Rancho Mirage – A day after President Trump proposed a budget that would be deeply cut by the federal government, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries swore Saturday that his party opposed cutting Medicaid, Social Security, veterans’ services and other security network programs.
“Currently, we are committed to doing everything we can to stop Republicans from trying to stop this reckless, extreme budget,” he told hundreds of people gathered at a high school performing arts center for the congressional hall. “This will harm children, families, seniors, women, and older Americans and people with disabilities. Hospitals will be closed, nursing homes may be closed, and in fact, people may die.”
Jeffries said the budget came from Trump’s out-of-control administration and described the proposal as non-American and unreasonable.
“We will do everything we can to stop the budget, bury it on the ground and make sure it will never rise again,” he said.
Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the National Republican Congress Committee, criticized Jeffries for his appearance at the Town Hall, calling him “delusional, destructive, and fallen into hypocrisy.”
The incident occurred in the Congressional district where one of Trump’s late rallies in the 2024 presidential election.
The event is the first stop of the National House Democratic Turnover and Policy Committee and is also a town hall hosted by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio).
Ruiz represents all areas of Empire County as well as parts of Riverside and San Bernardino County, including the Cathedral City, Indiana, Coachella, El Centro, Caresico, San Jacinto, Hemt and Needle. In recent elections, the region was seen as a safe and democratic one.
But earlier this year, the nonpartisan chef political report saw it as “a possible democracy” due to Trump’s performance in the region in the 2024 election. In 2024, the president won 10 California counties, voted in favor of Biden in the last election, including three in Southern California, and lost to former Vice President Kamala Harris of the Ruiz area with few two points.
Ruiz is going to outperform his Democrats, winning by 13 points. But the game could be more competitive in 2026, depending on the GOP Congress candidate is next year’s midterm elections and whether the party puts resources behind him or her.
Ruiz, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, was particularly concerned about potential cuts in Medicaid, which provides health insurance for low-income Americans and is known in California as Medi-Cal because of his experience as a doctor.
“I have anxiety because many of the patients I care for are in health care, and I know that without Medi-Cal they wouldn’t be treated and even in the more terrible situations, they would be in the emergency room.”
He believes that cutting Trump’s proposed budgets is so large that they cannot be formulated without Medicaid cuts. Ruiz said the Inland Empire Health Plan told him that three hospitals in his area might have to be closed if there is a lot of Medicaid.
“So, if you don’t have Medicaid, where are you going? If there is an emergency, where are you going to go for chronic care?” Ruiz said. “So, it affects all of us.”
Ruiz’s comments are in response to listeners’ questions about health care. Other inquiries involved deportation, due process, social security, and cuts to federal departments, including the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Education.
The City Hall also chaired the co-chair of the Turning and Policy Committee, Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro), and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (DN.M.), chairman of the House Democratic Women’s Review. The latter pleaded enthusiastically on the effects of the federal cuts on women who rely on Medicare during pregnancy and their children.
“When these babies are born, we want them to be born strong and healthy,” Leger Fernández said. “Then those kids will go to school, and we want to make sure they aren’t hungry, right? Because kids can’t know where their stomachs are roaring. … But now, Medicaid, nutrition programs, education, are all laid off…so that they can give them trillions of dollars in tax breaks.”
Jeffries said the effort was part of a broader attack on the state and democracy, which is why the Democrats held not only town halls in their party areas, but also in areas represented by Republicans.
“Congress is an independent and equal branch of the administration,” he said. “We don’t work for this president. We don’t work for any president. We don’t work for Donald Trump. We don’t work with Elon Musk. We don’t work for the far-right extremists. We do it for you, the American people.”
