San Diego officials are making deliberate, sometimes balky, moves to address the local impact of Trump administration funding cuts, layoffs and other edicts.
Last week, San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert gained expedited authority to file legal action against initiatives by President Donald Trump if they are deemed harmful to the city’s interests.
Terra Lawson-Remer, acting chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, continued her campaign highlighting Trump job cuts, spending freezes and tariffs that she says could have devastating impacts on the region. However, Lawson-Remer’s proposal for the county to launch a study on how to replace county revenues she said will be lost, in part, because of Trump policies was delayed for a second time.
In October, the Port of San Diego quietly renamed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team to the Culture of Belonging team, according to Jennifer Van Grove of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Then, in late January, the powerful government agency, which relies heavily on grant funding, removed most references to DEI from its website.
Meanwhile, local Democratic members of Congress recently held town hall meetings to hear from constituents about what Trump is doing. Earlier, news reports detailed how Republican representatives elsewhere were getting an earful from constituents about job losses. As of Friday, it did not appear the San Diego delegation’s lone Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of Bonsall, had a session with constituents over the previous couple of weeks.
Those local moves were more measured than some earlier aggressive action taken in response to Trump’s plans for mass deportation of undocumented migrants.
At the behest of then-chair Nora Vargas, a split Board of Supervisors in December approved a resolution similar to those passed in other jurisdictions to further restrict law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration efforts that go beyond the limits in California’s sanctuary law. Sheriff Kelly Martinez said the board has no such authority over her department, which she said will continue to follow the state law.
Vargas was joined by fellow Democrats Monica Montgomery Steppe and Lawson-Remer. Republican Jim Desmond voted “no,” and Joel Anderson, also a Republican, was absent.
That moment for Democrats faded fast. Vargas soon abruptly stepped down from the board. Lawson-Remer then told the Voice of San Diego she stood by her vote but that this is “not where my energy is going whatsoever” and added the resolution “would not be a useful tool” in the face of mass deportations.
In January, the San Diego Unified School District board approved a resolution stating that the district will not assist ICE in the “enforcement of federal civil immigration law” and won’t allow access to its facilities or personnel unless officers have a warrant.
Others are heading in the opposite direction. The El Cajon City Council, at the urging of Mayor Bill Wells, voted to allow the city to cooperate with ICE to the extent allowed by law. State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, has introduced legislation to roll back parts of the state’s sanctuary law.
More recently, much of the local maneuvering has been focused on potential litigation, financial impacts and individual rights.
On Monday, the San Diego City Council agreed to allow City Attorney Ferbert to join or file lawsuits against the Trump administration without the time-consuming process of issuing a public notice and then holding a special council meeting first, according to David Garrick of the Union-Tribune.
Under the new protocol, such a session must be held if just three of the nine council members, all Democrats like Ferbert, request one via email after being notified by Ferbert. The change did not authorize any specific legal action.
Ferbert alluded to the lightning speed of Trump’s actions — and the quick legal response by some states and cities — that San Diego officials say could threaten the region’s fiscal stability and the rights of many residents.
“I don’t intend to needlessly poke the bear,” Ferbert said. “But some fights are worth having, and I think this one is worth having.”
Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency headed up by billionaire Elon Musk set a goal of cutting as much as $2 trillion from the $7 trillion federal budget and prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all levels of government.
Local officials have stepped up efforts to highlight the potential impacts.
“San Diego County depends heavily on federal funds for critical public services,” Lawson-Remer said at a news conference on Monday. “. . . But now, these resources are being withheld, delayed, or disrupted by federal actions — jeopardizing essential services thousands of residents rely on every day.”
Vargas’ vacancy leaves the board with a temporary 2-2 partisan split. A spokesperson for Lawson-Remer said the formal request for a revenue study — which would look at tax and fee increases, among other things — would be pushed back to allow for “additional stakeholder engagement.”
Last week, Democratic Reps. Sara Jacobs, Scott Peter and Juan Vargas of San Diego held separate virtual town hall meetings. Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, has held such meetings regularly and lately has had events specifically pointing to Trump’s potential impacts on education, research, medical care and veterans.
Issa has praised the administration’s efforts to improve government efficiency. He reposted a statement Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, from the account of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, which said:
“We found nearly $2 billion in @DeptVetAffairs contracts that we’ll be canceling so we can redirect the funds back to Veterans health care and benefits. No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes!”
Commented Issa: “This is the way. Thank you @SecVetAffairs and @realDonaldTrump for putting veteran care first.”
Yet the backlash was immediate. On Wednesday, the VA temporarily suspended cancellation of hundreds of contracts.
Some contracts targeted for elimination directly impact veterans’ care, including evaluations for disability ratings, which determine medical coverage and financial compensation for veterans who were wounded during military service.
What they said
Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
“There is a shortage of top notch air traffic controllers. If you have retired, but are open to returning to work, please consider doing so.”
