Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach will host a town hall Friday in Long Beach and another in Orange County on Saturday to explain the local impacts of the Trump Administration’s cuts to the federal government, take questions and try to reassure constituents that Democrats are fighting back.
Invitations to Friday’s town hall in Long Beach were sent to about 200,000 people on Garcia’s mailing list. Those who did not receive one can watch via livestream here.
The congressman said the meeting will address growing concerns about the Trump Administration’s attempted dissolution of the Department of Education, as well as potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
“There’s a lot to talk about, so I’ll be answering a lot of questions,” Garcia said.
Garcia, who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and House DOGE Subcommittee, said he has gotten a lot of inquiries from constituents about Elon Musk, and concerns about cuts to the federal workforce.
“When I’m out at the supermarket, or at the local grocery store here in Long Beach, people are asking me about Elon Musk,” Garcia said. “They’re asking me why are they dismantling the Department of Education? Why are federal workers being fired? Why are so many programs being cut that people care about and depend on? And they’re scared about Medicare, Social Security.”
Following the town hall Friday in Long Beach, Garcia will also head to Orange County to the district of Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills.
Kim came under fire earlier this month as hundreds of protestors rallied outside her office in Anaheim Hills, voicing their frustrations over anticipated cuts to Medicaid — known as Medi-Cal in California.
Garcia explained his decision to meet in her district was in response to an “overwhelming” national demand to do town halls. He may consider holding another town hall in Riverside County, in Rep. Ken Calvert’s district, at a later date. At two telephone town halls in the last month, Garcia said, there were nearly 18,000 attendees who asked questions or listened in.
“So there’s a lot of interest,” Garcia said. “And look, some of the questions, I’m sure will be tough. That’s okay. That’s part of the job.”
This comes nearly a week after President Trump signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department, a move in line with his campaign promise to tear down the agency he says is rampant with biased, liberal ideologies on sex, race and politics.
The order says the education secretary will shutter the department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,” and “return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
“People are terrified about the cuts to the Department of (Education),” Garcia said, noting that Long Beach and many local school districts rely on federal funds. “If these grants get cut, and it looks like they’re going to be, I’m not sure how Long Beach Unified is going to manage having less resources. They’re already underfunded.”
“I talked to (LBUSD superintendent) Dr. (Jill) Baker last week,” Garcia added. “There’s a lot of concern about what’s happening there, and so I very much plan to talk about that issue.”
Trump’s order offers scant details on how that work will be carried out or where cuts will take place. White House officials said they will maintain certain core functions, including funding for low-income schools, student loans and programs for children with disabilities.
Twenty states, including California and Washington, D.C. have already sued the Trump Administration over its massive layoff earlier this month of 1,300 federal workers.
The issue came before the DOGE committee on Wednesday, during which Garcia mocked Republicans by naming Sesame Street characters in his argument against potential cuts to broadcast channels NPR and PBS.
“Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to defund Sesame Street and dismantle PBS and NPR, ” Garcia later wrote on X. “Not on our watch. Fire Elon Musk, and Save Elmo.”