Californians to have most power in the federal government since at least Reagan. Now what?

When Joe Biden turns to acknowledge the speaker and vice president during his first address to Congress, it is likely to be not only the first time two women sit behind the president on the dais, but the first time two Californians do. “We will have the opportunity to have our views at least heard and considered, and we’re pretty excited about that,” California Caucus Chair Rep. Zoe Lofgren said. “Whatever benefits might flow California’s way from this constellation of power are going to be mitigated by the broader situation of gridlock in Washington,” Hildebrand said. “I think it can only help to have Californians around saying, ‘Look what California is doing.’” For example, decisions on whether a state will get wildfire or other disaster aid won’t routinely be a battle, as they were under Trump, said Hildebrand. “You’ll see under a Biden administration a sort of return to normalcy.” A Biden administration is expected to follow the regulatory trajectory of the Obama administration, and that could mean reinstating tough nationwide rules for auto emissions and mileage standards that mirrored regulations already in effect in California.