DOGE Is Changing California — And Democrats Worry It’s Just the Start

“I have seen a lot of devastation, and it seems like they’re just getting started,” Rep. Jared Huffman told NOTUS.

Protesters march with signs at Yosemite National Park.

Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

California is being hit particularly hard by Department of Government Efficiency cuts.

It is home to more federal workers than any other state, many of them with the Department of Veterans Affairs, whose workforce is being slashed by thousands nationwide. Its national parks and reserves are facing staffing cuts, while its universities stand to lose millions in grants that support medical research.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington are incensed. But the effort is largely being cheered on by the state’s Republicans, even as some feel a sharp blowback in constituent town halls and make appeals to the Trump administration to undo some changes.