International High Level Radioactive Waste Management (IHLRWM 2025)

Representative Mike Levin

California's 49th Congressional District

U.S. House of Representatives

Representative Mike Levin is proud to represent California's 49th Congressional District, which includes North County San Diego and South Orange County.

Currently serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives, Mike is a member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, where he serves on the Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. Throughout his time in Congress, more than thirty-two of his bills have been signed into law by presidents of both parties.

Mike was raised in South Orange County and attended local elementary and junior high schools. He spent his high school years at Loyola High in Los Angeles, and went on to study at Stanford University, where he served as the Student Body President. Upon graduation from Stanford, Mike served as a Coro Fellow and then attended Duke University School of Law.

Prior to being elected to Congress in 2018, Mike fought for climate action while working as an environmental attorney. He also served on the board of the Center for Sustainable Energy and co-founded Sustain OC, helping accelerate the transition toward more sustainable power generation and transportation alternatives.

As a Member of Congress, some of Mike’s top priorities are combating climate change, protecting our natural resources, and capitalizing on the economic benefits of a sustainable energy future. He has led legislation to transition the United States to zero emission vehicles, ban new offshore drilling along the coast of Southern California, responsibly develop renewable energy on public lands, and much more. He is a Vice Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), the leading House caucus focused on issues related to environmental protection, climate change, and clean energy.

Throughout his career, Levin has been a passionate leader on environmental protection, clean energy, and combating climate change.

Another priority for Mike is increasing oversight and accountability at the decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) and moving the onsite spent nuclear fuel out of the region as quickly and safely as possible. Mike established a local task force upon arriving to Congress to formulate policy recommendations to address the hazardous waste. He is the founding Member and Co-Chair of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group to drive progress on the safe storage, transportation, and disposal of nuclear fuel across the country. He has also led bipartisan legislation to prioritize the removal of spent nuclear fuel from environmentally sensitive sites like San Onofre and mandate resident inspectors at decommissioning nuclear power plants during sensitive activities.

Mike continues to be an outspoken advocate for removing the spent fuel from San Onofre. He is the founding Member and Co-Chair of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus.

Mike is also a leader on legislation to support veterans and their families. As the grandson of a World War II veteran and the representative of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Mike is an advocate for service members and veterans who have sacrificed for our country. He has fought to protect the Department of Veterans Affairs from privatization efforts and has passed laws to improve veterans’ health care and services, expand job opportunities for those who have served, and provide stable, affordable housing to homeless veterans.

Before joining the House Appropriations Committee, Mike proudly served as the lead Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. During his four years as Chair, the Subcommittee was one of the most productive in Congress, with 70 bills passing into law to serve veterans. Mike sponsored one of the most consequential pieces of legislation signed for veterans in recent years, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, which strengthened and expanded a wide range of veterans’ benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Mike continues his steadfast support of our service members by fighting to fund critical programs to improve veterans’ healthcare and protect veterans’ financial future and wellbeing.

Mike has brought tens of millions of dollars in federal funds to improve the region’s infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

From day one in Congress, Mike has prioritized bringing federal funding to San Diego and Orange County to support projects that improve his constituents’ lives. Since 2019, Mike has brought home more than $1 billion in federal funding to the 49^th District, including tens of millions of dollars in federal funds to improve the region’s infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He has also secured millions of dollars to build up our beaches, diversify and strengthen our local water supply, fund our schools, and improve the quality of life for service members on Camp Pendleton.

Mike has also championed efforts to expand access to affordable health care, combat food insecurity, preserve Social Security and Medicare, prevent gun violence, and protect a woman's right to choose. Mike is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and, as the grandson of immigrants from Mexico, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Mike holds monthly town halls to keep his constituents informed and answer their questions.

Mike lives in San Juan Capistrano with his wife, Chrissy, and their two children.