LEGISLATIVE SERIES |Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee interviews Rep. Salud Carbajal to discuss various topics, including Gaza, Vandenberg Rocket Launches, Immigration, and Medicare.

POLITICAL PLAYBOOK

Winter 2025-2026

Present: Representative Carbajal, Diana Villanueva, Lynn Carter and Jeannie Low. Lynn and Jeannie thanked the Congressman for the coffee hour he cohosted with SBPWC in September and for meeting with us.1

 

TOPIC 1

Congress reclaiming its Article 1 powers and trying to rein in the White House

Epstein Files

The Congressman thinks cracks are emerging in Congressional Republican subservience to the White House (WH) starting with but going beyond the subject of the Epstein files. With respect to Epstein, there were a few more Republicans who showed a willingness to demand the release of the Epstein files than the now famous four so it became clear that the Democrats and those Republicans would have voted for the release of the files over Trump’s objections. Trump then changed his public position. Due to legitimate concerns about intimidation and exposure (most notably with Marjorie Taylor Green), the Republicans in the House decided to vote en masse for the release of the files to avoid singling out any additional Republicans.

 

Bipartisan Opportunities

With some emerging Republican dissatisfaction with WH policies and the growing willingness of some centrist Republicans to bring forward legislation of mutual interest to Democrats and Independents, the Democrats may find it more possible to pursue bipartisan legislation in the coming period, given the tiny Republican majority in the House and the filibuster in the Senate.

Republicans and Congress and seemingly the WH, do recognize that they need to do something to address the ACA subsidies. This is the result of the government shutdown accompanied by his party’s broad communication effort. A vote has been promised in the Senate as part of extending the Continuing Resolution. He can’t tell if the Republican idea of a replacement will alleviate costs for lower income Americans or simply present a propaganda façade of having done so. Congressman Carbajal declined to speculate on what his party might do relative to another extension of the CR if it arrives by January 31 with no bipartisan compromise on the ACA subsidies and one or more of the pending appropriations bills yet to be approved.

 

On ICE and immigration

Carbajal has sent letters and taken action to protest ICE assaults, agent masking, and the lack of judicial warrants, IDs and uniforms. He noted that the Administration has created the largest ever domestic police force in the country, allocating $170 billion in Trump’s budget bill and hiring thousands. The President is inconsistent. After an ICE raid on an open farm field in Ventura, the Ventura Farm Bureau wrote a note of protest to the Secretary of Agriculture. A few days later Trump said ICE would not raid farms and damage food production. But then he changed his mind and farm raids are continuing. The environment right now is very hostile towards changing ICE behavior, perhaps especially given Stephen Miller’s outsized influence.

 

TOPIC 2

Vandenberg and Rocket Launches

Community Impact

Addressing the concerns voiced by SBWPC on the steep increase in the number of rocket launches from Vandenberg, with accompanying sonic booms, and unknown impacts on structures, human health, animal health, and the environment, the Congressman noted that while the California Coastal Commission’s objection to 90 launches this year was overruled by the federal government, the demands and conditions put forth by the CCC were adopted, such as acoustic monitoring.

Mitigating Impact

The Congressman described the 78 launches2 so far this year as a mix of commercial and national security rocket launches. He advocated for and obtained a promise of modified trajectories to mitigate noise and vibrations with respect to the commercial launches, restricting commercial launches at night, and further study of the launch impacts. He has proposed the design of a grants program to mitigate the effects of launches.

He has also obtained a commitment that companies will pay for the indirect costs of commercial launches, currently capped at $5 million per company annually, instead of the cost being borne by taxpayers. He hopes to increase this amount going forward.

 

TOPIC 3

Gaza

Addressing Member Concerns

We reiterated member dissatisfaction with the Congressman’s actions and position on Gaza including with respect to weapons supply, given grave concerns about Israel’s conduct of the war. April 2024, the Congressman voted yes on H.R.8034, the Israel Security Supplemental In Appropriations Act. This bill passed the House but was not signed into law and included humanitarian aid for Gaza. The following day, after a deal on H.R. 8034 fell through, the House voted on H.R. 815, an emergency supplemental appropriations bill, that included funding for Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and included humanitarian aid.

The Congressman voted yes on this bill as well. He wrote to Biden a couple of weeks later demanding that the Administration ensure that the Israeli government was facilitating US funded humanitarian aid within the bounds of US andinternational law. He opposed a Republican effort to override Biden’s pause on heavy weapons supply.

He did not cosponsor HR 3565 (“block the bombs”) in July of this year because it required every weapons sale to Israel to obtain congressional approval. He believes the bill overreaches and would be burdensome (for Congress, the Defense Dept., the Israeli Government) and could potentially affect Israel’s ability to defend itself.3He noted that Israel still faces threats from Iran and Iranian proxies even though its enemies have been weakened now. The bill also requires Israel to assure adherence to human rights and humanitarian law, which the Leahy Law already requires so the Congressman sees this provision as redundant4.

The bill hasn’t been taken up in committee and isn’t going to go anywhere in this congress, so to the Congressman the issue of weapons sales is moot. This is especially the case right now given changed conditions with the fragile ceasefire and the new peace plan. He noted that the plan not only has great uncertainty around funding and the provision of troops, but also has important gaps – the West Bank has not been addressed and the control of essential utilities (water, electricity and sewage –Israel has weaponized its control of these in the past).

The Congressman noted that he has consistently supported a two-state solution, has condemned settler and government violence in the West Bank, and has taken several actions including a recent letter demanding that medical services in Gaza be surged. He agrees that the Israeli withholding of humanitarian aid is a major issue. Other recent actions are listed in Annex A.

 

TOPIC 4

Utility of Letters of Support for or Opposition to Proposed Policies, bills and laws

He believes these are useful. They can make a difference, and they alert him to what constituents care about so they are useful in shaping his positions and actions. Please Continue!

 

TOPIC 5

Office/Staff

Composition

67% |Women

67% | People of Color

60% | Female Senior Staff

 

TOPIC 6

What else would he like to share? (almost no time remained so this was a very quick list)

Annex A

• He authored the bipartisan and bicameral Child Care Availability and Affordability Act (CCAAA) . This Act would modernize existing tax code provisions. It allows families with children in childcare to double their FSA. It also permits small businesses to pool their resources to offer childcare, allowing them to access the tax credit.
• A separate Act, the Child Care Workforce Act, that he also authored, would provide supplemental income for childcare providers. Trump included the CCAAA in the budget bill.
• With respect to housing affordability, he has supported the American Dream Actbill. This would provide first time home buyers a federal government loan worth 20% of the cost of the home (up to a certain limit). A buyer taking such a loan would then owe the federal government the loan amount plus 20% of the appreciation at the point that s/he sells the property. He has supported an extension of the deadline for the ERA (since the deadline has already passed, such a law could be subject to legal challenge).
• He has also supported the Reproductive Health Care Act and the
• John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

 

2024-2025 Letters Related to Gaza

May 7, 2025 — Letter to Israeli Ambassador and State Department urging resumption of aid to Gaza

• Carbajal led a group of 94 House Democrats calling on the Israeli government to “ immediately resume shipments to humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
• The letter condemns the blockade on humanitarian supplies, calls it “morally wrong,” and warns that continued denial of aid undermines both humanitarian and long-term strategic interests.

May 3, 2024 — Letter to President Joe Biden calling for enforcement of U.S. law on Gaza humanitarian aid

• Carbajal — along with 86 other Members of Congress — urged the White House to enforce legal requirements under Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Section 620I) and National Security Memorandum 20. They argued that recent restrictions by Israel on humanitarian aid to Gaza may violate those laws and called for appropriate U.S. responses.
• The letter also reaffirmed support for humanitarian pauses and protection of civilian lives as part of U.S. policy.

March 2024 — Letter urging a temporary pause in fighting / hostage release to enable humanitarian relief

• Carbajal joined a group of lawmakers writing to President Biden in support of efforts to free hostages and pause fighting — arguing such a pause would allow humanitarian aid to reach.

January 2024 House Resolution

• On January 10, 2024, Carbajal co-sponsored a House resolution calling on the U.S. Administration to facilitate the safe, timely, and sufficient delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip. That resolution explicitly calls for the flow of life saving aid, which includes medicine.

The Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee (SBWPC) endorses candidates who support its positions and promote a feminist agenda. SBWPC is committed to taking social action against discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age or ability.

Operating through candidate endorsements, fundraising, and community outreach, the SBWPC actively recruits, trains, and supports feminists running for office. Beyond electoral politics, the committee focuses on educating the public and advocating for policy changes that address issues critical to women and families, such as reproductive rights, economic equity, healthcare, and education.