• During the House of Representatives’ July 21 debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) criticized an amendment that would authorize the secretary of defense to use federal eminent domain to acquire permanent easements across California-owned lands and submerged lands under the Las Flores Pipeline System. This amendment—which the House passed with a 215-214 vote—would preempt California law by eliminating state permitting requirements and blocking state injunctions. It also requires the secretary of defense to grant the operator a license that cannot be revoked by California courts, state agencies, or future administrations, except under extremely limited circumstances, according to Carbajal’s office. “We know that the military does not need this provision to ensure a stable supply [of oil],” Carbajal said at the hearing. “We already are the largest oil producer in the world, producing nearly 14 million barrels of oil a day. So, let’s be clear: This is not about energy independence or national security. It is about giving Big Oil special treatment at the expense of California.” During the debate, Carbajal described the amendment as unlocking unprecedented legal protections for fossil fuel projects. He also drew attention to the fact that Sable Offshore, the operator of the Las Flores Pipeline System, is based in Houston, Texas, since U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Houston, Texas), sponsored the amendment. “This amendment would allow the company to avoid accountability by … preventing any court from issuing an injunction against this project. So let me be clear again: This isn’t about national security. It is a bailout for polluters,” Carbajal said. As of July 28, the bill was stalled in the Senate.
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced the Stop Harassment and Intimidations in Elections through Legal Defenses (SHIELD) Our Elections Act on July 23. This legislation would provide the state attorney general and voters with a private right of action to enforce federal anti-election interference laws that protect polling locations and election sites. The SHIELD Our Elections Act would also restrict the seizure of ballots and election equipment from election officials, especially prior to the final resolution of election outcomes.
• On July 27, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) introduced the Promoting Authenticity with Influencer Disclaimer (PAID) Act. This legislation would require clear and prominent disclaimers on posts by online influencers that have been paid for by political committees or candidates. Specifically, the PAID Act would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to require any person paid by a political committee or candidate to post a clear disclaimer that they were paid to post. “As more and more information in American life is shared through informal communicators like influencers, we need to recognize the risks of proliferating paid political speech without the guardrails that apply to all other forms of political advertising,” Schiff said in a statement. “An influencer can reach far more than a billboard or even a broadcast ad in 2026, but people deserve the same understanding of who is behind that post and if they are paid for it. The PAID Act is a bicameral solution to apply the same bipartisan standards we’ve applied to other advertising to this new class of political speech.” Supporters of the PAID Act include Common Cause, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and other organizations. “Content creators hold immense trust with their audiences, so when influencers are paid to shape our elections, the public has a right to know who is footing the bill,” Abigail Bellows, senior policy director for anti-corruption and accountability at Common Cause. “Voters deserve full transparency on political spending, whether they are watching television or scrolling social media.”
This article appears in July 30 – August 6, 2026.
