Pelosi is advocating for the appointment of Schiff on his behalf, say three of the people familiar with the matter. A Pelosi spokesman declined to comment. A Schiff spokesman did not return a request for comment.
Although Newsom is not personally close to Schiff, the name of the congressman has emerged over the past few days as an increasingly attractive choice among people in Sacramento. The choice would give Newsom some national star power through association, while Schiff provided a starting point for the governor or the Senate, including the seat of Dianne Feinstein.
Yet Newsom even keeps his closest aides and allies guessing. The governor of California is extremely vigilant in his decisions on these matters, conducting many of his own reviews of potential candidates and keeping lobbying out at a distance, according to people familiar with his process. Some Newsom political advisers have urged him to appoint state House of Representatives Rob Bonta, the first Philippine U.S. state legislator and the child of farm workers’ organizers in the Central Valley who earned his law degree at Yale and worked as a city attorney in San Francisco. before entering local politics.
While Newsom, whose position the state has largely lost due to criticism over his handling of Covid, has been under pressure in his two previous choices to choose colored people, other assistants to the governor have said they can see that he is the candidate. choose what he thinks best suits the position. An assistant noted that the governor is a regular viewer on the cable news and can be pointed to choosing someone with a national profile.
If the choice is Schiff, it will temporarily leave the House Democrats with an even thinner majority than the razor-sharp point 221-211 they are now working on. But Pelosi’s involvement in the Attorney General’s campaign did not surprise the people familiar with the background of the screens, given her close relationship with Schiff and deep roots in California politics.
The state-AG post will move Schiff off the national stage, but still offers him a very visible platform. His public presence has declined markedly in recent months following the Russian investigation and the first indictment of then-President Donald Trump, during which Schiff served as indictment manager.
Schiff is also a fundraiser of power stations, which has led Democratic lawmakers and associates to speculate about his higher ambitions. He is often cited as a potential candidate for the House speaker when Pelosi leaves, or as a senator in California as a vacancy opens. Newsom appointed Alex Padilla last month to replace Vice President Kamala Harris.
If successful, Schiff would be only the youngest ally of Pelosi to find a comfortable landing spot in the state agency’s office after having a ceiling in the House leadership. Becerra, the outgoing California attorney general, was appointed to the post in 2016 after limiting his tenure as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.