California’s Coastal Commission has officially apologized to Elon Musk, and this apology goes beyond a simple press statement or informal acknowledgment. It is part of a signed, court-enforceable federal settlement.
During an October 2024 hearing regarding SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch program at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the commissioners voted against a U.S. Air Force proposal to expand the launch schedule, clearly stating their reasons for the decision.
Chairwoman Caryl Hart declared Musk had “aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and made it clear what his point of view is,” while Commissioner Gretchen Newsom accused him of “hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods, and attacking FEMA.” At that time, Musk was providing free Starlink internet access to hurricane victims in areas where FEMA had struggled to reach.
These were not random remarks; they were the official reasoning of government regulators prior to casting their votes.
SpaceX then filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Commission violated the U.S. Constitution, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the California Coastal Act by rejecting a federal proposal due to bias against Musk’s political views rather than based on regulatory standards. In response to the situation, the U.S. Air Force did not wait for the courts to make a decision; instead, it exercised its federal authority to continue with the expanded launch schedule despite the Commission’s objections, effectively asserting federal jurisdiction.
The settlement was made public on April 28, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. California Attorney General Rob Bonta approved it on April 16. The apology in the agreement is clear and straightforward:
“The Commission acknowledges that Commissioners made statements, including during their October 10, 2024, hearing on the Base’s Falcon 9 launch program, that showed political bias against SpaceX and its Chief Executive Officer and were improper. The Commission apologizes for those statements.”
In addition with that language is a binding restriction that states the Commission “specifically agrees that it will not take into account the perceived political beliefs, political speech, or labor practices of SpaceX or its officers” in any regulatory action going forward, making that limitation explicit and enforceable.
The permitting concession is also quite important. Under federal Coastal Zone Management Act determinations, the Commission cannot require a Coastal Development Permit for SpaceX’s launch operations at Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complexes 4 and 6. The Commission retains limited authority over certain off-base activities, such as beach closures. Each party will cover its own legal costs, and the agreement includes a standard no-admission-of-liability clause, which does not alter the substance of the outcome.
It’s notable that no judge forced the Commission to apologize; it was issued voluntarily. Musk won outright, in other words, because it was obvious that the actions of the lunatic leftists on the California Commission were grossly political in nature, not rooted in law or statutory requirements, which is typical for the Domestic Terrorism Party.