Palm Desert residents protest shutdown outside Republican congressman's office
The U.S. government is shut down, but democracy is still in operation.
Some democrats and community members in Palm Desert rallied outside Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert's office, blaming him for causing the U.S. government shutdown.
"Republicans own that shutdown," Democrats of the Desert President Marcie Maxwell said. "They own the White House. They own the Senate. They own the House. Calvert owns this shutdown."
Democrats want Republicans to reverse Medicaid cuts they pushed through in the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill."
About three dozen protestors with signs lined Fred Waring Drive outside Calvert's office. They're calling on the Republican from the 41st District to break ranks and side with Democrats on protecting health care subsidies.
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"If you refer back to their social media pages they're saying, 'Oh, the Democrats have a radical left agenda,' which to me is just carnival barking fear monger words," Palm Desert resident Christine Massey said. "Radical healthcare is not a thing."
More than 1.6 million Californians depend on federal subsidies to help lower their insurance costs.
Protestors said those benefits, and other essential programs, are now on the chopping block under the Trump administration's budget bill.
Brandon Riker, who is preparing to run against Calvert, said most people don't understand how these cuts will impact them.
"One thing we talk a lot about, especially in the 41st congressional district, people don't sometime know they're on those subsidies," Riker said. "They think, 'Well, I am on the Inland Empire Health Plan, or I'm on Molina, I am on Covered California.' That is what the Republicans are targeting."
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In response to Eyewitness News, Calvert issued a statement that reads in part:
"I'm disappointed Senate Democrats and their leader Chuck Schumer have decided to shut down the government. I voted along with a majority of the House of Representatives for a clean, nonpartisan, short-term funding extension to keep our government open."
The government shutdown is the first since 2018, when the government shutdown for 34 days. Still, many protestors said the shutdown is only part of their frustration.
"Have your prices gone down? Has the war in Ukraine stopped? Are we not pulling people illegally off the streets? Lift your heads up and look at what is happening," La Quinta resident Randy Florence said.
"I think it is awful what they are doing," Palm Desert resident John Hussar said. "It affects too many regular working people."
