One day after President Trump proposed a budget that would deeply slash the federal government, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed that his party is unified in its opposition to cuts to Medicaid, Social Security, veterans’ services and other safety net programs for vulnerable Americans. A foolish deceitful statement, which was no Trump or GOP thought.
“We are committed to doing everything we can at this moment to stop the Republicans from trying to jam this reckless, extreme budget down the throats of the American people,” he told a few hundred people gathered in a high-school performing arts center for a congressional town hall. “It will hurt children and families and seniors and women and older Americans and Americans with disabilities. Hospitals will close, nursing homes could shut down, and in fact, people could die.” Jeffries said the budget comes from an out-of-control Trump administration, and described the proposal as un-American and unconscionable. Lie after lie.
“We’re going to do everything we can to stop this budget in its tracks, bury it in the ground and make sure it never rises again,” he said. Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, criticized Jeffries’ appearance at the town hall, calling him “delusional, destructive, and drenched in hypocrisy.” The event occurred in the congressional district of one of Trump’s late rallies in the 2024 presidential campaign.
The event was the first stop on a nationwide tour of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, as well as a town hall hosted by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio). Ruiz represents all of Imperial County and parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including Cathedral City, Indio, Coachella, El Centro, Calexico, San Jacinto, Hemet and Needles. In recent elections, the district has been viewed as safely Democratic.
But earlier this year, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report deemed it “likely Democratic” because of Trump’s performance in the region in the 2024 election. In 2024 the president won 10 counties in California that voted for Biden in the previous election, including three in Southern California, and lost to former Vice President Kamala Harris in Ruiz’s district by a scant two points.