Trump’s ‘cruelty’ will hamper health and safety, Silicon Valley legislators warn

Silicon Valley politicians denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze funding to states and international aid organizations, saying Saturday that his executive orders threaten public health locally and abroad.

Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Ro Khanna and Sam Liccardo slammed Trump’s recent slate of executive orders during a news conference in San Jose. They argued that his tariffs will make it harder to build housing and that his attempts at mass deportation will hamper law enforcement efforts.

James Williams, the county executive for Santa Clara County, also warned that freezing federal funds to counties has prevented his health department from accessing payment portals and receiving reimbursements. The county receives nearly a third of its revenue, directly or indirectly, from the federal government, he added.

The Trump administration rescinded its funding freeze just days after its chaotic rollout last week, with two federal judges mandating a temporary pause in the order. Federal officials said the freeze would not affect direct assistance programs such as Medicaid, though state representatives said those programs were still affected.

“Everyone here must recognize that the amount of money at stake is significant,” Williams said. “Undoubtedly, the county will not be able to continue to operate those programs and services without the continued support of the federal government.”

Liccardo, a former criminal prosecutor, also pointed out that Trump’s mass deportation attempts and threats against California’s sanctuary policies could discourage undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes to the police. The California Police Chiefs Association has supported those policies, which generally bar local police from notifying immigration enforcement about undocumented immigrants who haven’t committed serious crimes.

Liccardo also argued that Trump’s tariffs — which include a 25% tax on most Canadian goods — could drive up the cost of housing construction, a finding housing experts have agreed with. The National Association of Home Builders sent a letter to the White House on Friday urging Trump to exempt building materials from the tariffs, saying the increased costs would be passed on to home buyers and hinder rebuilding efforts in places hit by natural disasters.

“If you’re trying to solve the housing crisis, you can imagine that Canadian lumber being 25% more expensive doesn’t help,” said Liccardo, San Jose’s former mayor.

Khanna called Trump’s freeze of U.S. foreign aid “a gratuitous act of cruelty,” pointing out that funds to stop the spread of malaria in Africa were affected. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an exemption to the freeze for “core lifesaving medicine” and other aid, but humanitarian organizations across the globe said it was unclear whether that would apply to their services. Many of them, including those funded primarily by the U.S. Agency for International Development, have warned the freeze will result in more people dying, ProPublica reported. On Saturday, the USAID website went down.
 

“I want our district to talk not just about what’s happening here,” Khanna said, “but about the America we want to be, against the type of cruelty that we see in Donald Trump.”