Newsletter: Today: Dollars to Doughnuts, This Is an Odd Fight

Who’s the boss? At the federal government’s consumer watchdog, who can tell?

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Dollars to Doughnuts, This Is an Odd Fight

Who is the rightful acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? President Trump’s designee, Mick Mulvaney, showed up for work bearing doughnuts and a directive to freeze hiring and stop any new regulations. Bureau Deputy Director Leandra English also showed up for work, sending out an email signed as “acting director” and having filed a lawsuit to stop Mulvaney from taking over. The case was randomly assigned to a judge Trump had nominated to the bench. The judge says he hopes to have a decision soon.

More From Washington

-- Trump is heading to Capitol Hill today to meet with all Republican senators about the GOP tax plan. The leadership has been scrambling to revise it to win over skeptics ahead of this week’s vote.

-- During a ceremony honoring Navajo code talkers from World War II, Trump used the term “Pocahontas” to insult a favorite target, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

-- Columnist Robin Abcarian asks: Will Trump ever have to answer to the women who say he harassed and assaulted them?

The Scandal in Sacramento

While sexual misconduct allegations are dominating the national political conversation, Sacramento is dealing with dramatic developments of its own. Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, who said he would step down next year after six women had accused him of unwanted physical advances or unwelcome communications, resigned Monday. Less than an hour later, Democratic state Sen. Tony Mendoza was suspended from leadership positions pending an investigation of allegations made by three women. Today, the Assembly starts looking at how the process for reporting abuse in the Capitol might be changed.

Out of Jail, Onto the Streets: Can the Cycle Be Broken?

How do you keep newly released inmates from ending up in jail again? A new effort at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail is trying to do so by focusing on a small group of the mentally ill and substance abusers who are usually homeless too. With public and private money, the strategy — called “jail in-reach” — makes it a condition of probation that they enter an interim housing program designed to lead to permanent housing with medical and mental health support.

And the Grammy Comes From …

This morning, the nominations are coming out for “music’s biggest night.” Though the Recording Academy is based in L.A. and the 60th Grammy Awards show will be in New York City, the real home of the awards is the southwest Colorado town of Ridgway. That’s where John Billings and his team of three craftsmen create the trophies by hand out of a zinc alloy dubbed “grammium.” Each one takes 15 hours and is slightly different. “We’ll ask each other, ‘Is it a flaw or does it give it character?’ ’’ Billings says. “If it’s flawed we toss it, the others we keep.”

John Billings holds one of the Grammys he’s made. Each one takes 15 hours of work from Billings and his team of craftsmen.

(David Kelly / For The Times )

The Paper Crane Meets the Junkyard Crane

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University wanted to make robots that are super-strong but not so clumsy as to crush everything in sight. The solution? Origami. By borrowing techniques from the art of Japanese paper folding, the researchers were able to create artificial muscles that can lift up to a thousand times their weight, yet grasp a delicate flower without smushing it.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Mexico promised affordable housing for all. Instead, it created many rapidly decaying slums.

-- These actresses see change and hope in ending sexual harassment.

-- An optimistic Chip Kelly is introduced as UCLA’s football coach.

CALIFORNIA

-- The state Supreme Court has decided unanimously that farmers may have a labor contract imposed on them if negotiations with a union fail to produce an agreement.

-- A request for an emergency audit of the $64-billion California bullet train project was turned down by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, the Torrance Democrat who chairs the joint audit committee.

-- L.A. prosecutors say a housing complex on the northern edge of Baldwin Village is a hotbed for gang crime, and they think its owner should live there until the problems are resolved.

-- A San Gabriel-based attorney pleaded guilty to an immigration fraud scheme that generated more than $50 million in profits by selling temporary green cards to foreign investors.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Harvey Weinstein has resigned from the Directors Guild of America, and two new lawsuits were filed against the disgraced movie producer.

-- CBS is dropping the Jeremy Piven-led drama “Wisdom of the Crowd.”

-- Bambadjan Bamba, best known for his recurring role on NBC’s “The Good Place,” says he’s living undocumented in America: “We just can’t be scared anymore.”

-- Art critic Christopher Knight says the show “Painted in Mexico” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is “exciting because we are literally witnessing the invention of an entire art history.”

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Berry Gordy was an autoworker in Detroit, an aspiring prizefighter and a veteran of the Korean War before he went on to found Motown and discover performers such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye. Gordy, who told The Times in 2015 that he “never liked people who mistake kindness for weakness,” turns 88 today.

NATION-WORLD

-- A new round of Syrian peace talks is set to begin in Geneva today. One problem: The Syrian government may not participate.

-- Pope Francis met with Myanmar’s military chief to open his trip there and to Bangladesh, immediately diving into the crisis over a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

-- South Korea’s high-decibel loudspeakers on the border with North Korea are blasting messages about the poor health of a soldier who recently defected.

-- The Trump SoHo hotel will lose its “Trump,” but in New York there are plenty more.

BUSINESS

-- Sales of SUVs and trucks are up, while those of passenger cars are down. It’s a trend that will be reflected when the L.A. Auto Show begins Friday.

-- Wondering what it would be like without net neutrality? Columnist Michael Hiltzik says one need look no further than the ugliness in Portugal.

SPORTS

-- Just as the Clippers had regained their footing with a victory over the Lakers, power forward Blake Griffin’s knee was twisted and their season threatened to unravel again, columnist Helene Elliott writes.

-- USC will play against Stanford in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game. In their first meeting this season, the Trojans trounced the Cardinal. Here’s how things have changed since then.

OPINION

-- When Trump and Senate Republicans install a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head to carry out the president’s deregulatory marching orders, the sad, sick joke will be on us.

-- L.A. County has had years to figure out how to end rape in its jails. It’s time for action.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A woman who falsely claimed to the Washington Post that Roy Moore impregnated her as a teenager appears to work with the undercover sting operation Project Veritas. (Washington Post)

-- Thinking of giving to a charity for the holidays? Here are some tips on vetting them. (ProPublica)

-- Have you heard of “Legends of the Condor Heroes”? The beginning of this series from the so-called J.R.R. Tolkien of the Chinese-speaking world has finally been translated into English. (The Guardian)

ONLY IN L.A.

She grew up on the set of “Married ... With Children,” where her father worked as director of photography. Her mother is a social worker who’s led a quiet life in View Park-Windsor Hills — until now. Actress Meghan Markle’s engagement to Britain’s Prince Harry brought a bit of royal fever to L.A., but not everyone was impressed. At Leimert Park Plaza, near where Markle grew up, one shop owner said: “Not that I don’t think they deserve each other, but I don’t want to hear any more about kings and queens and movie stars.”

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