When House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy asked top political figures across the country for input on how to replace the Affordable Care Act, it seemed unlikely that officials in California, a state that has enthusiastically adopted the healthcare law, would eagerly brainstorm on a potential repeal.

Sure enough, top Democrats in the state Senate — President Pro Tem Kevin de León of Los Angeles and Health Committee Chairman Ed Hernández of West Covina — responded this week with a grim take on congressional Republicans' efforts to unwind Obamacare.

"Moving forward with a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before developing a substantive replacement would be counterproductive and result in harming the people we all represent," the two Democrats wrote in a letter to McCarthy dated Jan. 9. 

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the United States had faced trying times and political crises before, and has always persevered.

“Yes, we’re going through some difficult moments right now, as we have in the past, but I guarantee we will work our way out of this,” Schwarzenegger said, speaking at an electoral reform event at the University of Southern California.

He recalled immigrating to the United States and seeing the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Watergate and the economic troubles during President Jimmy Carter’s tenure.

On Sunday, Tom Steyer was holding a cardboard sign saying "not on my watch" at San Francisco's airport, one of thousands protesting President Trump's order preventing visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries.

“I went out there to participate, but also to listen," he said.  

Like other liberal leaders, he's been hunting for the right approach to counter Trump. Now the deep-pocketed Democratic donor is launching a new effort that could expand the scope of NextGen Climate, the San Francisco-based organization he created and funded. 

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) called President Trump "reckless" and his administration "incompetent" Tuesday night for his executive order last week banning refugees and visa holders from seven countries from entering the United States.

Pelosi was participating in a CNN town hall and responding to a question from a Yemeni woman whose mother cannot enter the country, when she said, "Your family is suffering because our president is reckless."

You can see the full exchange below along with some other  highlights from the town hall.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), who turned 80 last year, has not made plans to retire. But one San Gabriel Valley politician is raising funds to run in case Napolitano does decide to bow out after 10 terms in Congress.   

Mary Ann Lutz, the former mayor of Monrovia and a former aide to Napolitano, reported having $101,000 in the bank to run for Napolitano's 32nd Congressional District seat, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. 

But Lutz says she will run only if Napolitano retires.

A state legislative bill seeking to expand legal services for immigrants in the U.S. illegally moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday on a 5-2 vote. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), would create a legal defense program funded with state money that would provide lawyers for immigrants caught in deportation or removal proceedings.

It comes roughly three years after the Unaccompanied Undocumented Minors program began providing state-funded legal services for young refugees fleeing gang violence in Central America.

As national debate and protests have taken place over President Donald Trump’s executive actions on immigration and refugees, the state Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday passed the first of several bills aimed at protecting immigrants in California.

Senate Bill 54, introduced by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest persons for the purposes of immigration enforcement.

The proposal, dubbed the California Values Act, also aims to protect immigrants’ personal data, requiring state agencies to review their confidentiality policies and to ensure that they are only collecting information necessary to their departments.