The 118th Congress is in its final days, and it’s not going quietly. With a government shutdown looming, Republicans killed a bipartisan budget deal then resurrected another plan that Democrats rejected.

The chaos in Washington could be a preview of what’s coming in the second Trump administration, with a closely divided House and a bitter partisan climate.

Scott and Marisa talk with two Democratic members of Congress: Sydney Kamlager-Dove from Los Angeles and Jared Huffman from Marin. They discuss the prospect for a budget deal, Elon Musk’s influence and why Republicans defied President-elect Donald Trump last night. 

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As the year comes to an end, Marisa and Scott are joined by Politico California Bureau Chief Christopher Cadelago to look ahead to 2025, mulling over questions like: What's next for Vice President Kamala Harris? How is the California governor's race shaping up? Will Speaker Mike Johnson be able to keep his job as a government shutdown looms? Are Democrats learning any lessons from their losses and looking to turn the page to a new generation of leadership?

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Republicans will soon have control of Congress and the White House, leaving Democrats concerned that they might call for a constitutional convention to rewrite our country’s constitution and fundamentally change anything from abortion access to immigration.

California has several dormant calls for a constitutional convention on the books, and now, State Senator Scott Wiener wants to rescind those calls. Scott talks with Wiener and New York Times San Francisco Bureau Chief Heather Knight about the politics of a constitutional convention.

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One of the House races that Democrats flipped from red to blue this election was California’s 45th congressional district in Orange County. Democratic newcomer Derek Tran narrowly defeated the incumbent Michelle Steel by about 650 votes in the nation’s most expensive House race. Melanie Mason, senior political reporter at Politico, covered that race and says Tran’s victory “blew up the Democratic Playbook.” She joins Scott to discuss how Tran managed to beat Steel in what was a very challenging political climate for Democrats. 

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Educated liberals have won the culture war, but that hasn't necessarily translated into winning elections. The Republican party is attracting larger numbers of working class voters without college degrees while Democrats are now the party preferred by educated Americans. This shift, referred to as the "diploma divide" reveals a new political alignment that is shaking up our politics. It's the subject of the book "Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics." Co-author Matt Grossman is director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and a professor of political science at Michigan State University and he joins Scott.

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President-elect Donald Trump signaled his intention this week to make Harmeet K. Dhillon the deputy attorney general, running the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Dhillon is a San Francisco attorney who has long been a supporter of Trump. On this special edition of Political Breakdown, we're sharing an interview from 2018 when Marisa and Scott interviewed Dhillon about Republican politics, being an outspoken conservative living in liberal San Francisco, her time as a board member of the ACLU and her passion for knitting.

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Today marks the day California Secretary of State Shirley Weber certifies the final election results for all the races and measures voters cast their ballots on last month.

The certification puts the November 2024 election officially in the history books, and so we’re bringing you an episode of our sister podcasts The Bay and Bay Curious breaking down how Californians voted on each of the statewide propositions.

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed was president of the board of supervisors when former Mayor Ed Lee suddenly died in 2017. She was sworn in as acting mayor in the middle of the night then went on to win election the following year. Breed has led the city through most of the first Donald Trump presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. She joins Marisa and Scott for an exit interview as her six years leading the city comes to a close, having lost reelection to Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie.

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Betty Duong made history last week when she was sworn in as the first Vietnamese-American supervisor in Santa Clara County. The county has one of the largest Vietnamese-American populations in the country and Duong is among a generation of children of refugees shaping life in the South Bay. Guy talks with Duong about decisions over housing, labor and health care that she’ll face as a member of the board of supervisors.

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When President Joe Biden gave his son Hunter an unconditional pardon, there was scathing criticism, including from fellow Democrats like Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Adam Schiff. Some criticized the president for giving President-elect Donald Trump cover to follow through on pardoning anyone from himself to the January 6th rioters. 

But historian and Politico Magazine contributor Joshua Zeitz disagrees and argues that Biden’s pardon is neither unique nor uniquely polarizing. Scott talks with Zeitz about the historical context of presidential pardons.

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Since the successful recall of three school board members and progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin two years ago, moderate politics have been on the rise in San Francisco. The 2024 election saw the ousting of two of the city’s most progressive supervisors. Nancy Tung is the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and joins Scott to talk about the party's move toward the middle and a new policy on sexual assault and harassment following a string of allegations against local politicos.

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