OC Officials Sound Off On Federal Spending Freeze

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Three Orange County Democratic congressmen Thursday criticized a proposed freeze on federal spending earlier this week from the White House, calling it illegal.

"Let's be clear -- the funding provided was legal funding," Rep. Derek Tran, D-Garden Grove, said in an appearance with Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento. "Any impounding of that funding is unconstitutional."

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, told City News Service, "I can see President (Donald) Trump wants to cut back on government spending, but he needs to follow the law. Congress has a big say so and you can't just come in and cut. You can't take an ax and cut services. The defense industry was rattled. A lot of groups were rattled. I think all of us can sit down and try to address these issues, but it's not something you can figure out in a couple of hours and run with it."

Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine, said in a news conference with Orange County Board Vice Chair Katrina Foley, "What Trump is attempting to do right now is blatantly illegal. It's causing massive amounts of harm to real people."

Tran told reporters he understands Trump said he was focusing on trimming spending for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, but that has had side effects as well.

"Yesterday, when we should be celebrating our culture" with the Lunar New Year, Tran said, "We're seeing nonprofits scrubbing words DEI from their websites ... That's wrong."

Tran said his staff was working on scheduling a town hall with his constituents to explain the blizzard of executive orders from the White House, including its attempts to ramp up deportation of undocumented immigrants.

"This came out of nowhere," Tran said of the spending freeze order on Tuesday, which has been put on hold by a federal judge after nearly two dozen state attorneys general filed suit to stop it.

Correa pointed out that a day after the spending freeze was issued it was withdrawn, but then Trump's press secretary announced that while the memo was withdrawn, the order was still in effect.

"President Trump likes to issue orders here and there, and that happened the first four years and he's doing it now," Correa said. "We all wake up to what the president has done and we're left trying to address them. I think a lot of it is the shock and awe, but again, his memo was to freeze all federal spending ... and the next day it was, `No, we canceled it,' and then the day after, `It's the memo was canceled, not the order."'

Correa added that "cutting wasteful spending is good, so let's try to figure this out, but as federal officials and policy makers we're paid to be very careful with these cuts and budgeting and not just come in and blow everything up. As a congressman I want to work with the president and make sure this country moves forward, but that's a two-way street. The executive branch has to work with the legislative branch."

Min said his office has been swamped with calls from concerned constituents since the order. He said seniors are worried about Meals on Wheels, for example, and UC Irvine researchers are concerned about grants, he added.

"I've heard from firefighters and police who are worried about federal grants," he said. "This federal funding freeze's horrendous rollout has already had impacts on Californians. ... It doesn't have to be this way."

Min called on Republicans to oppose the funding freeze.

"This is not a partisan issue," Min said. "It's about the rule of law. ... I am hopeful my Republican colleagues will do the right thing and protect the people they represent."

The office of Rep. Young Kim, R-Mission Viejo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sarmiento recalled how the announcement from the White House was "very distracting" to the board of supervisors at their meeting Tuesday.

Foley said there's concern the spending freeze would jeopardize funding for the work to stabilize the train tracks along the coast, among other transportation projects.

"We're looking at $517 million in jeopardy for the Orange County Transportation Authority," Foley said. "Many of these programs (targeted for spending freezes) have been programs implemented at the county for decades over several administrations. This is not about partisan politics. It's about good government."

Sarmiento added that the immigration crackdown has also frightened the community.

"None of us here want to harbor people who commit crimes," Sarmiento said. "People who break the law should be held responsible."

But, Sarmiento added, many of his constituents "are so fearful of sending their kids to school ... or going to work."

Tran noted, "I am the son of immigrants. I know how hard it is for first generation or second generation. ... We want to make sure they're safe and get every opportunity that anyone should get."

Tran said the focus on removing support for DEI initiatives ends up being "more about eliminating the voices of minorities."

He added, "What makes this country so great is our diversity."

Correa said that California "has a lot of immigrant workers. It's worked well for us. It's a good model. I'll let the evidence of our economic growth speak for itself."

Correa noted that President Barack Obama "deported more people than any other president" and that "in the last few months of the Biden administration, he really deported a lot of individuals."
Correa agreed with Sarmiento, saying, "If you're here to commit crimes, we don't want you here."
But, he noted, that after a raid on undocumented workers in Fresno recently, "The next day 70% didn't show up for work. If you're trying to bring down the price of food, but you're cutting down on production of food it doesn't make any sense. ... And it's not only the farm workers. You've got a lot of people in Silicon Valley working on chips and high-tech stuff ... and they're cutting their nose off to spite your face."