Donald Trump’s administration has sought to remake the federal government at a breakneck pace. In far northern California – where he has strong support – people have backed those efforts. But even here, the speed and scale of the president’s agenda has been cause for concern.
Officials in Shasta county, a region of 180,000 perhaps best known in recent years for its turbulent far-right politics, recently voted unanimously to send a letter to the federal government expressing concern about how layoffs could affect the nearby Whiskeytown national recreation area, which brings as much as $80m to the local economy each year.
“The board urges the administration to reconsider layoffs impacting the National Park Service,” the letter states. “National parks, recreation areas, lakes, and mountainous regions throughout this great nation may be adversely impacted if not adequately protected and maintained for all to enjoy, both in the immediate future, and for years to come.”
In March, about 150 people took to the streets in Redding, the Shasta county seat, to protest proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A month later more than 1,000 people in the area gathered to demonstrate against the administration’s policies.
Amid reports about possible reductions to Medicaid, the head of the area’s largest healthcare provider warned such action could have “crippling” impacts in a county where the local medicaid provider serves nearly a third of the population. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers, including the region’s Republican representatives, signed a letter in late April urging Congress to protect Head Start, the federally funded education program.
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While California remains a Democratic stronghold, its less densely populated interior swings decidedly more conservative, with deep red enclaves in the state’s far north that have been particularly supportive of Trump.
In Shasta county, where the president visited during his 2016 campaign, 67% of voters voted for Trump in November. Nearby counties, including Tehama, Lassen and Modoc, backed Trump at even greater levels.
Support for Trump’s agenda has remained strong among Republicans in California. While 68% of California voters reported they disapprove of Trump’s performance and just 30% approve, 75% of Republicans say they approve, according to a new Berkeley IGS poll. The poll also found that 69% of California Republicans think the country is now headed in the right direction, a major shift from last year when 93% believed it was headed in the wrong direction.
That’s the case, too, in rural California, where many voters said they backed the Trump administration’s policies, including tariffs against other countries, a smaller federal government, and, they hoped, reduced prices and a stronger economy.
But the unease in an area where the president is still deeply popular highlights the potential effects the cuts pose to the region – particularly its rural communities – that is more reliant on federal support on everything from infrastructure to emergency preparedness to healthcare and childcare.
“These cuts may, in fact, hurt rural communities harder because they just don’t have their tax bases,” said Lisa Pruitt, a rural law expert at the University of California, Davis. “Their bandwidth for providing all sorts of services are just much weaker to begin with, and that makes them more reliant on federal monies.”
For some in this part of California the outcomes, and rapid pace at which the administration has moved, have been startling.
It was what Morgan Akin, a Shasta county resident and US marine veteran who joined the March protest against the VA cuts, expected would happen when Trump took office.
“They’re predicting 80,000 cuts on the VA. That’s going to have an effect on the veterans throughout the country,” said Akin. “All these federal employees have just been dumped.”
He added: “It’s been a shock, and I think that’s what’s disrupting for most people.”
Bruce Ross, a Shasta county Republican, acknowledged the difficulties of seeing layoffs, but said he has been pleased with the direction of the administration.
“Everybody who lives up in north-eastern California knows folks who work for the Forest Service, or for federal agencies, and it’s tough for them. I think on a human level, that’s real,” Ross said. But, he added, he has seen a willingness on the part of the administration to listen when local officials have pushed back against proposed cuts, and the practical changes have ultimately, so far, been less severe than they initially seemed.
“There’s been a lot of drama about it. But I think the actual results have shown that the administration is listening to people and saying, OK, this is important. We’re gonna take it back.”
Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter who represents a large swath of northern California’s interior, has acknowledged that some of his constituents, and Republicans broadly, are concerned, but echoed Ross’s sentiments. “But they’re listening to us. I got in a room with Elon [Musk] and his right-hand man. They’re understanding us now, and they’re going to look at it more through that lens, and they’ll certainly listen to us,’ he told the Chico Enterprise-Record in March.
In that interview, he pushed back against talk of broad layoffs and cuts to key programs.
“There is no social security cuts. There is no cuts to the VA system; the employee stuff, we’ve still got more work to do with that.”
Ross, who is also the secretary for the Shasta county Republican central committee, admitted there will likely be pain as Trump enacts his agenda, but argued that was necessary to tackle the federal deficit.
“There’s a $2tn annual deficit with the federal government in Washington in a time of peace and a fairly strong economy,” he said. “How do you ever go about trying to balance that without being somewhat aggressive about actually cutting spending? It’s never going to be easy to do.”
Steve Barkley, a 74-year-old who lives in northern California’s Sierra foothills, said he felt confident in the president’s agenda, and wasn’t worried about any cuts to Medicare or social security.
“He’s the first candidate that was really saying the things that I wanted to hear, and promised to do the things that I want it done, and he’s keeping his promises,” Barkley said, adding that he believed Trump’s recent actions ensure the longevity of those programs and boost the economy.
“I’m happy. I don’t expect anything to get done right away. It’s going to take time.”
Ross is hopeful that even with some short-term pain, Trump’s policies will ultimately improve the region. He pointed to the area’s recent history of massive destructive and deadly wildfires and the lack of land management in federal forests that has contributed to such blazes. He would like to see the return of the timber industry, which was historically a major employer in the area, and believes that could be possible under the new administration.
“I think that’s going to be good for northern California. It’s not just about money – it’s about what is their direction, and what are their goals? And just bluntly, they’re on our side,” he said.
“And again, look at the federal deficits and explain how that’s sustainable, and explain how that’s going to change in a way that doesn’t cause some dissension. It’s hard on any level. But I think long-term, it’s what the country needs.”
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