WASHINGTON D.C. (KEYT) – On Thursday, members of California's Congressional delegation hosted a press conference regarding the impact of the Trump Administration's expansion of oil and natural gas development in previously protected waters.

The U.S. Department of Interior announced its plans to replace the existing offshore leasing program in the outer continental shelf in November of last year with an expansive program that would open up over one billion acres of currently protected ocean environment to leasing and development.

Under Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Secretary of Interior is required to approve a five-year schedule for oil and gas leases in federal waters.

November's announcement would terminate existing restrictions under the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program approved during the Biden Administration and includes at least 34 potential offshore lease sales including six along the Pacific coast.

"Offshore oil and gas production does not happen overnight. It takes years of planning, investment, and hard work before barrels reach the market," noted Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum back in November.

In total, an area of approximately 1.27 billion acres will be opened to oil and gas lease sales including 21 areas off the coast of Alaska and seven in the Gulf Coast region.

In January of 2025 at the end of the his administration, President Biden approved federal protection for over 600 million acres of open ocean in the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf Coast, and Arctic regions which withdrew those areas from future leasing using two Presidential Memoranda.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on July 4 of this year by President Trump and required changes to leasing opportunities along the outer continental shelf.

The six proposed leases along the California coast would be the first attempt to develop those areas for oil and gas extraction in over 40 years.

"Despite clear opposition from public officials, environmental experts, and residents across our state, the Administration has proposed to sell California’s coastline to Big Oil," stated Congressman Salud Carbajal in November. "Trump’s plan puts delicate marine ecosystems at risk and threatens the public health of coastal communities across the West Coast – all so oil executives can line their pockets. The Central Coast knows the devastating consequences of oil spills fi

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By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — Every Justice Department or FBI employee who worked on the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump has been fired, resigned, or took early retirement, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday.

“There is not a single man or woman at the Department of Justice who had anything to do with those prosecutions,” Blanche said during a fireside chat at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC.

At the Justice Department, Blanche said, that number amounts to “over 200” people. CNN has not independently verified that number.

Since the second Trump administration began, the Justice Department and FBI have gutted several offices whose work touched on high-profile cases, included the two prosecutions of Trump led by former special counsel Jack Smith. Both cases that Smith brought against Trump — one for retention of classified records and a second for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — were dropped before Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Their ousting fulfilled a Trump campaign promise: to rid the department of what he claimed was “weaponization” of justice against him and his supporters.

The firings have affected dozens of lawyers, FBI agents, and various members of support staff, CNN has reported.

In some cases, the employees received termination letters that said they couldn’t be “trusted” to “faithfully” implement Trump’s agenda because of their involvement in his prosecutions.

“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. The proper functioning of government critically depends on the trust superior officials place in their subordinates,” then-acting Attorney General James McHenry wrote in one such letter in early 2025. “Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

Most recently, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen employees involved in the classified documents investigation.

The move was part of a wider internal investigation into actions taken in Smith’s investigation, which he launched after discovering records that showed the FBI used subpoenas to obtain his communication records and the communications of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

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By Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — A gang of top senators from both parties are engaged in a furious push to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, with GOP leaders describing the current round of talks as their “last and final offer” for Democrats to take the deal.

At least some Democrats are feeling positive about the latest GOP counteroffer – which would fund the vast majority of DHS but exclude new money for ICE enforcement and removal operations – but are still seeking clarification on language, including how to ensure money for Customs and Border Protection and other parts of DHS can’t be used for such operations, according to multiple people familiar with the talks. Another source said the offer included at least some provisions to rein in ICE, such as body-worn cameras.

Publicly, however, Republicans and Democrats are refusing to say what details are being discussed — a potential sign of progress after nearly six weeks of stalled talks, in which Democrats have swiftly rejected every other GOP proposal. But multiple sources involved in the talks also acknowledged that things could go south quickly, especially if President Donald Trump were to weigh in at the last minute.

At stake is a 41-day standoff over funding for DHS that has withheld pay for thousands of TSA agents and other DHS workers, causing major travel delays and scores of missed flights nationwide. Frustration on Capitol Hill has hit new levels this week and GOP leaders are pushing hard to end the impasse by Thursday night, given that senators have an upcoming two-week Easter and Passover recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, however, said the Senate would “probably” cancel the start of its recess and remain in Washington, even through the weekend, if no deal is reached.

A group of key Democrats, including Sens. Patty Murray, Brian Schatz, Chris Coons and Dick Durbin, were seen huddled on the floor Thursday with the Republican negotiator on the issue, Sen. Katie Britt. And while some Democrats made clear that the GOP’s latest offer wasn’t enough for them, multiple others told CNN they are still going through it.

“The Dems have the text in front of them. But it’s important that we try and close this down and get it done today,” Thune told reporters.

Republicans, Thune said, had made what he called their “last and final” offer to Democrats.

“The Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final. So let’s hope this gets it done,” he said.

Even if the Senate comes to an agreement, the House would still need to pass any deal that emerges from the Senate, which could result in its own headache for Trump and GOP leaders.

At the start of the week, Senate Republicans projected confidence that they had a new plan that would end the stalemate. They proposed funding DHS except for a small portion of the immigration enforcement budget, in a concession to Democrats. And they planned to try to pass a party-line bill to fund the rest of ICE later. But the plan ran into resistance from Senate Democrats, who continued to demand more changes to ICE tactics and practices.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters said Thursday he’s been involved in “productive” funding talks, even as he stopped short of saying there had been movement in the negotiations.

Asked if the GOP offer this morning was helpful, he said, “There’s been lots of stuff going back and forth. So, I’m not gonna talk about any one offer versus another.”

He didn’t have a timeframe for a deal but said he doesn’t expect people to leave without one.

The goal of the talks, Peters said, would