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This week, about 20 minutes into El Monte’s City Hall, San Dimas Melissa Morgan picked up the microphone and addressed Democrats of Congressman Gil Cisneros.
“You look very friendly, kind and nice,” Morgan said. “But I’m very angry. I’m very scared. I feel our democracy is at risk. …I hope you’re mad.”
Morgan’s voice has been stolen by saying that she has taken fear, that Social Security will be cut and the national park system will be ruined, and that after billionaire Elon Musk and government efficiency accessed Social Security numbers and employment history, Americans can be “on”;
“I hope Democrats match my anger and my fear,” she concluded. The packed room fell into applause.
The musk-led mass shootings of federal workers and the looming threat of Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security cuts have sparked anger and fear among Liberal voters they directed to lawmakers on both parties.
In California’s deep blue district, the town hall meeting has become an exodus session for voters tired of Trump, Musk and Democrat weaknesses. Lawmakers tried to show their anger and explain that as Republicans control their homes, the Senate and the White House, they can only do what they can.
“In the House of Representatives, the majority is in full control,” Cisneros said as the El Monte crowd muttered his grievances. “We’re in the minority so we can’t bring the bill to the floor to vote. The only person who makes that decision is the chair of the house. Whatever we do, he’s not going to move it forward.”
A small number of Republican officials who own the town hall are facing a raucous crowd. At the recent “Community Coffee” event in Yucca Valley, Big Bear Lake Rep. Jayobel Norte faced a constituency screaming, “There’s no king! King!” When Trump was mentioned. And this week, more than 25,000 people called City Hall with Kevin Killie (R-Locklin) of Northern California.
Most Republicans have not met their members recently, advised by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“They do this for the camera. We all know,” Johnson said. “I think it’s wise to not play right now.”
Republican lawmakers who don’t hold City Hall have seen the protest outside their district offices. This week, around 200 healthcare workers, their unions and their supporters protested potential cuts in mediacals as Medicaid is known in California.
Josephine Rios, a nursing assistant who worked for Kaiser Permanente in Orange County for seven years, said he attended the protest on behalf of Elijah, a seven-year-old grandson with cerebral palsy.
Rios said he was worried that a cut to Medi-Cal would make his medicine unruly. Rios said she felt betrayed by Kim, who voted in November.
“Leaving him would tie him up in the house,” Rios said. “Depriving him of his medicine is life-threatening.”
The budget blueprint that passed Congress this month calls for a expenditure cut of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion over the next decade. Trump has said he has no support for Medicaid cuts, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that cost cuts of that scale can only be achieved through such cuts.
Democratic leaders hope that they can draw out fierce rage against Trump, Musk and Doge to help the party seize their homes in the 2026 midterm elections. However, the party must first overcome the historically bad popularity rating.
One CNN poll conducted in early March showed that 29% of Americans had a positive view of Democrats, starting from 33% in January.
Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz said in a new episode of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast that aired Tuesday, the reason Democrats’ popularity is due to a loss of trust among members of their own party.
“The Democrats are united. They are united by being mad at Democrats,” Waltz said. He added, “They are united in that Donald Trump’s policies will hurt people.”
Doris Anderson, 81, turned his back on Cisneros and told the city hall crowd that voters should start economic boycotting businesses like Amazon. Billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, helped bankroll Trump’s inauguration.
“Congress, they have only limited things they can do, but you can stop spending,” Anderson said.
By the end of town hall, Caime Wales, 26, of Raverne, said, “Can you list one action you and the Democrats in Congress? In plain English, there is no story, and the philosophers. What is a one action?”
Cisneros said he opposed musk and government efficiency from the floor of the house. (In one speech, he described Musk’s efforts as a “coup.”) And he said he joined the Democrats who took Trump in the president’s joint speech to Congress.
Part of the problem is that some of the ingredients didn’t ask what the Democrats were doing, while others felt they didn’t go as far as to the point.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it?” said Cisneros, which has West Covina, El Monte, Baldwin Park and Glendora. “People want action, but when they see this action they say, “Well, that’s not enough.”
Patrick Fernandez of Raverne told Cisneros that Democrats “coated candy” and “we’re afraid of calling things theirs.” He said, “It harms not only us, but us, at this moment — it harms later generations who look back at this moment.”
“Why are we treating this moment as ‘we might vote in the medium term’? “Fernandez said. “As I say, we can’t deposit our banks in the medium term as the Nazis and his criminal hackers are raiding federal buildings. That’s not normal. It’s a coup.”
“I agree with you 100%,” replied Cisneros. “Our message wasn’t good.”
Members of the crowd began to wrap around him again.
Times staff writer Andrew Campa contributed to this report.
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