In the News
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
March 02, 2026
Confidential database reveals which items NPS thinks may ‘disparage’ America
by Karin Brulliard, Brady Dennis
At the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi, staff members asked the Trump administration to review an entire exhibit on the Black teen’s brutal 1955 killing by White men and his mother’s decision to publicize it — though the park’s staff warned that its removal would leave the site “completely devoid of interpretation.” At Arches National Park in Utah, park managers wondered whether a sign about the damage that graffiti and invasive species leave on the iconic … Continue Reading
February 26, 2026
Next Step in Trump’s California Offshore Oil Drilling Effort Announced
by Sage Alexander
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced a step toward leasing areas for offshore oil and gas drilling in California this week, by launching an associated environmental process. BOEM announced Thursday the department would prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement for lease sales in northern, central and southern California. A soon-to-be-released statement will primarily concern sales planned for 2027 in central and southern California, according to BOEM. A Northern … Continue Reading
February 25, 2026
House panel tangles over forest thinning near power lines
by Marc Heller
Congress has expanded the Forest Service’s ability to remove trees around power lines — but the agency isn’t making much use of its capabilities, according to a leading House Democrat. California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, offered that judgment Tuesday at a hearing on the wildfire dangers posed by vegetation along utility rights of way in national forests. The House has approved legislation targeting that concern, but the bill is still … Continue Reading
February 25, 2026
North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman calls State of the Union speech ‘a disaster’
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman posted a video sharing his “fresh take” on Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech by President Donald Trump. “What a disaster,” he said in the video. “The best I can say is that it probably does reflect the actual state of our union. We have an unhinged madman in the presidency that is running roughshod. Congress refuses to question or check him because he’s managed to turn this Republican Congress into his own little Russian Duma. They don’t do … Continue Reading
February 18, 2026
Democrats plot protests for Trump’s State of the Union address
by Sudiksha Kochi
House Democrats are plotting a range of moves to broadcast their defiance of President Trump during his State of the Union address to Congress next week. Trump’s speech marks a significant flash point amid a Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with the White House and Democrats locked in an impasse over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection after immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minnesota. While some Democrats are making a … Continue Reading
February 17, 2026
‘Let the Record Reflect’: This Congressman Went Barefoot to Honor Bob Weir on the House Floor
by Shirley Halperin
On Feb. 4, 2026, Bob Weir‘s spirit was present on the House of Representatives floor. Congressman Jared Huffman made sure of it. The California Democrat, whose districts include Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, and the Grateful Dead’s home base of Marin County, took off his shoes and socks, then stepped up to the podium to mark the moment. “Mr. Speaker, let the record reflect I delivered these remarks barefoot in honor of Bobby Weir,” said the U.S. representative. “I think he would appreciate … Continue Reading
February 13, 2026
California, Humboldt County leaders decry Trump’s strident deregulation of EPA standards
by Robert Schaulis
This week, the Trump administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that they would eliminate what EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin characterized as “the ‘Holy Grail’ of the ‘climate change religion.’” In a press conference Thursday, Zeldin and President Trump announced that they would eliminate “both the Obama-era 2009 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and all subsequent federal GHG emission standards for all vehicles and engines of model years 2012 to 2027 and beyond,” … Continue Reading