U.S. House of Representatives
Elections California's 31st congressional district became more favorable to the
Democratic Party as a result of redistricting following the
2010 census. The
Cook Partisan Voting Index rates the district D+5. In January 2012, Aguilar announced he would run for the seat held by incumbent Republican
Gary Miller. Although the top Democratic vote-getter, with 22.6% of the vote, he finished behind Miller and
Robert Dutton, the
California State Senate Republican Leader. Because of California's open primary, both Republicans advanced to the November general election. In March 2013, Aguilar announced he would run again. In the June 2014 primary, he finished second, qualifying for the November
2014 general election, where he defeated Republican
Paul Chabot with 51.4% of the vote. Aguilar defeated Chabot again in the
2016 election with 56.1% of the vote. In the 2018 primary, Aguilar faced Kaiser Ahmed and Sean Flynn, a Republican economist and aikido artist. Aguilar received 45.96% of the vote to Flynn's 45.45% and Ahmed's 8.59%. In the
2018 general election, Aguilar won 58.7% of the vote to Flynn's 41.3%. Aguilar won his 2020
election cycle with 61% of the vote, defeating Republican Agnes Gibboney. Aguilar was elected Vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Redistricting from the
2020 US census, placed Aguilar in the new
33rd CA house district. He defeated Republican John Mark Porter and won re-election during the
2022 election cycle. He was also elected as
House Democratic Caucus Chairman, becoming the highest ranking Latino-American in congress, in congressional history. Aguilar was re-elected in the
2024 election cycle. He defeated Republican Tom Hermon, a local real estate investor with 57.4% of the local vote. He is currently serving his 6th term in
Congress .
Legislation Aguilar's time in Congress has focused on immigration, job creation, trade practices,
gun control, national security, LGBT issues, veteran affairs, drug prevention, student loan debt, and environmental protection. Aguilar has supported legislation to attract individuals in the cybersecurity field to join the military; prevent discrimination against LGBT people by government contractors; provide funding for homeless veterans; and provide funding for research into opioid addiction. He has introduced the Grace Period Alleviation (GPA) Act, which would give college graduates an optional grace period before beginning to repay certain types of loans. With Senator
Dianne Feinstein and Representative
Paul Cook, Aguilar introduced legislation to protect the habitat along the
Santa Ana River. He has vowed to fight the repeal of the
Affordable Care Act and to protect women's reproductive rights. In addition, he has worked closely with law enforcement and local, state and federal officials and agencies to help communities recover costs incurred from the emergency response to the
2015 San Bernardino attack, which took place in Aguilar's district, and helped secure additional funding for survivors of the attack. ;Immigration During the
Obama administration, Aguilar supported expanding the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented children and creating the
Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. He introduced the Academic Success Centers and Education Networks for Dreamers (ASCEND) Act, which would establish grants for college and university programs and services to benefit undocumented students. Aguilar voted in favor of legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the U.S., citing national security concerns, but subsequently criticized President
Donald Trump's
Executive Order as "xenophobic" and said it sent a message of "hate and bigotry to the rest of the world." Aguilar criticized Trump and his staff for citing the
2015 San Bernardino attack in defending the executive order. In 2018, with Representative
Will Hurd, Aguilar authored legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and address border protection concerns. ;Job creation Aguilar released a job-creation initiative for his district that includes cutting taxes on small businesses, investing in infrastructure, expanding job-training programs, expanding
Pell Grants, increasing the
minimum wage, and equal pay for women. He has introduced a number of bills focusing on small businesses, including legislation to provide tax credits to small businesses for on-the-job training expenses, tax credits for small business for full-time newly hired employees, legislation to make it easier for small businesses to repay loans, and legislation making it easier for small businesses to advertise job openings. Aguilar annually hosts a jobs fair that connects job-seekers with employers in his district. In April 2017, he started a quarterly "Job For a Day" tour where he works throughout the Inland Empire doing jobs such as train conducting for Metrolink, sorting Goodwill donations, and bagging groceries at local markets. The tour's goal is to interact with community members directly and learn about local businesses' daily operations. In 2017, Aguilar introduced a bill that would provide active-duty service members and reservists access to training for commercial drivers’ licenses granted by the
FAST Act. He authored the Active Duty Voluntary Acquisition of Necessary Credentials for Employment (ADVANCE) Act and the OPPORTUNITY (Offering Promising Persons Occupations Relevant To Upholding National Interests For Years) Act, both of which Trump signed into law in 2018. The latter bill connects students of color with the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship program. ;Trade policy Aguilar introduced the Displaced Jobs Relief Act, which increases authorization of funds for the
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms program (TAA-F) to help businesses that have been negatively affected by trade. He has urged the
United States International Trade Commission to find that imported steel subsidized by
Korea,
Mexico and
Turkey creates unfair competition and hurts steel manufacturers in his district. ;Gun control Aguilar has advocated for reforms to curb gun violence by closing loopholes that terrorists have used to obtain guns and banning
assault weapons. After the 2016
Orlando nightclub shooting, Aguilar participated in the
2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in to show support for gun control legislation.
Investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol At the start of the
117th Congress, Aguilar was in the House Well, at the US Capitol building during the
January 6 United States Capitol attack. On July 1, 2021, Speaker Pelosi appointed eight House members, including Aguilar, to the
U.S. House Select Committee investigating the attack. After the announcement, Aguilar said of the committee and its investigation: "We owe them—and we owe the American people—a fair, thorough and evidence-based investigation into what happened that day so that we can ensure it never happens again." On June 16, 2022, Aguilar and John Wood, an investigative counsel for the Select Committee, led the committee's third televised hearing, focusing on Trump's efforts to pressuring
Mike Pence into decertifying the
2020 presidential election. The witnesses were
Greg Jacob, Pence's counsel, who told Pence he did not have the authority to decertify the election results, and
J. Michael Luttig, a retired conservative judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, who called Donald Trump and his allies and supporters "a clear and present danger to American democracy."
Committee assignments For the
118th Congress and
119th Congress: •
Committee on Appropriations •
Subcommittee on Defense •
Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Caucus memberships • Chair,
House Democratic Caucus •
Congressional Hispanic Caucus • Pro-Choice Caucus •
Congressional Equality Caucus • Latino-Jewish Caucus • Diabetes Caucus • Work for Warriors Caucus • Joint Strike Fighter Caucus • Veterans Jobs Caucus • Former Mayors Caucus • Wine Caucus • Native American Caucus •
Steel Caucus • Hunger Caucus •
New Democrat Coalition •
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus •
Climate Solutions Caucus Aguilar announced his candidacy for vice chair of the
Democratic Caucus in September 2018, but lost to
Katherine Clark by a vote of 144–90. By a vote of 148–82, he defeated
Robin Kelly for the no. 6 spot in the
House Democratic Caucus. The position became vacant after Clark decided to run for Assistant Speaker in the
House Democratic Caucus. Aguilar then became vice chair in the 117th Congress and voted in as chair in the 118th Congress.
Campaign finance Aguilar's top contributors throughout his career have been JStreet PAC, League of Conservation Voters, Credit Union National Association, Matich Corporation, and New World Medical. Since 2011, he has not contributed personally to his own campaign, and relies mostly on individual contributions from community members. He has obtained nearly $5.3 million in contributions from individuals (63.86% of total donations). Top donations are generally from Democrats, but also include lawyers and law firms, Leadership PACs, and labor unions. His total career campaign donations are $8.2 million. ==Political positions==