Press Releases

04.17.25

Ranking Member Huffman Blasts Decades-Long Water Theft by California Water District

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) responded to a newly released Inspector General summary report finding that the management and staff of California’s Panoche Water District orchestrated a decades-long operation to illegally divert and sell billions of gallons of water from federal facilities: “This wasn’t just a water theft—it was a betrayal of public trust on an almost cinematic scale. For over two decades, while the West endure… Continue Reading


04.11.25

Ranking Member Huffman Statement on Trump Admin’s Leaked Budget Plan to Dismantle NOAA and Eliminate Climate Science

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released the following statement after a leaked FY26 OMB Passback revealed the Trump administration’s plan to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), eliminate core science programs, and transfer key species protections from NOAA to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:? “The Trump administration has once again made clear that it’s not just hostile to science - it’s acti… Continue Reading


04.10.25

Huffman, Velázquez, Ocasio-Cortez, and Hernández Press DOE to Deploy Renewable Energy Funds for Puerto Rico

Washington, D.C. - Today, Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Pablo José Hernández (D-PR) urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to accelerate solar installations under Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund’s (PR-ERF) programs, warning that continued delays could have severe consequences for vulnerable communities across the island.“Every hurricane season we fail to act, we risk lives,” the lawmakers wrote. “The funding has been obliga… Continue Reading


04.09.25

Republicans Waste Time and Taxpayer Money with Vanity Bill as Economy Crashes

Washington, D.C. - Today, as the stock market was thrown into chaos and Americans are struggling to make ends meet, the House Natural Resources Committee Republicans held a markup on legislation designed to distract from this administration’s pandemonium and stroke the President’s ego. The markup featured pushing a Gulf of Mexico renaming stunt - all while families across America face rising costs, real crises, Trump Tariff whiplash, and shrinking retirement accounts thanks to the economy Republ… Continue Reading


04.04.25

Ranking Member Huffman Statement on Billionaire-Backed Plan to Dismantle Key NOAA Weather Services

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) issued the following statement following reports that key NOAA websites and databases will go dark at midnight under the Trump administration's proposed contract cuts:"Three reckless billionaires - Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump, and DOGE vandal Elon Musk - are dismantling one of our government’s most important public functions, the National Weather Service. The data manageme… Continue Reading


04.03.25

Rep. Magaziner, Natural Resources Committee Members Discuss Trump-Musk Attacks on NOAA with Expert Panelists at Issues Forum

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) and U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Members hosted an issues forum titled “Attacks on NOAA Threaten American Communities and Economies.” During this forum, the Members examined the dangerous consequences of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Members and panelists warned that Trump and Musk’s attacks are calculated moves to silence scie… Continue Reading


03.20.25

Ranking Member Huffman Slams Trump Admin Orders to Hand Over Public Lands to Big Oil

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released the following statement on the Interior Department’s sweeping rollbacks of protections of Alaska’s public lands:“President Trump is running a fossil fuel fire sale—selling out Alaska’s wild places to pad Big Oil’s pockets while trampling over Indigenous communities, wildlife, and our climate future,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “This reckless push to open up the Arctic National Wild… Continue Reading


03.20.25

Huffman, Dexter Condemn Trump’s Plan to Shutter Facilities that Support Local Economies, Demand Answers

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Maxine Dexter (D-Oreg.) led 76 of their colleagues in a letter to General Service Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian, expressing strong opposition to the planned facility closures at the Department of Interior (DOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Forest Ser… Continue Reading


03.14.25

Committee Leaders Huffman, Lofgren, Dexter, and Amo Demand Information on NOAA Lease Terminations

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, Committee on Natural Resources (HNR) Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-2), Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), HNR Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Ranking Member Maxine Dexter (OR-3), and SST Subcommittee on Environment Ranking Member Gabe Amo (RI-1) sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Lutnick demanding information on the Trump administration’s apparent plan to terminate at least 34 National… Continue Reading


03.13.25

Ranking Member Huffman Statement on the Passing of Former Chair Raúl Grijalva

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee released the following statement on the passing of former Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva: “I’m deeply saddened by the passing of my colleague and friend, Representative Raúl Grijalva. Raúl brought exceptional grit and authenticity to his remarkable public service career. He was renowned for his unwavering commitment to protect human dignity, our environment, public lands, … Continue Reading


03.13.25

Huffman, Dexter Demand Documents on Trump Administration’s DOGE-Mandated Reductions in Force Plans

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Maxine Dexter (D-Oreg.) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, demanding answers on the Department’s plans to implement DOGE-mandated reductions in force (RIF)—a reckless move that could disrupt critical government services, kill thousands of jobs that depend on these services, and undermine local economies all over the … Continue Reading


03.11.25

Ranking Member Huffman Leads Letter Demanding Answers on US Army Corps of Engineers’ Wasteful Water Release

Washington, D.C. - Today, Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-02), alongside Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) and Laura Friedman (CA-30), sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum demanding answers and accountability on the Administration’s wasteful water releases, which deviated from standard protocol and wasted two billion gallons of water.  After the devastating Los Angeles wildfires had already been contained, President Trump insisted that the Army Corp… Continue Reading


02.28.25

Trump, Musk Plan to Shutter Interior Offices Nationwide, Devastating Local Economies and Abandoning Tribes

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released the following statement regarding the General Services Administration’s (GSA) plan to shutter over 2 million sq. ft of office space used by the Department of the Interior across the country:“The federal government exists to serve the people—not abandon them. But Trump and Musk are taking a wrecking ball to our country—slashing staff, cutting vital funding, and creating widespread cha… Continue Reading


02.27.25

Ranking Member Huffman Decries Mass Layoffs at NOAA

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released the following statement regarding the Trump administration’s mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): “Today, over one thousand scientists and experts at NOAA received the news every federal worker has been dreading. Musk and his fake officials, the DOGE tech bros, have been rummaging through our most sensitive data without authority in violation o… Continue Reading


02.26.25

Reps. Huffman, Chu, and Salinas Call on Trump Administration to Reverse U.S. Forest Service Layoffs Amid Growing Wildfire Crisis

Washington, D.C. — House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (CA-02), Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), and Rep. Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led 80 House Members in a letter today urging the Trump administration to reverse their decision to fire 3,400 federal workers from the U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public lands. These layoffs are part of a broader effort by President Trump and Elon Musk to dismantle the federal workforce, undermining the ability to respond t… Continue Reading


02.26.25

Huffman, Heinrich Demand Transparency on Trump Administration’s Plan to Roll Back Protections for Americans’ Public Lands After Interior Fails to Disclose it to the Public, Despite Key Deadline

Ranking Members of House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction over Department of Interior express concern that Administration is rolling back Americans’ public lands in secret one week after Department’s deadline to submit an “action plan” for implementing President Trump’s energy and public lands policy priorities Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member… Continue Reading


02.17.25

Huffman, Pallone, Hoyle, Castor Demand Answers on Trump-Musk Layoff Spree of Grid Workers, Risk to Electricity Supply

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), and Representatives Val Hoyle (D-Oreg.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) sent a letter demanding answers to the Trump administration’s indiscriminate firing of Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) employees at Bonneville Power Administration, Southeastern Power Administration, Southwestern Power Administration, and Western A… Continue Reading


02.14.25

Ranking Member Huffman Blasts Mass Firings at Interior, Forest Service

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released a statement regarding the mass firings of as many as 5,700 employees across the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. “This slash and burn approach to governing is an all-out attack on thousands of real, hardworking Americans who’ve dedicated their lives to keeping our air breathable, our water drinkable, and our national treasures protected from corporate greed. B… Continue Reading


02.12.25

Ranking Member Huffman Statement on Trump Nominating Big Oil Insider to Lead Agency Responsible for Protecting Public Lands

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released a statement regarding the President’s nomination of Kathleen Sgamma—a lead architect of Project 2025—to lead the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management:"The fox is in the henhouse. As a lead architect of Project 2025, Ms. Sgamma designed the blueprint to hand over our sacred public lands to polluters. Now, after decades of working for the fossil fuel lobby to gut enviro… Continue Reading


02.12.25

Republicans Refuse Any Oversight of Musk and Trump During First Natural Resources Committee Mark Up

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee held their first mark up of the 119th Congress, where they reviewed - among other items - Republicans’ “119th Congress Authorization and Oversight Plan.” Democrats offered a series of amendments designed to use the Committee’s oversight authorities to meaningfully rein in Musk and Trump’s abuses of power. "Let me assure the American people: This lawlessness, this chaos and calamity, this total abdication of Congress's oversight … Continue Reading

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