‘We can fight this,’ San Jose congressman says about eliminating DEI

California Democrats in Congress say they don’t want state leaders to cave to the Trump administration’s attempts to attach strings to federal support and its most recent demand to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at schools — even if that means the state could lose out on millions or billions of dollars in federal funding.

“The whole country loses a lot if we do play ball,” Rep. Sam Liccardo told NOTUS. “We can fight this.”

Last week, the Trump administration threatened to pull education funding for states that continue DEI programs and policies, giving states less than two weeks to comply.

The administration instructed state education officials to sign on to a letter that certifies they have met the administration’s requirements to eliminate programs tied to diversity, equity and inclusion, or face a reduction of Title I funds that support schools with a large number of low-income students. The administration policy goes so far as to disallow special graduation ceremonies for Black or Hispanic students, as is common at University of California campuses and others in the state.

Instead, California state education officials appear poised to resist. They have questioned the administration’s authority to retaliate should California decline to sign on, The Los Angeles Times reported. If it does, the refusal would be the latest in a litany of actions the state has taken as part of its broad resistance to President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the federal government.

California has already filed a dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration, most recently on Tuesday when it sued over an executive order that demanded several agencies “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” Among them were the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Minority Business Development Agency. Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged countries to exempt California from retaliatory tariffs to the sweeping levies imposed by Trump.

“The governor is appropriately standing up for the state,” Rep. Eric Swalwell said. “Federally, we are a donor state, not a taker state. It’d be foolish to try and punish California because you’re just punishing every American who benefits from our productivity.”

Some other states have been similarly resistant to Trump’s pressure campaign. New York state leaders flatly said they would not eliminate DEI programs from schools, arguing that they do not violate federal law. And Democratic mayors have defended so-called “sanctuary” policies that protect undocumented populations.

But the Trump administration has already seen success in its attempts to strong-arm concessions, particularly from law firms and universities.

Trump terminated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of grants to Columbia University — including millions for Alzheimer’s and cancer research. The campus acquiesced to Trump’s demands that it crack down on student protest groups and ban masks, among other concessions.

California Democrats, however, said they have no intention of caving to the president.

“I think it’s terrible public policy, and I think it’s terrible public service,” Rep. Mike Thompson said. “I don’t think you just arbitrarily cut grants and pull funding because they’re upset with somebody or something — it’s not a good way to run the government.”

Thompson said federal lawmakers and constituents ought to keep pressuring the administration to change course.

“We need to highlight those, speak out, bring it to the attention of the administration and to the public,” Thompson said. He noted he has seen “a couple of successes” reinstating grants terminated by the administration.

DOGE has made broad cuts to programs and personnel across California, which is home to more federal workers than any other.

The Department of Health and Human Services, at Trump’s direction, stripped hundreds of millions of dollars in promised funding for research projects across University of California campuses, per a list of terminated funds obtained by NOTUS.

The department also reversed course on over half a billion dollars worth of public health funding for California, along with additional cuts to the state’s mental health and substance abuse centers.

Several lawmakers pointed to the fact that California sends more money to the federal government than it receives.

“We would hope that President Trump recognizes that we send more tax dollars to the rest of the country than we get back,” Rep. Ami Bera said. “We’ll use legal remedies, we’ll look at options as to whether we could keep more tax revenue in the state, but we’re in unprecedented circumstances.”

Lawmakers pointed to the courts as the best venue to combat Trump’s moves.

“A lot of what he’s doing is illegal, and the courts are dealing with those issues,” Rep. Salud Carbajal said. “I’m confident that a lot of those actions will be thrown out, and it’s just ridiculous what he’s doing.”

Rep. Ro Khanna told NOTUS that California ought not to give in to Trump’s demand, even with the threat of decreased funding.

“We have to stand for principle, we need to not compromise on the Constitution or on our values and continue to fight to make sure we get California the funding it needs,” he said.

Mark Alfred is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and San José Spotlight.