REPLACING:

Laphonza Butler (D)

WORK HISTORY:

U.S. House of Representatives (Member, CA-30 / CA-28 / CA-29 / CA-27); California State Senate (Member, District 21); Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California (Prosecutor); Office of U.S. District Court Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr. (Clerk); Attorney[i]

EDUCATION:

JD, Harvard University; BA, Stanford University; Diploma, Monte Vista High School[ii]

CAMPAIGNED ON:

Restoring the Vote; Making Our Government Work for Us; Reforming the Supreme Court; Making Childcare Affordable; Increasing Competition & Reducing Costs; Creating a Robust Care Economy; Making Our Tax System Fairer; Expanding the Social Safety Net for Vulnerable Families; Lowering the Cost of Education; Addressing California’s Housing Affordability Crisis; Helping Californians Experiencing Homelessness; Investing in Renewable Energy & Decarbonization; Reducing Energy Costs & Increasing Energy Resiliency; Reducing Our Transportation Sector Carbon Emissions; Creating Green Jobs & Ensure a Just Transition; Greening Our Public Spaces, Particularly Environmental Injustice Impacted Urban Communities; Improving California’s Water Infrastructure; Mitigating Wildfires & Their Impact; Cleaning Up Environmental Hazards; Conserving Our Natural Ecosystem[iii]

ON THE ISSUES

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS:

Schiff supports reproductive freedom and believes the right to an abortion should be enshrined in federal law.[iv] He has cited the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as a reason to expand the number of justices from nine to 13.[v] In Congress, Schiff co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023 and the My Body, My Data Act of 2023, which protected abortion providers and women’s sensitive medical data related to reproductive and sexual health, respectively.[vi] [vii] [viii] [ix]

IMMIGRATION & BORDER SECURITY:

Schiff has argued that the government needs to “get control of the border” and has advocated for more personnel and technology to assist with border patrol. However, he believes that increased border security does not have to mean that migrants cannot be treated humanely, arguing, “We can have both a strong border but also treat people as human beings.”[x] He has criticized federal policies that detain migrants, calling conditions at some detention centers “incredibly disturbing.” Schiff has supported increased funding for additional judges and interpreters at immigration courts, more resources to enhance border inspections, and expanded humanitarian aid for asylum seekers.[xi] He also supports efforts to keep immigrant families together, including the Biden administration’s executive action that allowed 550,000 immigrant spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to access a pathway to citizenship.[xii] Additionally, Schiff co-sponsored the U.S. Citizenship Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for certain DACA recipients and undocumented immigrants if they pass a background check and have worked in the country for at least five years.[xiii] [xiv] Schiff also co-sponsored the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, which would allow certain people to qualify for a green card if they’ve lived in the U.S. for at least seven years.[xv] [xvi]

ECONOMY & JOBS:

One of Schiff’s top priorities in Congress has been “building an economy that works for everyone.”[xvii] He has championed issues important to workers, including enacting paid family leave for all American families, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and ensuring women earn equal pay for equal work.[xviii] [xix] He has also supported the labor movement, standing with union workers on the picket lines in California and co-sponsoring the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would expand federal labor protections and the right to organize.[xx] [xxi] [xxii] Schiff has advocated for several policies he argues would increase competition and reduce costs, including enforcing and strengthening federal antitrust laws, imposing federal price-gouging regulations, prohibiting corporate use of stock buybacks to inflate share values, and banning non-compete, non-solicit, and no-poaching agreements.[xxiii] He also supports creating a “robust care economy” by funding care for the sick and elderly and making home care more affordable.[xxiv]

TAXES:

Schiff has worked to ensure the wealthiest Americans and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes.[xxv] He opposed the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which he labeled a “giveaway to the wealthy.”[xxvi] [xxvii] [xxviii] He has argued for returning the corporate tax rate to 35%, cutting taxes for the middle class, restoring the State & Local Tax (SALT) deduction for families making less than $400,000, expanding the Child Tax Credit and making it permanent, and fully funding the Internal Revenue Service to go after tax cheats.[xxix] He also introduced the Federal Gas Tax Suspension & Windfall Profits Tax Act, which would have temporarily suspended the excise tax on gasoline and imposed a 50% tax on the excess profits of certain large oil companies.[xxx] Schiff has pledged to continue to fight for a tax code that helps working people.[xxxi]

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY:

In Congress, Schiff has been a leader in the fight against gang violence. In 2007, he introduced the Gang Abatement & Prevention Act, which would create new criminal offenses and require harsher penalties for illegal gang members convicted of those crimes.[xxxii] While serving in the California State Senate, he co-authored the Schiff-Cárdenas Crime Prevention Act of 2000, landmark anti-gang legislation that provided funding for crime prevention among at-risk youth and young offenders.[xxxiii] Early in his career at the U.S. Department of Justice, Schiff prosecuted a Mexican drug cartel boss, indicted a former FBI agent accused of spying for Russia, went after corporate polluters, and established the first federal environmental crimes unit in the country.[xxxiv]

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

Schiff supports “bold climate action to mitigate the impacts of climate change on our economy, communities, and national security.”[xxxv] He has advocated for investing in renewable energy and decarbonization by ending federal subsidies for fossil fuel production and increasing federal support for clean energy innovation and tech innovation hubs.[xxxvi] In Congress, he co-sponsored the Green New Deal, which calls for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, creating millions of high-wage green economy jobs, ensuring clean air and water, and promoting environmental justice, among other provisions.[xxxvii] [xxxviii] He “strongly opposes” offshore drilling and has voted against efforts to weaken environmental protections.[xxxix]

FOREIGN POLICY:

Schiff has supported Israel in its fight against Hamas following the October 7 terrorist attack, arguing that Israel “has the right to defend itself” and that he couldn’t “see how there can be a lasting peace as long as a terrorist organization is governing Gaza and threatening to attack them over and over again.”[xl] However, he has also called on Israel to “make every effort to avoid civilian casualties” and remains committed to a two-state solution.[xli] In October 2024, Schiff said he would advise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iranian ballistic missile factories after Iran launched a barrage of missiles into Israel.[xlii] He has supported funding for Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which would provide $60 billion to aid in its war against Russia.[xliii] [xliv] [xlv] He has also advocated for using the hundreds of billions of dollars in seized Russian assets to help Ukraine defend itself.[xlvi] Schiff has criticized President Trump’s suggestion that he would allow Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” if NATO member countries didn’t contribute enough to the alliance, stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin “must be absolutely thrilled.”[xlvii]

HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL SAFETY NET:

Schiff believes every American deserves quality, affordable health care. He co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act, which would establish a national health insurance program administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and has advocated for “full implementation of the landmark Affordable Care Act.”[xlviii] [xlix] [l] In Congress, Schiff has secured millions of dollars in funding to improve and expand healthcare in his district, including funding to improve mental healthcare, upgrade healthcare facilities, and invest in first responder services.[li] He also voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered and capped the price of insulin for Medicare recipients at $35 per month.[lii] [liii] [liv] As a member of the California State Senate, he wrote a patient bill of rights “to provide patients recourse when health insurance companies deny them medical care they need.”[lv] Schiff supports expanding the social safety net for vulnerable families by expanding and strengthening Social Security, expanding eligibility and funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and expanding Medicaid eligibility.[lvi]

DEMOCRACY:

According to his campaign website, Schiff “has dedicated his career to safeguarding our democracy from the influence of special interests and threats of far-right extremism.”[lvii] He believes Republicans across the country are engaged in “an all-out assault on our democracy, enacting highly restrictive voter suppression and subversion laws designed to disenfranchise voters.”[lviii] He voted for the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would protect and enhance voting rights by ensuring equal access to the ballot box for all citizens.[lix] [lx] [lxi] Schiff also supports making Election Day a federal holiday, eliminating gerrymandering, and restoring voting rights to convicted criminals who have paid their debt to society.[lxii] Schiff has advocated for a number of government reforms, including abolishing the filibuster, prohibiting members of Congress from trading stocks, ending Citizens United, and abolishing the Electoral College.[lxiii] He has also called for expanding the Supreme Court, instituting term limits, and creating a code of ethics to hold Supreme Court Justices accountable.[lxiv] [lxv] Schiff led the first impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, securing the first ever bipartisan vote to impeach a sitting president. He also served as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the January 6^th Select Committee.[lxvi] [lxvii]

SOCIAL ISSUES:

Schiff supports LGBTQ+ equality and served as Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which works to further LGBTQ+ rights.[lxviii] [lxix] He is a co-sponsor of the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[lxx] [lxxi] In March 2024, he led dozens of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in schools, expressing concern “about the trajectory of continued bigoted and anti-trans rhetoric, attacks, and legislation sweeping across the country.”[lxxii] In April 2023, Schiff voted against the Protection of Women & Girls in Sports Act, which sought to ban trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports.[lxxiii] [lxxiv]