California’s Democratic senators are making a full-throttle push to quash an amendment working its way through Congress that would give a lifeline to a contentious oil pipeline in their home state.
Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff want to kill a provision in the House’s defense policy bill that lawmakers adopted by a single vote last week, mostly along party lines, that would allow the Pentagon to seize land along the Santa Ynez pipeline system in central California.
The amendment, sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt, would empower the Trump administration to keep oil flowing to California users — including military installations — after an 11-year stoppage following a spill.
“This amendment is a power grab that threatens both states’ rights and California’s coastline and environment,” Padilla said in a statement. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t become law.”
