In the News
'If You Can Keep It': The Objectives of Project 2025
Jan. 20, 2025. Inauguration day. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank that's prepared a more than 900-page plan they hope Donald Trump will adopt if he becomes the next president. It's called the Presidential Transition Plan - or as it's known more widely, Project 2025. It's been critiqued as a radically socially conservative and Christian nationalist proposal with the power to greatly disrupt the government. But what exactly does it aim to do? And what is the likelihood … Continue Reading
June 14, 2024
Dem lawmaker on plans to block Trump's agenda if he wins
by Jake Tapper
Watch Rep. Huffman's interview here: … Continue Reading
June 11, 2024
Trump’s Project 2025 plot would take ‘wrecking ball’ to US institutions, key Democrat warns
by David Smith
The blueprint for a potential second Donald Trump presidency known as Project 25 would take “a wrecking ball” to America’s democratic norms and institutions, a leading Democrat has warned. Representative Jared Huffman spoke to the Guardian before the launch of a congressional working group designed to sound the alarm about the rightwing roadmap and ensure that Trump never has the chance to implement its extreme agenda. The near 900-page Project 2025 handbook was produced by the Heritage … Continue Reading
June 11, 2024
A group of House Democrats steps up to try to stop Project 2025 and a Trump White House
by Lisa Mascaro
Warning about the far-right Project 2025 agenda for a Donald Trump White House, a group of House Democrats has launched a task force to start fighting the proposal and stop it from taking hold if the Republican former president returns to power. Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California is unveiling The Stop Project 2025 Task Force on Tuesday, the latest sign that congressional Democrats and outside groups are treating Trump’s campaign seriously in the expected rematch against Democratic … Continue Reading
June 11, 2024
House Democrats prepare to highlight right-wing 'Project 2025' plans
by Joy Reid
“Have you heard of Project 2025?” is one of the most frequently asked questions in liberal politics these days. As more Americans start to tune into the November elections, a group of Democrats is trying to ensure that that question is also being asked by independent voters, Trump-skeptical Republicans and those "double-haters" who haven't made up their minds yet. Developed by the far-right Heritage Foundation, “Project 2025” is a set of policy initiatives written by Trump-supporting … Continue Reading
June 06, 2024
Lawmakers to SEC: Don’t give up on climate disclosure rule
by Emma Dumain
Thirty-eight lawmakers are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to strengthen climate emissions reporting requirements for publicly traded companies The message shows progressive anxiety that the agency may not be prepared to push as hard as it can to force executives to disclose their carbon footprints. Its landmark rule on the issue is currently on hold pending litigation. “While the rule is an important step forward that will provide investors with key information about publicly … Continue Reading
June 06, 2024
On 80th anniversary of D-Day, Sonoma County veterans reflect on supreme courage, sacrifice
by AUSTIN MURPHY
Eighty years ago on Thursday, some 150,000 troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other Allied nations fought the climactic battle of World War II, landing on the beaches of Normandy, France and punching through Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall,” at frightful cost. Twenty years ago Thursday, on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Izaak Schwaiger landed in Iraq along with the rest of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. A military translator, he was stationed in Najaf, a Shia holy city … Continue Reading
June 05, 2024
Biden official offers support for reworked minerals list
by Hannah Northey
A senior U.S. Geological Survey official Tuesday voiced support for legislation that would expand the federal government’s list of critical minerals to include materials like copper. Colin Williams, who leads the agency's mineral resources program, said the administration would work with lawmakers to make sure H.R. 8446 protects the integrity of two federal critical minerals lists — one from the USGS and a second from the Department of Energy. “As a possible way to manage the two lists, the … Continue Reading
June 04, 2024
Jared Huffman calls for last year’s salmon relief funds to be expedited
by Sage Alexander
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman co-sent a letter to federal administrators on Tuesday calling for disaster relief funding to be allocated quicker for the state’s salmon fishery closure in 2023. A year later and no disaster funds have been distributed, and fishermen face another closed season. “California’s commercial, sport, and charter fishers, tribes, businesses, restaurants, and the communities who depend upon the salmon fishery cannot afford to wait any longer for the relief needed to weather the … Continue Reading
May 29, 2024
Natural Resources leaders spar over mine permitting plans
by Hannah Northey, Garrett Downs
House Natural Resources Republicans are probing whether the Interior Department flouted federal law and sidestepped public scrutiny when proposing new metrics for assessing mine approvals. Democrats are already calling the investigation a sham. Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, are questioning the Bureau of Land … Continue Reading
May 24, 2024
‘This is awful’: GOP slams offshore energy budget
by Heather Richards
House Natural Resources Republicans assailed Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Liz Klein in a hearing Thursday for seeking increased funding for offshore wind while slowing down offshore oil leasing. “We cannot let the Department of the Interior sacrifice the livelihoods and security of Americans on the altar of hollow commitments to environmental activists,” said Energy and Mineral Resources Chair Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), calling on Klein to hold more offshore oil sales. Republicans … Continue Reading
May 23, 2024
National Endowment for the Arts awards grants
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman has shared the news that several recipients in California’s Second Congressional District — including two in Humboldt County — have been awarded a total of $120,000 through the National Endowment for the Arts. The California Film Institute in San Rafael has received $30,000 for Grants for Arts Projects — Media Art to support the Mill Valley Film Festival and related community programming. The Marin Shakespeare Company in San Rafael has received $20,000 for Grants for … Continue Reading
May 22, 2024
California Senate passes bill aiding SMART tax renewal
by Adrian Rodriguez
As SMART officials stay mum on when they will seek extension of a sales tax needed to keep trains rolling, a bill enabling voters to place a renewal on the ballot has passed the California Senate. Senate Bill 904, authored by state Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat from Napa, was proposed to help the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit secure its sales tax dollars, which account for nearly half of the agency’s total revenue. The tax collects about $51 million annually. The new legislation would clarify … Continue Reading
May 22, 2024
Angel Island gets $1.5 mil federal grant for Ayala Cove dock upgrade
by Francisco Martinez
Angel Island State Park has received a $1.5-million federal grant toward upgrading the dilapidated boat dock at Ayala Cove. The funding, announced May 13 by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant program. The state park will combine the grant with $1.2 million in funding from the California Department of Parks and Recreation to complete the $2.7 million overhaul, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The … Continue Reading
May 21, 2024
Dems to GOP: Investigate mining companies, not greens
by Hannah Northey
House Democrats are trying to flip the script on the GOP's investigations into whether environmental groups are illegally representing foreign interests. Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Jared Huffman of California on Monday called on Chair Bruce Westerman of Arkansas to expand an ongoing investigation to include mining companies with foreign ties that may be sidestepping congressional oversight. The Republican-led … Continue Reading
May 20, 2024
California congressman urges closer consultation with tribes on offshore wind
by Claire Rush and Jennifer McDermott
A congressman who represents California’s north coast has sent a letter to federal regulators asking that they “urgently place” a senior official in the state to respond to tribal needs as wind power is developed offshore. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman sent the letter as the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to take shape and as tribal communities in California and Oregon express frustration with what they say is a lack of consultation on proposals that affect culturally significant waters and … Continue Reading
May 08, 2024
Democrats seek probe of foreign mining on public lands
by Hannah Northey
House Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva and a number of other Democrats are planning to ask Congress' watchdog to investigate the extent to which foreign-controlled companies are extracting minerals from public lands, and whether those entities are complying with U.S. environmental and human rights standards. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and five of his colleagues will ask the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday to probe how much is known about foreign investment in mining of … Continue Reading
May 08, 2024
Pipeline hearing hones in on safety, emissions concerns
by Andres Picon
A House subcommittee on Tuesday revisited concerns about pipeline safety and fossil fuel emissions as it works to add finishing touches to a bipartisan reauthorization bill for the nation’s pipeline regulator. The Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials met for its latest hearing on the “Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act,” H.R. 6494, which would renew safety programs at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials … Continue Reading
May 07, 2024
Nearly 75 Democratic lawmakers support Biden's LNG pause
Nearly 75 U.S. lawmakers from President Joe Biden's Democratic party on Tuesday praised his pause on approvals of exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, saying it would protect Americans from pollution and potential higher prices. Senators Jeffrey Merkley, Edward Markey and Representative Jared Huffman spearheaded a letter to Biden saying the pause allows the government to study whether the additional exports could saddle U.S. households and businesses with higher natural gas bills, … Continue Reading
May 07, 2024
Federal judge: Russian River dam releases are violating Endangered Species Act
by Andrew Graham
A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has violated the Endangered Species Act by disturbing salmon populations through flood-control releases from Coyote Valley Dam into the Russian River. Those releases, which relieve pressure upstream from the 66-year-old dam during rainy months, kick up sediment from the bottom of Lake Mendocino, a reservoir that serves as critical water storage for Sonoma County. The sediment increases turbidity in the river that harms and … Continue Reading