Sam's Newsletter - February 24, 2025
Hello Friends!
In these challenging times, I find my energy restored by flying home and connecting with our community in the district. My team and I have met with residents in many live gatherings from San Jose to Pacifica, but next week, we hope to reach a broader group of our neighbors with a telephone town hall. Mark your calendars for TOMORROW, Tuesday, February 25th at 6 PM PT. Once you dial in to 833-998-0865, you’ll be connected to the conversation with me and your neighbors. You can ask a question, make a comment, or simply listen to the discussion. This is the first of many live and virtual town halls we’ll have this year, so please follow my social media for updates.
In other news, the House Democratic leadership welcomed me into the Rapid Response Task Force & Litigation Working Group. Together with partners like Democracy Forward and Public Citizen, we will continue to fight the onslaught of unconstitutional executive actions. I’ll put my experience as a civil and criminal litigator to good use because our courts offer the most immediate and impactful tool for halting unconstitutional executive disorders. Look at this chart of EOs and agency actions stopped by over two dozen injunctions. Congress must use every lawful means necessary to protect the American people and our Constitution.
My Task Force colleagues and I need to hear about the local impacts of these actions. If you have a story of someone losing healthcare, losing their job, or other earned benefits please contact my office – we want to hear from you.
Back in the Bay
This week, we were on the ground in the district, hearing from community members about how proposed federal cuts and other actions could affect us – from community colleges to research labs. What’s clear is whether you’re teaching in a college classroom, providing lifesaving medical care, operating a space program, recent executive orders will bring disruptive impacts throughout our community. These convenings make me a better advocate for our community in Washington. They also continue to make me appreciate the wonderful uniqueness of our community – in a single day, my visits brought me to the world’s straightest object (the two-mile Stanford Linear Accelerator), the world’s largest wind tunnel (at NASA’s Ames Research Laboratory), the world’s brightest laser (also at SLAC), and some out of this world tacos. On the move this week, I took time between visits to offer “Sip with Sam” and updated you all about the GOP’s proposed plans for Medicaid.
Photo Finish
This week, we opened our satellite district office in Half Moon Bay. We gathered local leaders and neighbors, and they shared concerns relating to infrastructure, housing affordability, and DOGE-related disruptions to schools, health care, and disaster preparedness. I’m very grateful to County Supervisor Ray Mueller and his team for making room for us at his office at 270 Capistrano Road in Half Moon Bay – I encourage Coastside residents to come by Tuesdays and Thursdays if there’s anything you need. In the next two weeks, look out for more office openings as we finalize leases.
Sam's Reading Corner
- President Donald Trump and DOGE’s Elon Musk have recently asserted that “tens of millions” of people have improperly received social security checks – a claim that has no factual basis, as the New York Times recently revealed.
Sincerely,
Sam