California Lawmakers Push Back at Trump’s State of the Union

 

By Santa Clarita Star Staff

03/5/2025 at 5:30 PM

 

At Trump’s State of the Union, California lawmakers, including Rep. George Whitesides and Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, pushed back against proposed federal job cuts and reductions to Social Security, Medicare, and disaster relief funding by inviting impacted workers and first responders as guests. Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo held a press conference in Sacramento, warning that these cuts could have devastating consequences for California’s communities.

 

 

SANTA CLARITA — At Trump’s State of the Union, California lawmakers, including Rep. George Whitesides and Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, pushed back against proposed federal job cuts and reductions to Social Security, Medicare, and disaster relief funding by inviting impacted workers and first responders as guests. Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo held a press conference in Sacramento, warning that these cuts could have devastating consequences for California’s communities.

 

President Trump's first State of the Union address was on March 4, and Democrats had different ways to protest Donald Trump. Democratic men in Congress wore blue and yellow ties in solidarity with Ukraine. Democratic women wore bright pink. Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA27), who represents Santa Clarita Valley, not only wore a blue and yellow-striped tie, but he invited as his guest Jasmin Dominguez from Lancaster, who was recently laid off from the Forest Service as a part of the Trump Administration's firing of thousands of federal workers. Congressman Whitesides spoke to Dominguez just before the State of the Union.

 

"Jasmin has a unique story," Rep. Whitesides said in a video for social media. "She has worked super hard to save our communities during the recent fires - the Hughes Fire and the Hearst Fire - and other fires. And she was unjustly and illegally terminated under these crazy DOGE terminations that are sweeping across government, hurting our local communities, hurting our readiness to fight fires."

 

"I really wanted to be a part of fire operations, and I really wanted to support our forests and our communities," Dominguez told Whitesides, reflecting on her work for the Forest Service.

 

California's two United States Senators invited two firefighters as their guests, sending a message to President Trump not to forget about the state after the devastating fires in Los Angeles County.

 

Sen. Alex Padilla brought Frank Líma, a longtime Los Angeles City fire captain and the general secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Fire Fighters. 

 

"President Trump, do not forget about Los Angeles," Sen. Padilla said, standing next to Capt. Líma in a video he posted on social media. "Do not forget about firefighters and other first responders who are counting on federal assistance to rebuild and recover from the devestating fires in January."

 

Sen. Adam Schiff brought Capt. Vincent Culliver, a 25-year federal firefighter for the Vandenberg Space Force Base Fire Department and president of the union of the International Association of Firefighters, to the base. 

 

"My years in the fire service have been a long 25 years in October, and going into the Eaton Fire was not different than any year we get sent to a lot of fires down south," Capt. Culliver said in a video on social media. "We spent 12 days on the Eaton Fire, protecting homes, doing structured defense, and going house to house. Unfortunately, we watched some homes burned, and then we saved quite a bit."

 

During President Trump's speech, some Democratic lawmakers interrupted with protest signs and verbal objections. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) confronted Trump at one point and was escorted from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms by order of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. 

Since his re-election, President Trump has pushed for deep federal budget cuts, including reduced aid for farmers, layoffs of federal employees, and changes to social safety net programs. His administration has also faced criticism for its approach to foreign policy and governance. During Trump's speech, the mood in Washington reflected this reality.

 

President Trump has promised not to touch Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, but the Republican budget will result in billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid. The budget plan requires that the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to identify at least $880 billion in mandatory spending cuts over the next decade. That number is so large that Republicans would have to significantly reduce Medicaid spending to meet it. Medi-Cal gets a significant amount of its funding through Medicare. Additionally, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been significantly reducing the federal workforce in the Social Security Administration. Martin O'Malley, the former commissioner of the SSA under President Biden, told CNBC that the terminations could lead to the "collapse" of the Social Security system "within the next 30 to 90 days." 

 

Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, alongside healthcare professionals and veteran advocates, held a press conference in Sacramento on the day of Trump's State of the Union address to advocate for the protection of Social Security, Medicare, and Medi-Cal. The majority of Medi-Cal funding comes from Medicare.

 

"We know that if cuts are made to these vital programs that millions of people in our state depend on, that our tax dollars go to pay for, that it will be devastating to communities across California," Schiavo said. "As a former nurse advocate, as a daughter of a veteran, and as chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, I am deeply aware of how much damage these cuts would cause, and the deep impact they would have on our families."

 

Trump’s State of the Union address marked a sharp divide between his administration’s policies and the concerns raised by Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups. As his proposed budget moves through Congress, debates over federal job cuts, social safety net programs, and disaster relief funding are expected to intensify. Meanwhile, Democrats, including Rep. Whitesides and California’s senators, continue to push back, calling for protections for federal workers and expanded aid for communities affected by recent wildfires.