James Varni Panetta (/pəˈnɛtə/ pə-NEH-tə; born October 1, 1969) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Navy intelligence officer from the state of California.

He joined the United States Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer and completed a tour of duty in the War in Afghanistan in 2007 while attached to Joint Special Operations Command, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.

[13][failed verification] House Democrats selected him to be a regional whip for Northern California, the Central Coast, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Islands.

[14] Twice, in 2018 and in 2019, Panetta introduced a bill commonly stylized as the KITTEN Act, a legislative proposal to curtail certain types of animal testing.

[17] In February 2023, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Panetta signed a letter advocating for President Biden to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

[31] In 2022, Panetta was one of 16 Democrats to vote against the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.