← All leaders · Leaders
Ro Khanna
CA · District CA-17
In plain English: Represents California District CA-17 in the U.S. House of Representatives. House members vote on federal laws and spending.
Term
2017-01-03 – 2027-01-03
Next election
2026-11-03Seeking reelection in CA-17 (Silicon Valley). Cook rates the race Solid D.
Running for
Not recorded
Committees
Vice Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus; Ranking Member, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems; Co-Chair, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans; Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party; Co-chair, Congressional Antitrust Caucus
Ro Khanna (D) represents California's 17th district (Silicon Valley) in the U.S. House, in office since Jan 3, 2017, after defeating eight-term incumbent Mike Honda in 2016. Born Rohit Khanna on Sept 13, 1976, in Philadelphia to Indian immigrant parents. He earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago (1998) and a J.D. from Yale Law School (2001), then served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Obama (2009-2011). He co-chaired Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign, is Vice Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and calls his philosophy "progressive capitalism" and "a new economic patriotism." He authored the Endless Frontier Act, the basis for the CHIPS and Science Act.
Bio source: https://www.cookpolitical.com/house/race/481901
1. Follow the money, in plain English
What we don’t have yet: verified donor records for this leader. Pending donor data source: will be backfilled; never estimated
Every money claim on this page carries its source and its confidence level; the full item-by-item money record is in the evidence below.
2. What they promised
Each promise is tracked against documented votes and actions. A status is set only from the record; where a promise has not been tested yet, the card says so.
- PROMISEOn the record
"While serving in Congress I pledge to reject contributions from political action committees (PACs) and lobbyists because I believe that we need to remove the influence of corporate money in politics. That is why I created the bipartisan Congressional No PAC Caucus." Also commits to working for term limits for the House and Senate.
- PROMISEOn the record
Became the first member of Congress to sign TrackAIPAC's PEACE Pledge: reject campaign contributions and political support from AIPAC, DMFI, and aligned groups; acknowledge Israel's genocide in Gaza; oppose military aid to any country whose security forces commit human-rights violations. His words: "It means that we shouldn't be sending our tax [money] for foreign wars overseas, we should be spending it here at home." TrackAIPAC subsequently endorsed him. Status so far: He submitted H.Con.Res. 87 on April 21, 2026, directing the President to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, and it was referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee. He voted Yea on H.Con.Res. 93 on September 15, 2026, a similar Iran war powers resolution, which passed the House 220-204.
- PROMISEOn the record
"Five things Democrats will do in January when we win back the House": increase the minimum wage, pass paid family leave, end the war in Iran, hold a vote on Medicare for All, tax the billionaires. Status so far: On the Iran item, he submitted H.Con.Res. 87 on April 21, 2026, to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, and voted Yea on H.Con.Res. 93 on September 15, 2026. On April 14, 2026, he proposed a 5% billionaire tax in remarks at the National Press Club.
3. The evidence
Everything on this page comes from the record below, grouped so you can find things: what they said, what they did, money and influence, and what happened after. Every item carries its date, its source, and the date we last verified it.
Open the full record ↓
What they said
- STATEMENT
"The question with Epstein is: Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the rich and powerful, or are you on the side of the people?" He promised to introduce the amendment "again and again and again."
- FACT
The House held a procedural vote that would have triggered a vote on Khanna's amendment requiring Attorney General Pam Bondi to preserve, compile and publish the Epstein files. The procedural motion to block it passed 211-210.
- FACT
Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in after a 50-day delay, the longest such delay after a special election, and signed the discharge petition the same day, supplying the 218th signature (4 Republicans, 214 Democrats) and forcing a floor vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Democrats alleged the delay was meant to stall the Epstein vote; Speaker Johnson said it had "zero to do with Epstein."
- FACT
H.R. 9694, the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, was introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie with Reps. Ro Khanna and Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM). It would let survivors, members of Congress, and state attorneys general sue the Attorney General over withheld or redacted records; give survivors unredacted access to records about themselves; and bar use of common-law privileges such as deliberative process to avoid disclosure.
- FACT
Khanna and Massie announced commitments for the 218 signatures needed on the Act II discharge petition. The petition formally stood at 216: every Democrat except Reps. John Garamendi and Adam Smith (out sick) had signed, plus four Republicans (Massie, Brian Fitzpatrick of PA, Ralph Norman of SC, Nancy Mace of SC). Massie said the two remaining Democrats pledged to sign when the House returned. The House had been sent home early and was not expected back until after the Nov 3 midterms.
- STATEMENT
"Thomas Massie and I have defied history a second time, securing commitments for 218 signatures on Epstein 2.0. Two Democrats were sick and will sign the day Johnson calls us back in."
- STATEMENT
On Act II: survivors "still don't have access to millions of documents that have been covered, and there have not been prosecutions here in the United States. And a lot of these state attorneys general want to prosecute, and this bill would allow them to do so."
- STATEMENT
"Trump has just launched an illegal, unconstitutional war in Iran. His promise was that we weren't going to get into more of these overseas wars, that he was going to help focus on building manufacturing here, building jobs here, supporting the needs of health care and child care and education of the American people." He said he and Rep. Thomas Massie had called for a vote on a bipartisan Iran war resolution.
- STATEMENT
"We have lost our way. Let us declare with courage and clarity that we reject this illegal and unjust war in Iran. Let us choose moral renewal over further moral decay."
- STATEMENT
"The war in Iran continues and Congress is on vacation until November. Gas prices are well over $4. Diesel prices are over $6. I'm demanding that Congress return to Washington and vote to end the war."
- STATEMENT
Laid out seven principles for democratic AI: keep humans in the loop, require large companies to bargain with workers, fix the tax code's anti-human bias, create an annual data dividend, and launch a Future Workforce Administration. Framing: "a new economic patriotism where we have a thriving middle class with good jobs in rural communities, factory towns, suburban neighborhoods and our urban centers."
- STATEMENT
"I'm not an AI accelerationist, I'm not an AI doomer, but I'm an AI democratist." Proposed a 5% billionaire tax, a national industrial bank, and a federally funded network of trade schools. Does not support a moratorium on data center construction.
- ALLEGATION
Gottheimer called Khanna's 2026 West Bank visit a "public relations stunt" and a "presidential campaign cameo." JCFA further claims Khanna declined requests to meet October 7 survivors and hostage families and bypassed the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. JCFA is a pro-Israel advocacy organization; this is an opponent's characterization, not Khanna's words.
- FACT
Jointly introduced with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) the Workers' Right To Compete Act, which would ban companies from imposing non-compete agreements on employees who make less than $100,000 a year, including pre-existing agreements within 30 days of passage.
- STATEMENT
Rebutting Vice President JD Vance's suggestion that an Epstein-files protester at a North Carolina rally was an undocumented immigrant: 'This may be hard to believe @JDVance, but many U.S. citizens want to see pedophiles in the Epstein files held accountable.'
What they did
- VOTE
H.R. 4405: Epstein Files Transparency Act Yea on On Passage (Passed 427-1; signed into law Nov 19, 2025 (Pub. L. 119-38))
- VOTE
H.Con.Res. 93: Iran war-powers resolution (Moulton) Yea on On Agreeing to the Resolution (Agreed 220-204 (Roll no. 307); referred to Senate Foreign Relations Sept 16, 2026)
- VOTE
H.R. 1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act Nay on On Passage (Passed 215-214)
Verification note: Position via third-party tracker, not directly from the House Clerk.
- VOTE
S. 5: Laken Riley Act Nay on On Passage (Passed)
Verification note: Position via third-party tracker, not directly from the House Clerk.
- VOTE
H.R. 30: Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act Yea on On Passage (Passed)
Verification note: Position via third-party tracker, not directly from the House Clerk.
- FACT
Introduced H.R. 4405, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). Passed the House 427-1 on Nov 18, 2025; signed into law Nov 19, 2025 (Public Law 119-38), giving the Attorney General 30 days to release unclassified Epstein records.
- FACT
Submitted H.Con.Res. 87, directing the President under section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran; referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Money and influence
- DATA UNAVAILABLE
Pending donor data source: will be backfilled; never estimated
No influences documented.
What happened after
- OUTCOME
The Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law (Public Law 119-38). The law gave the Attorney General 30 days to release the files (deadline Dec 19, 2025). DOJ declared compliance Jan 30, 2026, saying it published about 3.5 million pages; House Oversight Democrats say the department holds about 6 million documents. Status: completed
- OUTCOME
Defeated eight-term incumbent Democrat Mike Honda in the general election for CA-17, after first running for the seat in 2014. Status: completed
No ethics investigations, censures, or formal complaints against Khanna surfaced in the records checked.
Sources
- Cook Political Report: CA-17 2026 race page
- Wikipedia: Epstein Files Transparency Act
- NPR: Grijalva sworn in (Nov 12, 2025)
- MeidasTouch: 218 commitments (Sept 18, 2026)
- Dartmouth News: Khanna speech (Mar 2026)
- FMEP: legislative round-up (Sept 17, 2026)
- GovInfo: H.Con.Res. 87
- Fox News Digital (Oct 24)
- American Bazaar Online (Oct 19)
Evidence
Related receipts
No receipts filed for this leader yet.
Every factual item carries its source, date, and last-verified stamp. Items marked unavailable are genuinely missing. Never filled in.