• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) recently signed onto U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-Maryland) bill to give Congress a role in determining when a president is unfit to carry out their duties. The bill would establish a nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, the body called for in Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to enable Congress to ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership in the presidency. “Between threatening to wipe out entire civilizations and picking fights with the pope, Donald Trump has proven himself fundamentally unfit for office,” Carbajal said in an April 20 statement. “The chaos of his tenure serves as a critical wake-up call to strengthen our Constitution. That’s why I’m supporting this legislation to formalize Congress’s role in the 25th Amendment process. By creating clearer pathways to address an unstable or incapacitated president, we’re ensuring that the White House remains accountable to the American people.” Although the 25th Amendment was adopted more than 50 years ago, Congress never set up the body called for in Section 4, according to Carbajal’s office. Raskin’s bill would establish this independent nonpartisan body. If passed, this bill would mean the vice president could act either with a majority of the cabinet or a majority of this independent body “in the event of a 25th Amendment crisis.”
• On April 15, the California Coastal Commission approved $2 million in grants for schools, nonprofits, and tribes to help advance public education, conservation, and coastal access efforts. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians received $50,000 to support a bimonthly marine stewardship and education program for Santa Ynez Chumash families. The stewardship program includes classroom sessions and field trips to coastal sites, marine research facilities, and natural reserves, with topics including traditional ecological knowledge, safe harvesting, species identification, and environmental monitoring. An additional $50,000 went to the Northern Chumash to support its Tomol Maritime Culture Ambassadors program. Chumash community members receive intensive instruction and practice in tomol handling and traditional tomol protocols in classroom and coastal locations as part of the program, and get the chance to construct their own wood oars. Other local recipients of the recent Coastal Commission grants include Camp Ocean Pines, which received $24,400. The funds will help allow Camp Ocean Pines to offer families experiencing homelessness a weekend overnight camp stay. The venue will also use the grant to support delivering educational programs to residents of emergency shelters and local students in a juvenile hall program.
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California), Adam Schiff (D-California), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), and Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico) issued a joint letter on April 17 to push for a strong, sustainable future for Mars exploration in the Fiscal Year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The four legislators urged Senate appropriators and U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) to provide at least $400 million in FY 2027 for the Mars Sample Return mission. “As we set sights on the high ground of space exploration, we must preserve our presence and talent, tackle the next challenges that enable eventual human missions to Mars,” the letter states. “While Congress provided funding for NASA’s science programs in last year’s appropriations, Mars exploration initiatives remained significantly underfunded and well below the House Appropriations level of $300 million. … Any erosion of vital infrastructure and intellectual capital would deliver lasting damage to the U.S. economy and undermine our leadership on the global stage in science and technology.”
This article appears in April 23 – April 30, 2026.