In the News
Marin congressman pushes bill to regulate e-bikes and e-motos
by Rachel Swan
A Marin County congressman is pressing a bill that would set consistent federal standards for e-bikes and other electric two-wheeled vehicles, following a rash of collisions in the Bay Area and other parts of the country. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has joined three fellow lawmakers to shepherd the Safe Standards for Personal E-Bike and E-Moto Specifications Act, which they say would promote public safety and stave off crashes by placing more accountability on sellers and manufacturers … Continue Reading
March 25, 2026
Republicans block Democratic push for Trump Jr. subpoena
by Garrett Downs
Republicans on a House Natural Resources subcommittee blocked a Democratic motion to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s eldest son, over his backing of critical mineral companies. President Trump’s administration is trying to rapidly increase the production of critical minerals in the U.S. Vulcan Elements, a rare earth magnet maker backed by Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital, received a $620 million federal loan last year from the Department of Defense. Democrats on the panel sought … Continue Reading
March 24, 2026
Huffman proposes new federal laws on electric two-wheelers
by Cameron Macdonald
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman has co-authored a bipartisan bill for tighter federal regulations on electric bicycles, electric motorcycles and other small, electric-powered vehicles. Huffman and three other lawmakers introduced the bill, called the Safe Standards for Personal E-bike and E-moto Device Specifications Act, or the Safe SPEEDS Act. “I just don’t want to see something tragic happen when we can hopefully save some lives and keep people safe with common sense standards,” said Huffman, a … Continue Reading
March 21, 2026
Jared Huffman bill seeks to address ‘real safety risks’ of e-bikes
by Ruth Schneider
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) is among a handful of federal lawmakers tackling e-bike safety. The bipartisan federal legislation introduced this past week, called the Safe SPEEDS Act, aims to set clear product safety standards, labeling requirements and minimum age recommendations for e-bikes and other electric off-road products with fewer than four wheels. It would also require studies on crashes, injuries, and fatalities and work with local governments and law enforcement on … Continue Reading
March 20, 2026
House Dems raise challenge to Interior’s scrubbing of US history
by Michael Doyle
House Democrats are now amplifying their effort to stop the National Park Service and its sister agencies from rewriting historical references deemed inappropriate by the Trump administration. Heeding the adage to follow the money, 52 Democrats on Thursday urged two key members of the House Appropriations Committee to stop funding the campaign that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum casts as “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” and that skeptics deride as censorship. "If the … Continue Reading
March 19, 2026
House Democrats Urge Colleagues To Block Funding For Censorship In National Parks
Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives' Interior appropriation committee were urged Thursday to block future funding for the Trump administration's work to censor materials in the National Park System. "...this administration has undermined the integrity of our national park system and weakened the agency tasked with protecting our history. Cuts to NPS funding and staff have strained park maintenance and severely impacted the agency’s history preservation programs," reads a portion of … Continue Reading
March 19, 2026
Bipartisan ESA reform evolves in Senate
by Michael Doyle
Bipartisan opportunities exist for updating the Endangered Species Act, lawmakers and witnesses agreed at a notably even-keeled Senate panel hearing Wednesday. Forgoing the rhetorical fireworks that sometimes light up ESA discussions, the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife hearing suggested at least the possibility of legislative compromise. That's a sharp contrast to developments in the House, where Republicans are moving forward with a … Continue Reading
March 19, 2026
House approves bill to protect lead ammo, tackle
by Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp
The House approved legislation Wednesday to protect the use of lead ammunition and fish tackle on public lands and waters. The "Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act," H.R. 556, Rep. Robert Wittman (R-Va.), would prevent rulemaking to prohibit lead bullets, fishing hooks and other related tools on certain federal lands. The bill passed 215-202, with seven Democrats voting in favor and only one Republican — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — against. Fitzpatrick often votes … Continue Reading
March 16, 2026
Trump is waging a holy war in Iran. A Marin congressman is fighting one at home
by Alexei Koseff
Halfway across the world, President Donald Trump is waging a war against a theocratic regime that he considers a threat to American ideals. Back home, Rep. Jared Huffman is doing the same. Since coming out eight years ago as the only openly nonbelieving member of Congress, the San Rafael Democrat has embarked on a crusade to uphold the constitutional separation of church and state. Through the Congressional Freethought Caucus, Huffman now leads nearly three dozen colleagues in a public … Continue Reading
March 14, 2026
Trump Administration Approves Ultra-Deepwater Oil Drilling Plan
by Lisa Friedman, Rebecca F. Elliott
The Trump administration on Friday approved a $5 billion oil drilling project in ultradeep waters of the Gulf of Mexico over protests from Democrats and environmental activists who said the venture posed significant risks to wildlife and communities. The project by the British energy giant BP would be about 250 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The company projects it will produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day from six wells starting in 2029 in a section of the seafloor that is estimated to … Continue Reading
March 12, 2026
Plans for career-training hub in Willits announced Tuesday
by Justine Frederiksen
A plan to turn the Willits campus of Mendocino College into a source of skilled and well-paid workers who can fulfill some of the region’s most-pressing needs was announced Tuesday by local lawmakers and community leaders. “This is a good damn day for Willits, for Mendocino County, and for Mendocino College,” said State Sen. Mike McGuire (D - Healdsburg) to the crowd gathered March 10 at the college’s North County Center in Willits as he announced “the largest outside funding investment in … Continue Reading
March 11, 2026
Huffman, McGuire celebrate $20 million Mendocino College project in Willits
by Sydney Fishman
At the Mendocino College Willits campus Tuesday, a group of politicians, educational leaders, and community members came together to celebrate an infusion of approximately $20 million in funds for construction of a new building on the campus. More than 70 people packed Mendocino College’s North County Center on Tuesday morning to listen to an announcement about a nearly 19,000-square-foot building that will be constructed on the Willits campus. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Ukiah, state Sen. … Continue Reading
March 11, 2026
North Bay lawmakers hold town hall discussion on federal health care cuts, hospitals’ dire fiscal outlook
by Martin Espinoza
State and federal lawmakers in Santa Rosa painted a dire picture Tuesday of the impacts of federal health care cuts under the Trump administration, including skyrocketing insurance premiums, the loss of health coverage for millions of Californians and the likely closure of rural hospitals and community clinics. Those cuts include nearly $1 trillion to Medicaid over a decade stemming from Trump’s 2025 tax cut and spending bill, as well as the expiration of more than $32 billion in enhanced … Continue Reading
March 11, 2026
Rural health care ‘on life support’: Thompson, Huffman and McGuire hold town hall
by Robert Schaulis
State Senator and Congressional candidate Mike McGuire (D-Santa Rosa), U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) held a town hall meeting at Santa Rosa High School auditorium in Sonoma County on Tuesday to discuss a health care system in crisis. The two congressmen — alongside McGuire, who Thompson said is “coming to Congress” and Huffman called a “future colleague” — were joined by a panel of health care experts. Panelists included Meghan Hardin, … Continue Reading
March 10, 2026
Democrats file court brief against Trump’s arch
by Heather Richards
Several leading congressional Democrats overseeing park and public land issues are urging a federal judge to declare President Donald Trump’s plan to build an archway in the Washington area a violation of federal law. Maine independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) filed a friend of the court brief Friday in litigation pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A coalition of Vietnam veterans has sued the … Continue Reading
March 06, 2026
Huffman, 29 other lawmakers call for investigation into claims of end times ideology driving Iran war
by Ruth Schneider
A handful of Congressional Freethought Caucus members, including North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, called for an investigation into reports that military commanders are using religious ideology to justify the war in Iran. “Some commanders have reportedly told subordinates that the American and Israeli attacks will hasten the return of Jesus Christ, and have cited passages from the Book of Revelation and instructed officers to tell their troops that current combat operations are all part of … Continue Reading
March 06, 2026
Committee approves geothermal, forest legislation
by Pavan Acharya
The House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday approved a roster of bills geared toward easing the path to producing more geothermal energy, a renewable power source lauded by Republicans and Democrats alike — as well as the Trump administration. Committee members passed more than a dozen bills Thursday via unanimous consent, including the "Geothermal Energy Opportunity (GEO) Act," H.R. 301 from Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), which would require that the Interior Department process … Continue Reading
March 04, 2026
Top Interior official visits Point Reyes
by Sophia Grace Carter
For two days last week, a senior official in the United States Department of the Interior quietly convened a series of closed-door meetings at the headquarters of the Point Reyes National Seashore. Karen Budd-Falen—the department’s associate deputy secretary, the third highest-ranking position—serves in an administration that has moved to transform how public lands across the country are used and managed, often minimizing conservation in favor of maximizing economic returns. Her visit had … Continue Reading
March 03, 2026
Democrats question NOAA ‘Fisherman in Residence’
by Michael Doyle
House Democrats are casting barbed questions about NOAA's quiet appointment of its first-ever "Fisherman in Residence," a longtime lobsterman who touts "opposition to offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine” as a leading accomplishment. In their eight-page letter to NOAA's Commerce Department overseers, Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, press for information concerning … Continue Reading
March 02, 2026
Panel wrestles with vexing law that protects migratory birds
by Michael Doyle
A House Natural Resources subcommittee this week will discuss the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a century-old law with a nagging legal ambiguity at its heart. Written in 1918, the MBTA now shelters under its protective wing more than 1,100 migratory bird species. The crucial question of whether the law covers unintentional as well as deliberate harm to the birds, though, still remains up in the air after all these years. Judges have reached different conclusions, and the dispute has yet to be … Continue Reading