Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) is looking for the place of prime Democrat on the Home Pure Assets Committee, the lawmaker’s workplace confirmed Wednesday in a letter.
The California Democrat, who at the moment serves as rating member on the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, wrote that he’ll search to switch Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who has served as the highest Democrat on the panel since 2019. Grijalva has introduced he’ll retire after his twelfth time period, which he gained this yr.
Within the letter to his fellow committee Democrats, Huffman emphasised the incoming Trump administration’s possible focusing on of Biden-era environmental laws and the likelihood that the Home GOP edge is slender sufficient for the stability of energy to probably flip earlier than 2026.
“My district experiences some of the worst impacts of the climate crisis including extreme drought, devastating wildfires, flooding, sea level rise, toxic algal blooms, and biodiversity loss,” Huffman wrote.
“However we’re additionally recognized for revolutionary options and fashions of resilience — the nation’s first and largest floating offshore wind challenge, bold forest administration initiatives incorporating Conventional Ecological Information, nature-based options to guard coastal communities and sequester carbon, and extra,” he added.
Huffman’s announcement units up a possible conflict with Grijalva, who returned to Capitol Hill this week for the primary time since starting therapy for an unspecified type of most cancers. The California congressman’s letter downplays any potential battle between the 2, calling on the committee’s Democrats to call Grijalva as “Ranking Member Emeritus.”
“I would look to him as a key partner in guiding the Committee through the challenges and opportunities of the next two years,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, Grijalva instructed The Hill he intends to stay the rating member for the remainder of his tenure.
Leaving a closed-door assembly of the Home Democratic Caucus Tuesday, the Arizona congressman mentioned he had not mentioned the way forward for the management put up with different committee Democrats.
“I imply, if there’s a difficulty, then it must be introduced up by members of the Caucus,” he added.
Mike Lillis contributed reporting.
