When Jesse Ugalde, who served in the Vietnam War, entered a Department of Veterans Affairs building Friday, he noticed a difference.
\n\u201cAlready, people are leaving,\u201d Ugalde, 74, who relies on the VA for his healthcare, said of VA employees. \u201cI was told that they\u2019re going to try to provide services, but it\u2019s going to take longer.\u201d
\nTo protest President Trump\u2019s push to slash the size of the federal government, which includes drastic staff cuts at the VA and other agencies, Ugalde took to the streets with hundreds of others in Westwood on Saturday.
\nIt\u2019s \u201cnot only the VA, but there\u2019s other programs that we need desperately,\u201d Ugalde said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to do it this way … I fought for this country, and I\u2019ll fight for it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angelenos and residents from throughout Southern California participate in a march and rally outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood, in one of the largest protests in Los Angeles since Trump took office almost two months ago, on Saturday.
\n(Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)
\nThe protesters marched toward the federal building on Wilshire Boulevard around noon, rallying against the government cuts and what they described as clear constitutional violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here because we are not going to let Trump, we\u2019re not going to let Elon Musk, his co-president, or anybody else take the United States Constitution down,\u201d Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) told the crowd.
\nMusk\u2019s advisory team, which he calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has fired thousands of government workers, frozen billions of dollars in federal spending and ordered the almost complete shutdown of multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Education.
\nMusk, a billionaire known for his \u201cmove fast and break things\u201d approach at his companies, described wasteful government spending as an urgent and existential threat in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.
\n\u201cThe country is going bankrupt,\u201d he said, referring to the growing national debt. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do something about it, the ship of America is going to sink.\u201d<\/p>\n
But people at the protest \u2014 organized primarily by Democracy Action Network, a pro-democracy organization founded last year \u2014 said the programs on the chopping block are far from wasteful.
\nAngelenos and residents from throughout Southern California participate in a rally outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood on Saturday.
\n(Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)
\nShaun Law-Bowman, 67, spent 15 years as a public school teacher before moving into an administrative position.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no reasoning. There\u2019s no excuse,\u201d she said of Trump\u2019s plan to shut down the Department of Education. \u201cI was a special ed administrator \u2014 those are federal funds. There\u2019s a huge amount of kids that need special help, and all that money is going to be gone. It\u2019s just evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Trump and Musk\u2019s dismantling of USAID was likely unconstitutional, arguing that the cuts were incompatible with the will of Congress.
\nFederal judges have also ruled that the administration\u2019s firing of probationary employees did not follow the appropriate procedures for layoffs and that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to order the firings.
\nThe administration has bashed these rulings, with Vice President JD Vance posting on X that judges \u201caren\u2019t allowed to control the executive\u2019s legitimate power.\u201d
\nAngelenos and residents from throughout Southern California participate in a peaceful march and rally outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood on Saturday.
\n(Christina House\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Many protesters spoke out against the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist. Khalil, an Algerian citizen, is being held in immigration detention even though he is a green card holder with no criminal record.
\nTrump, without immediately providing evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas, which the U.S. considers a \u201cforeign terrorist organization.\u201d
\nFor many, the demonstration was a way to take matters into their own hands.
\n\u201cFor all those people that say the protests don\u2019t matter \u2026 we wouldn\u2019t have the civil rights we had in the \u201860s without protests,\u201d said Elizabeth Gietema, 28. \u201cVietnam might have gone on longer without the protests.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protest in Westwood against President Trump and Elon Musk’s policies marked a significant moment in the ongoing debate about the role of government and the impact of budget cuts on vital services. The event brought together individuals from diverse backgrounds, all united in their concern for the future of the country and the well-being of its citizens. As the discussion continues, it is essential to consider the long-term effects of these policies and to ensure that the rights and needs of all individuals are protected.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the main reason for the protest in Westwood?
\nA: The main reason for the protest was to oppose President Trump’s plan to slash the size of the federal government, including drastic staff cuts at the VA and other agencies.
\nQ: Who organized the protest?
\nA: The protest was organized primarily by Democracy Action Network, a pro-democracy organization founded last year.
\nQ: What were some of the specific issues addressed during the protest?
\nA: The protest addressed issues such as the shutdown of the Department of Education, the dismantling of USAID, and the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist.
\nQ: What was the response of the administration to the federal judges’ rulings?
\nA: The administration bashed the rulings, with Vice President JD Vance stating that judges \u201caren\u2019t allowed to control the executive\u2019s legitimate power.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Protest When Jesse Ugalde, who served in the Vietnam War, entered a Department of Veterans Affairs building Friday, he noticed a difference. \u201cAlready, people are leaving,\u201d Ugalde, 74, who relies on the VA for his healthcare, said of VA employees. \u201cI was told that they\u2019re going to try to provide services, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/da549b5\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8059x4231+0+617\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F06%2Fbc%2F4d43b12e45598cf5fdd353efbaf0%2F1499123-me-federal-building-rally-cmh-04.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10722,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10720\/revisions\/10722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}