• The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation crafted by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and several of his colleagues to authorize funding the United States Coast Guard through 2026 and support for members of the service branch in their critical missions, according to a May 14 statement from Carbajal’s office. “Every single day, the Coast Guard goes to work on the broad range of missions that keep our nation and its citizens safe. They mind the safety of our seas and the security of our waters, protect our seafarers and our beachgoers, and reinforce our national defense,” Carbajal said. “As the top Democrat on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, I’m proud to continue our committee’s tradition of advancing bipartisan legislation that will have the back of our Coast Guard—providing the resources it needs to complete these missions, support infrastructure and safety upgrades, and improve the quality of life for our Coasties.” The bill also includes language to strengthen sexual assault and harassment protections for members of the Coast Guard, ensure greater accountability and transparency in the Coast Guard, and prevent Coast Guard Academy cadets from punishment when reporting an incident of sexual assault.
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and four others raised concerns to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission that Formula One (F1) may be violating U.S. antitrust laws in their refusal to allow the participation of an American team, Team Andretti Cadillac, in the F1 Championship series, according to a May 21 statement from Padilla’s office. The senators wrote that F1’s governance board may be illegally colluding with current F1 teams to limit the participation of Team Andretti Cadillac, which would be the first team to have an American-made car. To join F1, new teams must apply to both the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the sport’s regulator that evaluates their technical and financial capabilities, as well as F1 Management, the commercial entity that runs F1 and through which existing teams also have a say. Despite FIA approving Team Andretti Cadillac and deeming them the only applicant to meet their stringent criteria, F1 unilaterally denied their application instead of negotiating commercial terms, according to the statement. This raised concerns that F1’s members and sponsors may have colluded to exclude Andretti-Cadillac. “While F1 currently does not have an American-based team, F1 has been determined to increase its presence in the U.S. market,” the senators wrote in a letter. “We have serious concerns that the rejection of Team Andretti-Cadillac was based on a desire to exclude a rival from the racetrack, marketing opportunities, and prestige that competing in F1 can lend to a car manufacturer competing to sell cars across the globe.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the seizure of an estimated 5.8 million pills containing fentanyl statewide, including at ports of entry along the southern border since January, according to a May 28 statement from Newsom’s office. In April, the state helped seize more than 2.3 million fentanyl pills through the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force, which helps local and federal partners to seize fentanyl. “Illegal fentanyl has no place in our neighborhoods. California is tackling this problem head-on by holding drug traffickers accountable and increasing seizures, while at the same time expanding access to substance abuse treatment options and providing life-saving, affordable reversal medicine to Californians statewide,” Newsom said in the statement. Last year, Newsom increased the number of CalGuard service members deployed to interdict drugs at U.S. ports of entry along the border by approximately 50 percent. CalGuard’s coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California’s $30 million investment to expand CalGuard’s work to prevent drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations. Fentanyl is primarily smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens, according to the statement.
