Nine California Republicans voted for Trump’s cruel budget bill. Remember them | Opinion

Nine California House Republicans voted for an odious bill driven by President Donald Trump that will sacrifice the social safety net for working-class Americans so that Trump’s billionaire benefactors can become even richer.

The 1,000-page package of tax cuts passed in the House of Representatives by a 215-214 vote early Thursday morning would not have been possible without every last California House Republican signing on as co-conspirators in a wealth grab that will strain America’s future ability to borrow and make the lives of humble Americans even harder.

This editorial board of McClatchy publications in Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno, Merced and San Luis Obispo opposes this legislation in the strongest terms. It will hurt struggling Californians and undermine clean energy programs championed in California. It will raise the national debt ceiling by $4 trillion. And it will slash health benefits for who-knows-how many of the nearly 15 million Californians enrolled in Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.

Recipients will be required to work or volunteer 80 hours per month and must submit records to prove it — an onerous task likely to block many from receiving aid, which is something this cynical administration is counting on. And here’s the kicker: Those who meet qualifications but fail to prove they have met the work requirement would not only lose Medi-Cal coverage, they would also be declared ineligible to receive insurance subsidies offered through the Affordable Care Act.

“The proposed cuts will gut Medi-Cal, destabilize our entire health care system and rip care for millions of Californians, from moms fighting cancer to children who need asthma medicine, to seniors relying on nursing homes and veterans who count on home care,” wrote the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network on its website. “It would significantly roll back California’s effort to confront the fentanyl crisis and would halt progress on mental health care. California hospitals heavily rely on Medicaid funding and many would be at risk of cutting essential services or closing their doors altogether.”

And in more bad news, California stands to lose up to 217,000 jobs on account of Medi-Cal cuts, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Profiles in cowardice: Kiley and Valadao

So, who are the California Republicans who voted in favor of this terrible budget?

Two of the nine — Kevin Kiley of Roseville and David Valadao of Hanford — represent areas within our readership.

Kiley has been turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to the thousands of constituents who have rallied in recent months in a fruitless attempt to refocus their representative’s attention — all but begging him to have allegiance to people over party.

He refused to meet with his voters in person, refused to answer their questions about his votes, and failed to offer meaningful solutions or even acknowledge community concerns. And yet he paid lip service to protecting our system of safety nets.

On March 19, Kiley’s Communications Director Michael Rauber insisted in an email that “(Kiley has) never voted to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and … will never do so.”

A little more than two months later, that promise has been shattered.

More than 20,000 people in Kiley’s district could have their medical coverage affected if this vote leads to concurrence in the Senate and Trump’s signature.. Kiley has no compunction about his motives and will say whatever is necessary to avoid responsibility. Kiley is a politician of the worst kind.

The same can be said of Valadao. A month ago, he led 11 other Republicans in drafting a letter to House leaders explaining they would not vote for a final reconciliation “that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.”

“Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security,” the dozen Republicans wrote. “Many hospitals – particularly in rural and underserved areas – rely heavily on Medicaid funding, with some receiving over half their revenue from the program alone. Providers in these areas are especially at risk of closure, with many unable to recover.”

Yet while we slept, Valadao and his group of letter-writers joined 215 representatives in passing President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” on a mostly party vote

In Valadao’s district, which has a 14-point Democratic registration advantage, the “Big Beautiful Bill” could threaten the health coverage of 61,437 of his constituents. On top of that, his Bakersfield-based district stands to lose nearly 7,000 jobs (according to the House Joint Economic Committee–Minority) and $820 million in Medi-Cal payments to hospitals (according to the California Health Care Foundation).

It looks like the seven-term incumbent has trouble seeing the red line he drew, or having a grasp of what is or isn’t a cut in Medicaid.

The Hall of Shame

And let’s not ignore the seven other California representatives who put party over people when they voted for this shameless piece of legislation. Say their names, so you don’t forget them:

• Ken Calvert, in office since 1993, represents the Inland Empire region of Southern California
• Vince Fong of Bakersfield, who won a special election in 2024 to succeed Kevin McCarthy, represents parts of the Central Valley
• Darrell Issa, a 22-year member of the House, represents the southernmost region of the state
• Young Kim represents parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties
• Doug LaMalfa, elected in 2012 to represent District 1, which includes Chico and Redding
• Tom McClintock, a former candidate for governor, represents the northern San Joaquin Valley and the central Sierra Nevada
• Jay Obernolte, who took office in 2022, represents the High Desert and Inland Empire

This ugly bill has yet to win approval in the Senate, but there’s little likelihood of much improvement there, and with California facing a budget crisis, the state is limited in how much of a cushion it can provide.

The outlook is grim, but doing nothing is not an option.

For Californians, it’s more important than ever to stand united in efforts to overturn the Republican majority in Congress and to seek out ways to assist those whose safety net has been so cruelly yanked out from under them.

This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Nine California Republicans voted for Trump’s cruel budget bill. Remember them | Opinion."