As the government shutdown enters its third week, the Outpost thought it’d be a good idea to check in with Rep. Jared Huffman about the latest happenings on Capitol Hill. In short, Democrats and Republicans are still at odds over spending priorities and appear no closer to agreement. 

Earlier today, the Senate tried — and failed for the ninth time — to advance a House-passed measure to reopen the government. Senators voted 51-44 on the GOP-led funding bill, which would have funded the government through Nov. 21. The Senate is expected to vote again on Thursday.

In our interview with Rep. Huffman, we discussed the consequences of the ongoing shutdown, including recent funding cuts and anticipated impacts to North Coast communities. We also briefly touched on Prop. 50, which, if it passes, would reshape Huffman’s 2nd Congressional District, swapping out portions of Sonoma and Mendocino counties for redder regions to our east.

Our interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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LoCO: I want to ask you about funding cuts hitting Democrat-led congressional districts, but first, I’d like to talk about the government shutdown. What’s the scene like in D.C. right now?

Huffman: Surreal. My Democratic colleagues and I were just on the Capitol steps, doing another of these events that we’ve done each week during the three-week shutdown, where we bring real people to tell the stories of how this health care disaster is impacting them and their families. That’s what we’re doing. We’re trying to demonstrate that we’re here to reopen the government, end the cuts and save health care, and our Republican colleagues are off sipping umbrella drinks on vacation.

Since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans have continually cast blame on Democrats. Can you respond to that?

Good luck with that! I mean, they control all three branches of government. They have set these disastrous health care cuts in motion with their massive tax giveaway to billionaires, and Democrats are simply saying, “If you want our votes to move forward, end the cuts and save healthcare.” 

This is something that’s getting very real for a lot of people. Notices of ACA [Affordable Care Act] premium increases started going out on the first of this month, and I’ve got 37,000 households in my district that are going to get these notices, and in some cases, their premiums will go up 600 percent. 

These are people who are farmers, small business owners, self-employed entrepreneurs — people who were finally able to afford health care because of these ACA subsidies — and in order to give tax giveaways to billionaires who don’t need them, Trump and the Republicans have decided to strip away their care. And that’s before all of the devastating Medicaid and Medicare cuts that are coming our way in the months ahead. This is an important fight, it’s an important line to draw, and I am proud that we’re doing it.

In the first days, Trump called the government shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity” given to him by Democrats to reshape the government and cut programs that don’t align with the administration’s goals. How is that playing out?

Well, you know, Trump is the dictator who cried wolf. He was doing all of these extreme and unconstitutional things long before the government shutdown, firing people, trying to eliminate entire departments and ignoring congressional directives on funding. He’s going to do it anyway — and he’s already done so much of it — so you just can’t take it seriously. It’s just blatant bullying. 

But look at the cruelty of it, look at where he’s targeting a lot of these actions. I mean, getting rid of people at the Department of Education who oversee special education funding? The USDA sent out a notice last month that SNAP benefits will discontinue in November. He is hitting some of the most vulnerable families and communities in this country, and it’s going to hurt a lot of people in rural Republican areas, too. That’s on him. That is not on Democrats.

[NOTE: After our conversation this morning, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said she believed the evidence would ultimately show the cuts were illegal and in excess of authority, according to the Associated Press.]

Circling back to those local funding cuts I mentioned before, the New York Times is reporting that the Trump Administration is freezing or cancelling nearly $28 billion in federal funding reserved for more than 200 infrastructure projects, including $129.1 million earmarked for California’s 2nd District. Can you break down where that money was allocated?

A lot of it is for tribes and communities that are trying to be more resilient in the face of the climate crisis and the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and also to bring down electricity costs. We had some great projects that would have produced all kinds of community benefits, but these days, if you’re in a blue state or if you have anything to do with equity or environmental quality, you are a target for these extremists in the Trump Administration.

Which tribes are losing that funding?

Well, there’s a microgrid project that I believe involves the Blue Lake Rancheria. There was also a project that the Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Karuk tribes all stood to benefit from, along with the County of Humboldt, but I believe that was announced last week.

Can you talk about the greater consequences of these funding cuts for North Coast residents?

There’s a lot at stake: jobs, environmental quality, resiliency, but also the integrity of the government. When you have grants that are awarded, that were competed for in good faith, when you have people taking action in good faith and reliance on a government awarding these grants through a deliberative, transparent process, and then you have this dictator come along and apply these hyper-partisan political filters and start jerking people around? It’s really unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

On another note, Californians are getting ready to vote on these new district maps. How are you feeling about the redesign of the 2nd District?

Well, I’m going to work hard to make it successful. Doesn’t mean it’ll be easy, but I think I’m someone who shows up, does the work, and I have the ability to talk to people of all different political and personal persuasions. It’s just a continuation of the things that I need to do right now in my current district, but it’ll keep me a little bit busier.

I’m sure you’ve been brushing up on your knowledge of those red counties out east. What do you know about Modoc County? 

I know it’s beautiful! I know it’s very rural.

It’s out there! The county’s population is less than 9,000, I think?

Yeah, yeah. It’s very Trinity- or Del Norte-like in that regard. That’s going to be a little different for me, but if you look at Trinity and Del Norte counties, there are a lot of similarities. 

If Proposition 50 does indeed pass, you’ll take on thousands of new constituents in red counties, including Shasta, Modoc, Lassen and Siskiyou. How are you going to appeal to those folks?

Same way I appeal to people in my current district: I listen to them, I show up, I try to understand their concerns and their needs, and I try to get shit done.

On a somewhat related note, the U.S. Supreme Court is discussing election districts and the Voting Rights Act today. I understand that ruling could have widespread impacts across the American South. Would it impact California’s redistricting effort?

No. Here’s the thing with California and these maps that are going before voters right now: We proactively chose to comply with the Voting Rights Act. If this ruling goes the wrong way and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act ceases to exist, it means California could have even more aggressively drawn maps, but we did not want to do that because that’s not who we are. We don’t disenfranchise minority communities. There may be some places in the south that want to get back to the old Jim Crow playbook and start doing that, and that’s going to be the real implication of this ruling.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers and your constituents to know about the government shutdown or redistricting?

No, that’s good stuff. Thank you very much.