We Need to Lower Costs, Save Health Care, and Advance Clean Energy

December 12, 2025

Hello,

It was another busy week back in Washington – and most of my time was spent pushing back against the Republican majority’s agenda that does nothing to save health care or lower costs for the American people and instead just gives more handouts to billionaires. Donald Trump might be saying the affordability crisis is a hoax – but the rest of us know that’s just not true. The holiday season may be here, but I’m not taking my foot off the gas to deliver for our community and fight for what is most important to you.

SAVING HEALTH CARE

Ever since Trump and his Republican minions passed their Big, Ugly Bill over the summer, health care has been under attack. At the end of the month, the health care tax credits that help millions of Americans afford their premiums are set to expire.

At a time when electricity bills and grocery prices are already way too expensive, families will be forced to go uninsured or make incredibly tough choices just to get by. 37,000 people in CA-02 alone depend on these tax credits to stay afloat.

Every House Democrat has signed a discharge petition to extend these Affordable Care Act tax credits, but Republicans seem willing to sell out the American people to bend to the whims of their billionaire donors and ultra-wealthy corporate friends. It’s unacceptable, and I’m going to keep turning over every stone to prevent us from being pushed over this Republican health care crisis cliff.

PROTECTING CLEAN ENERGY

Californians are facing an affordability crisis, from groceries to energy bills to medications. But Trump is waging an all-out war on the cheapest form of energy: clean renewables like wind and solar. I’m really disappointed and frankly appalled that congressional Republicans aren’t doing anything to stop him.

Instead, they're dismantling the laws that protect public health and the environment to fast-track polluting projects to stack the deck so their billionaire buddies can reap financial benefits. This week, they’re going after the Clean Water Act so they don’t have to protect drinking water, and next week, they’re moving their so-called SPEED Act, which will silence Americans and rig the permitting process for polluting industries.

Energy is too expensive, and these bills will block out affordable clean energy and lock us into unpredictable, planet-killing fossil fuels. It makes no sense. The American people deserve better than bills that twist the real problems facing our energy sector to give handouts to billionaires and derail environmental progress. I won’t stand for it.

ADDRESSING FOOD INSECURITY

Trump and Republicans made the biggest cuts to SNAP in American history through their Big, Ugly Bill – stripping food away from hungry seniors, children, and veterans. The Republican shutdown made this even worse, and local communities in our district are feeling the impacts.

I’ve been amazed by how neighbors and organizations throughout our region have stepped in to fill the vacuum left behind by cuts to federal funding and the looming threat of another shutdown. Last week, I heard from the incredible staff at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank who have worked to fill these gaps, and I am so grateful for all their hard work, as well as the community partners who joined the efforts to backfill cuts.

Thanks to many of you, Food Bank staff, volunteers, and donations have reached extremely generous levels, especially during the government shutdown and the holiday season. But from my conversations with staff, I learned that levels are expected to dip in January. Please be on the lookout to help out locally if you have the time and energy.

HELPING YOU

And don’t forget, whether it’s help working with a federal agency, or providing information about legislation and policy, my staff and I are here to help. If you need assistance, you can submit a Casework Authorization Form on my website. In addition to our existing resources related to immigration cases,there is a new resource to keep in mind. As ICE terrorizes California and the rest of the country, please remember our office has resources to assist with immigration cases – and Democrats have a new form here. for you to share any abuses you witness or hear about through House Oversight Committee Democrats’ new form here.

To keep up with the work I am doing as your representative, please?subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Bluesky,?Facebook,?Twitter/ X,?Instagram, and Threads.

Wishing you all a happy holiday season up and down the North Coast!

Jared Huffman
Member of Congress