One of the central arguments of this publication is that a formal Pacifica governance compact — a West Coast bloc operating independently from a hostile federal government — is a plausible near-term development, not a distant fantasy. It turns out we may have underestimated the timeline. The governors are already doing it.
What follows is the documented record of joint action by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek since the beginning of 2025. We present it without editorial embellishment. The record speaks clearly enough on its own.
The Timeline
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Constitutional Defense · National Guard
Joint condemnation of Trump's National Guard deployment in Los Angeles
When President Trump federalized California's National Guard without Governor Newsom's consent during Los Angeles immigration protests, Ferguson and Kotek joined a Democratic Governors Association statement calling it "an alarming abuse of power" and a threat to state authority. Newsom simultaneously filed Newsom v. Trump in federal court. The three governors stood publicly and explicitly together on a direct challenge to federal executive authority over state military forces.1
Newsom / CA
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
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Public Health · Science Independence
Joint condemnation of RFK Jr.'s dismissal of the CDC vaccine advisory panel
All three governors issued a joint statement condemning HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s dismissal of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — the 60-year-old expert body that sets national vaccine recommendations. The governors declared they had "grave concerns about the integrity and transparency of upcoming federal vaccine recommendations" and pledged to continue collaborating to ensure science-based public health policy in their states regardless of federal action.2
Newsom / CA
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
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Parallel Institution · Public Health
Formation of the Western Health Alliance
The three governors formally created the Western Health Alliance — a new regional public health institution with the explicit mandate to develop its own immunization guidelines independent of a CDC they described as having "become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science." This is the most structurally significant action on the timeline: it is not a protest statement. It is the creation of a parallel institution designed to replace a federal one in a specific policy domain.3
Newsom / CA
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
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Coastal & Economic Defense
Joint formal opposition to offshore drilling on the West Coast
Newsom, Ferguson, and Kotek submitted a coordinated formal comment letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opposing any new offshore oil and gas lease sales along the California coast. The letter argued the plan threatened the West Coast's coastal economy, marine ecosystems, fishing, shipping, and tourism industries. In a pointed line from Newsom's office: "If offshore drilling is too dangerous for Mar-a-Lago, it's too dangerous for working families on our coasts."4
Newsom / CA
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
-
International Agreement · Climate
California signs climate and energy memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom
Governor Newsom signed a formal climate and energy agreement — a memorandum of understanding — directly with the United Kingdom, covering clean energy, carbon pricing, and climate adaptation. President Trump called it "inappropriate" for the UK to be dealing with a state governor. The agreement is notable not only for its substance but for its form: a U.S. state conducting independent foreign policy with a sovereign nation, over the objection of the sitting president.5
Newsom / CA
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Regional Infrastructure
Ferguson and Kotek commit jointly to $7.65B Interstate Bridge replacement
Washington and Oregon governors issued a joint commitment to proceed with the core elements of the Interstate Bridge replacement — a $7.65 billion project connecting Portland and Vancouver on I-5. The project faces a significant federal funding gap, and both governors framed their commitment explicitly as a regional infrastructure decision independent of federal support. The bridge carries more than 143,000 vehicles daily and sits on seismically vulnerable foundations.6
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
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Climate Leadership · Multi-State
Ferguson appointed co-chair of US Climate Alliance; Kotek joins executive committee
Washington Governor Ferguson was elevated to co-chair of the US Climate Alliance — the multi-state coalition launched in 2017 to maintain climate commitments in the absence of federal action. Oregon Governor Kotek simultaneously joined the Alliance's executive committee, the first time Oregon has held a leadership position. All three Pacifica governors now hold active leadership roles in the same multi-state climate governance body.7
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
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Immigration Resistance · Active Litigation
DOJ sues Washington and Oregon; Kotek orders continued defiance
The Department of Justice filed federal lawsuits against Washington and Oregon — along with Maine and Massachusetts — over state policies blocking ICE undercover license plates. Ferguson's response: "Judges across the country have found that DHS tactics routinely violate the Constitution. Our state will not facilitate that misconduct." Kotek then ordered Oregon's DMV to continue its pause on issuing undercover plates to ICE, directly and publicly defying the federal lawsuit in real time.8
Ferguson / WA
Kotek / OR
▸ What This Pattern Represents
Taken individually, each action is defensible as routine state politics — governors opposing a federal administration they disagree with. Taken together, the pattern is something more specific: the systematic construction of parallel governance capacity across health, environment, infrastructure, immigration, and international relations. This is not protest. It is institution-building.
What Is Still Missing
The Gap in the Record
What the three governors have not yet done is create a single overarching formal agreement tying these domains together — an explicit West Coast governance compact with defined shared institutions, a joint legislative framework, or a formal declaration of regional coordination. The Western States Pact of 2020 (COVID-era coordination) and the 2006 West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health are the closest historical precedents. Neither was as broad or as structurally significant as what the current pattern of action implies.
That missing piece — the formal compact — is precisely what November's electoral outcome would either make unnecessary (if Congress provides a democratic check on federal overreach) or make urgent (if it doesn't).
When California signs a climate treaty with a foreign country and the sitting president calls it "inappropriate," the question of what Pacifica is has already been partially answered. The governors just haven't named it yet.
The precedents matter here. The three states have created formal joint governance structures before — during COVID in 2020, on ocean health in 2006. Both times, a crisis provided the political cover for what would otherwise look like extraordinary executive action. The current crisis is slower-moving and more diffuse than a pandemic, but the cumulative effect on state governance capacity is arguably more severe.
The Western Health Alliance, in particular, deserves more attention than it has received. Creating a regional body to set independent vaccine guidelines is not a symbolic gesture. It is the establishment of a parallel public health authority with the explicit mandate to govern in the absence of trustworthy federal guidance. If that authority expands — to pharmaceutical approval coordination, to Medicaid administration, to healthcare exchange governance — the distance between where these three states are now and a functional independent health system narrows considerably.
Nobody in Sacramento, Olympia, or Salem is calling any of this Pacifica. They don't have to. The structure is accumulating regardless of what it's named.
Sources & References
- National Guard deployment / Kotek & Ferguson joint statement: KGW News, "Kotek, Ferguson join governors opposing Trump's National Guard move in LA" (June 8, 2025). kgw.com. See also: Wikipedia, Newsom v. Trump.
- Joint condemnation of ACIP dismissal: The Ashland Chronicle, "Northwest States Condemn Dismissal of CDC Vaccine Panel" (June 13, 2025). theashlandchronicle.com
- Western Health Alliance formation: OPB, "Oregon, Washington, California form health care alliance to protect vaccine access" (Sept. 3, 2025). opb.org; Governor of California official release. gov.ca.gov
- Joint offshore drilling opposition: Governor of California, "West coast governors united against Trump's disastrous offshore drilling plan" (Jan. 23, 2026). gov.ca.gov
- UK–California Climate and Energy Agreement: Wikipedia, UK–California Climate and Energy Agreement (signed Feb. 16, 2026). en.wikipedia.org; The Guardian, "Trump lashes out at California governor's green energy deal with UK."
- Interstate Bridge replacement joint commitment: OPB, "Interstate Bridge cost soars 140%" (March 17–18, 2026). opb.org; Governor Bob Ferguson official statement. governor.wa.gov
- US Climate Alliance leadership: US Climate Alliance, "Governors Ferguson and Meyer Appointed Co-Chairs; Governor Kotek Joins Executive Committee" (May 2026). usclimatealliance.org
- DOJ lawsuit / Oregon defiance: Washington Examiner, "Oregon to continue blocking undercover plates for ICE officers" (June 1, 2026). washingtonexaminer.com; OAN, "DOJ sues 4 Dem.-run states" (May 28, 2026).