As he launches a bid to become the next governor of California, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has embraced his most recent conflict with the Trump administration, touting himself as the president’s “most vocal critic.”
Throughout his congressional career,highly visible clashes with President Donald Trump have given Swalwell a national profile. He looks poised to continue that streak, repeatedly highlighting his tensions with the president as the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new examination against him this month.
“Nancy Pelosi selected me to lead the impeachment of a corrupt president. Californians will never bow the knee,” Swalwell said in a video posted on his website.
California’s current governor, Gavin Newsom, is term-limited in 2026.
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Highly visible clashes with President Donald Trump have given Swalwell a national profile. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
In a post to X, swalwell listed himself alongside other Democrats facing similar charges from the DOJ.
“Like james Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come – I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world,” Swalwell said.
His opposition to Trump stands out even as his record in the 119th Congress doesn’t jump off the page.
Notably, Swalwell has missed 16% of his votes since the beginning of the year, making him the 10th-most-absent member of the House of Representatives. He rarely breaks with the party, having voted against a majority of Democrats on just eight occasions since the outset of the session.He also hasn’t made much noise in fundraising this year, reporting a respectable yet unexceptional $1.4 million in the first three quarters of 2025.
SWALWELL THREATENS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ TO PRIVATE ACTORS WHO DEAL WITH TRUMP,HOPE IT ‘DETERS P