helping Democrats flip three California House seats from red to blue. We revisit a conversation from May, when Scott and Marisa talked with Tran about representing a very purple district and his father’s harrowing story as a refugee after the ...
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July 10, 2025 • 32 mins
In the last election, voters with college degrees leaned heavily toward Kamala Harris. But most voters without a degree backed President Trump. It’s not just about policy. It’s about pride, identity, and who feels like they’re on your side.
Republicans are speaking directly to working-class values like hard work, tradition, and loyalty, even while passing bills that slash healthcare and education.
Meanwhile, Democrats often sound...
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July 8, 2025 • 28 mins
President Trump’s megabill is now law and it’s sending shockwaves through California’s healthcare system. The legislation makes major cuts to Medicaid, known here as Medi-Cal, which covers about one in three Californians.
Supporters say the bill reins in government spending. But critics warn it could shutter hospitals and force the state into painful budget choices. KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg is joined by Angela Har...
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Today marks the start of a new fiscal year in California, and the budget signed by Governor Gavin Newsom is going into effect now that the legislature met his demands for a major overhaul of California’s landmark environmental bill. Newsom and others have long seen the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, as a major impediment to building housing. Scott and Marisa are joined by Dustin Gardiner, the co-author of Politico's...
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June 27, 2025 • 28 mins
It’s crunch time in the state Capitol, with a new fiscal year starting Tuesday. However, the legislature blew past its legally mandated June 15th deadline to approve a spending plan and is continuing to negotiate with Governor Gavin Newsom until the last minute. Marisa and Guy are joined by KCRA 3's California Capitol Correspondent Ashley Zavala to discuss what is in the budget and what's still being hashed out.
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June 26, 2025 • 32 mins
It's officially summer, which for many Americans means camping and hiking in national parks. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, there's been a lot of upheaval in and around our federal open spaces, from budget cuts to proposals to sell off public lands. Marisa is joined by the San Francisco Chronicle's enterprise reporter Kurtis Alexander to discuss how all this will affect California's parks and monuments.
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June 25, 2025 • 33 mins
Over the weekend, the United States entered the conflict between Israel and Iran, dropping never-before-used bunker-buster bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran. President Donald Trump is now trying to hold both sides to a ceasefire, but his own objectives in ordering American involvement seem unclear. Marisa is joined by Politico senior foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi to unpack why Trump chose to get involved and what cou...
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June 20, 2025 • 26 mins
As immigration raids across the state disrupt workplaces and families, a new report describes the negative impact the federal raids and mass deportations could have on California’s economy.
Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the report, plus the fallout from this week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling to uphold a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming medical care for minors.
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June 17, 2025 • 20 mins
President Donald Trump yesterday reversed his brief order instructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to stop raids on farms, hotels and restaurants.
As federal immigration agents are told to increase the number of daily deportations, raids are stoking fear across California in workplaces, immigration courts, community flea markets and even churches. Scott is joined by the Los Angeles Times immigration reporter Andre...
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June 13, 2025 • 24 mins
After protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, President Trump went over Governor Newsom’s head to activate the California National Guard troops. This prompted the state to sue, and Thursday afternoon a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Trump acted illegally — a major victory for Newsom. But just hours later, an appeals court temporarily paused that decision until a hearing next week.
Plus, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was ...
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June 12, 2025 • 32 mins
The showdown continues between President Donald Trump and California over the president's move to send troops to quell anti-ICE protests. Marisa and Scott discuss the legal and constitutional implications of the confrontation and the state's lawsuit, which had its first hearing today at a federal court in San Francisco. Late Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a ruling instructing the Trump administration ...
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June 10, 2025 • 29 mins
President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Sunday in response to people protesting federal immigration raids. California is now suing the federal government, saying Trump is acting illegally by ignoring California's pleas not to inflame the situation by sending the troops. Scott and Marisa are joined by Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano to discuss the latest on what's happening, how we got he...
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June 6, 2025 • 23 mins
Just in time for LGBTQ Pride month, the Pentagon appears ready to rename a naval ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Milk was the first openly gay official elected in California and a Navy veteran who was discharged during the Korean War because he was gay. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the latest in a series of attacks on the LGBTQ community by the administration.
Also in President Trump’s crosshairs: California’s troubl...
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June 5, 2025 • 32 mins
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is upending the nation’s public health system and he’s found some staunch supporters for his cause right here in the Bay Area. Marisa and Scott are joined by KQED health correspondent Lesley McClurg to talk about the Marin County town that's seen a political schism centered around distrust of government and public health.
Then, they're joined by Dr. Céline Gounder, a phys...
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June 3, 2025 • 33 mins
Few books have captivated the nation’s capitol like “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” It describes in excruciating detail how a small circle of family and political insiders isolated and insulated President Joe Biden as his mental and physical condition declined throughout his term in the White House.
Scott and Marisa are joined by the authors, CNN anchor Jake Tapper a...
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May 30, 2025 • 31 mins
The 2026 governor’s race is still more than 500 days away, but there is already a crowded field of candidates. On the Democratic side, they're all waiting to see if Vice President Kamala Harris decides to jump in.
KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Guy Marzorati are joined remotely by San Francisco Chronicle Senior Political Writer Joe Garofoli who is in Orange County where Democrats are gathering for their biannual state party convention...
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As San Francisco’s elected assessor-recorder, Joaquín Torres’ office decides the value of property in San Francisco, and tells you how much you owe in taxes.
But he’s also spent the last dozen years as president of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission, which oversees the city's public housing developments as well as its Section 8 program.
Torres joins Scott and Marisa on his last day as president to reflect on his tim...
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May 27, 2025 • 29 mins
Buffy Wicks is a leading champion in Sacramento for building more housing in California. Her early political activities include working on both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Now she represents parts of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties in Sacramento where she chairs the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee.
To get more housing built, Wicks is taking on a sacred cow in state politics, the California Environmental ...
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May 23, 2025 • 29 mins
San Francisco is looking for a new police chief after Bill Scott announced earlier this month that he is stepping down after eight years on the job through three mayoral administrations.
Although the city’s civilian-led police commission will draw up a short list of candidates, Mayor Daniel Lurie will make the final decision.
Scott and Marisa are joined by KQED Politics Reporter Sydney Johnson to talk about that choice and what...
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