Appearing at his first in-person town hall meeting since Donald Trump began his second term as president, North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman alternately described himself as “concerned,” “alarmed,” “worried” and “terrified” at what the new administration is doing, painting it as a “corrupt” enterprise that’s “delighting” in the suffering it is causing while barreling the country toward authoritarianism.
“I’m going to be very clear about the peril of this moment,” Huffman told the standing-room-only crowd of about 500 at Eureka’s Adorni Center on March 30, with more streaming online. “The truth is I’ve never been more worried and alarmed about the direction of this country. And that’s not just because my party lost the election and I’m in the minority in Congress. It is a whole set of concerns about things that really shouldn’t be any part of partisan politics. And that starts with the lurch toward authoritarianism and this break out to dictatorship that I see with this president.”
Huffman’s opening remarks spanned about 15 minutes, as he started by trumpeting some recent successes before pivoting to explaining what he sees as the largest threats posed by the Trump administration and how he plans to counter them. He then spent more than an hour taking constituent questions, which focused on a range of subjects, from program-specific cuts to the administration’s mass deportations of immigrants to criticism of Huffman’s vote to provide military aid to support Israel in its war on Hamas that has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Before taking questions, Huffman spent a few minutes focusing on what he sees as positive news. He noted the Social Security Fairness Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Jan. 5 and allows a variety of retired public employees — including firefighters, teachers and police officers — to receive Social Security benefits, noting that the change is already making “a huge difference” for a lot of retirees.
“I just want to clarify that even though that large check is coming to you in 2025, Donald Trump had nothing to do with it,” Huffman quipped.
The San Rafael Democrat also touted funding he’s helped secure for local projects, including $426 million appropriated to retrofit the harbor in Humboldt Bay into a state-of-the-art marine lift terminal to support the proposed offshore wind farm, though Huffman hinted that a political fight still looms over delivering that funding. He also mentioned $37 million secured for Klamath River restoration projects, $15 million for restoration work in Redwood National and State Parks and an unspecified amount used to build a Dream Quest youth facility in Willow Creek.
But after speeding through listing some accomplishments, Huffman conceded he was “real clear on why most of you are here.”
“I think all of you are really reeling, as I am, from this wave of executive orders unlike anything we have ever seen, from the wrecking ball of DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency), from the on-again, off-again tariffs that seem to change almost by the hour, and economic chaos that all of this is unleashing,” he said. “I know it’s a lot to worry about and stress about. … and I know if I were sitting in your chairs, I would want to know, ‘Does my congressman understand this moment we’re in and what the heck is he going to do about it.'”
Huffman proceeded to paint a bleak picture of the multi-pronged challenges facing the country, especially what he sees as a pivot toward authoritarianism.
“I see it in the way [Trump] is flouting the law and constantly testing whether the legal system or Congress or anyone else will stop him as he pushes all these legal boundaries,” Huffman said, later noting more than 130 lawsuits have been filed since Trump took office challenging his executive orders. “I see it in the way Republicans in Congress — unlike anything I’ve ever seen before — seem to have forgotten that we are a separate and independent branch of government that the founders put right up front.”
Huffman then noted that Article 1 of the Constitution makes Congress “the branch of government with the most power” and the “ultimate way to prevent the abuse of presidential power,” giving it the power of the purse and the ability to impeach and remove a president.
“Clearly, our founders envisioned Congress playing the biggest role in checking the abuse of power,” he said. “And this Congress thinks that it works for Donald Trump, and that is a big constitutional problem unlike anything I think our founders could have ever imagined.”
Huffman criticized his Republican colleagues for passing a spending bill that allocates lump sums but “surrenders” detailed budgeting authority to the president and for “cheering on” Elon Musk and DOGE, describing the entity as an incompetent, “unaccountable, off-the-books shadow government” that has repeatedly sown chaos in federal agencies, making cuts, changes or firings only to have to undo them.
He expressed concern over Trump’s “retribution agenda,” noting how the president has targeted political opponents, attempted to “control and punish the free press,” called for the impeachment of judges and issued executive orders aimed at harming law firms. The executive orders generally, Huffman said, have become a way for Trump to “govern by edict.”
“We’ve just never seen anything like this and all of it is just straight out of the authoritarian playbook — it’s the way we’ve seen dictators take power throughout human history,” he said.
Huffman then turned back to DOGE, noting it’s being run by people without government experience outside of public view with “incompetence all over the place.” He then suggested DOGE is simply a means to a corrupt end.
“If that wasn’t all bad enough, it’s being done by the richest man in the world, who has been handed the keys to all of these agencies that regulate his businesses, that have the authority to decide his federal government contracts, which are a huge part of his wealth, and he’s been given access — unthinkably — to our most sensitive personal and financial data, which he is feeding into his AI engine in order to have a competitive advantage over his AI competitors. And he believes, one day, not only will he eliminate all these federal employees but replace them with his AI product and make even more money. That’s what’s going on before our eyes. It’s deeply corrupt.”
As to what he’s going to do about all of his, Huffman said a clear challenge is getting through to people and making sure they understand what’s happening, saying he’s going to host more town hall meetings and ramp up efforts to communicate with constituents, all while his staff is facing a heftier workload than ever trying to help constituents navigate the federal bureaucracy and access services and programs. And Huffman said he’s going to have to be selective about picking which issues to dig his heels in on.
“You can’t swing at every single pitch,” he said. “Believe me, I could be outraged almost by the minute right now just watching my news feed. What I’m trying to focus on are what are the best things I can do to stop something really bad from happening. And sometimes I’ve got to focus on things where I have a moral or legal obligation to be in the fight, even if I might not win it.”
When it came to constituent questions, attendees raised concerns about cuts already imposed to nutrition programs for children and the working poor, mass deportations and efforts to deport immigrants on student visas for exercising their free speech rights and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
In the last question of the night, a man who identified himself as Mike talked about how Medicaid funding helped stabilize his son after a bout of mental illness, noting these programs impact real lives. Huffman referred to it as a “beautiful,” “mic drop moment” summing up what’s at stake amid all the chaos.
“You’re exactly right because you brought it back to this moment we’re in, where these people who don’t need Medicaid, and don’t need these programs [are cutting them],” Huffman said. “They’re the richest people in the world. These oligarchs who will never feel any of this, and they’re just zeroing out programs without any concern for what it means for people’s lives. … And why are they doing it? … It’s not in service of lowering the debt or the deficit. It’s in service of tax cuts and deregulation for the richest people on this planet.”
Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal’s news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com.
This article appears in Taco Week 25.