This is an LA Times Studios podcast.

Hi, I'm Angelica Cornado at LA Times Studios.

Here are some of today's headlines from the Los Angeles Times.

A small California agency has big shoes to fill

now that the White House has axed the

Environmental Protection Agency's research offices.

Reporter Haley Smith says California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

will now be tasked with doing the research that supports cleanups after disasters because

the EPA's Office of Research and Development was gutted to cut costs.

Experts say the decision will hurt communities by leaving them more vulnerable when environmental

disasters strike. But California is in a better position than most states, some of which have

weaker environmental agencies or none at all. California's agency says it will do everything it can to fill that gap.

A promise that former EPA scientist Tracy Woodruff says puts the state in a strong spot to lead the nation.

California leaders are clashing with Texas in a political brawl to control Congress that may reshape district boundaries across the state.

Cema Meda reports that Governor Newsom and other Democratic leaders

are looking to redraw district lines to unseat Republicans

in California's congressional delegation.

The move comes after the Texas Republican Party

announced plans to do the same to Democrats,

following a directive from

the Trump administration.

Political expert Matt Rex Road says this is a bad idea on both sides because it threatens

...