California GOP State Lawmakers Removed From Committee Roles Allege Retaliation

They allege they were booted for criticism of Democratic colleagues’ policies while the Assembly speaker’s office says lawmakers are routinely moved around.

The California capitol in Sacramento on April 18, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Some California Republican state lawmakers have spoken out after they were removed from key committee positions amid a Democratic supermajority in the state Assembly.

Assemblyman Carl DeMaio alleged that he was bumped from the state’s budget committee because he questioned the state’s spending of nearly $10 billion on health care for illegal immigrants.

“I have been removed from the CA State Assembly Budget Committee by the Democratic Speaker because he and [Gov.] Gavin Newsom didn’t like me exposing wasteful spending and corrupt use of taxpayer funds in the first two hearings we conducted,” Carl DeMaio, who represents California’s 75th state Assembly district, said March 3 in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

DeMaio, whose district encompasses a large swath of eastern and northern San Diego County, alleged his removal was “unacceptable retaliation.”

California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat, removed DeMaio from the budget committee on Feb. 28, according to a memo obtained by The Epoch Times.

Other Republicans removed from their committees included Assembly members Bill Essayli from Corona, Alexandra Macedo from Tulare, David Tangipa from Fresno, and Joe Patterson from Rocklin.

In the memo, Rivas did not state the reason behind his decision to reshuffle Assembly members. DeMaio’s removal was part of a larger reshuffling that removed five Republicans from their respective committees. Democratic Assembly members were also reshuffled.

Rivas’s spokesman, Nick Miller, told The Epoch Times on March 4 that moving lawmakers around is a routine task for the Assembly speaker to fulfill changing needs within the Legislature.

“The Speaker routinely addresses committee needs throughout the year, and his goal is always to ensure members are in optimal roles to collaborate effectively and deliver for Californians,” Miller said in an email.

During a Budget Committee hearing in February, DeMaio questioned California Department of Finance officials about state health care costs for illegal immigrants, saying it was a significant factor in the state’s budget deficit.

Guadalupe D. Manriquez, program budget manager at the California Department of Finance, said at the hearing, “In the current year to cover undocumented individuals in Medi-Cal, we’re spending $9.5 billion total funds.” Of that, $8.4 billion will come out of the general fund, she said.

According to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, California has an estimated $2 billion deficit for its 2025–26 budget.

Before his ouster from the committee, DeMaio said his office was warned by Democrats to stop pursuing such lines of questioning.

The legislator said that, due to his removal, he can no longer tap Budget Committee staff to research where taxpayers’ funds are going, and will need to hire third-party investigators and researchers to identify waste, fraud, and abuse in the state.

Meanwhile, Essayli was removed from the Assembly’s Elections Committee.

In response, the lawmaker said on social media platform X on March 3: “This isn’t the first committee I’ve been removed from, and it will not be the last. Take my committees. Kill my bills. Call me names. I don’t care. I will never stop fighting for a better California.”

In January, Essayli and DeMaio introduced a bill to make voter ID and citizenship verification a requirement for voting in California. Essayli also proposed legislation in 2023 that, if enacted, would have required parental notification for changes to a student’s gender on school records.

In addition, Macedo was removed from the Budget Committee and the Budget Subcommittee for Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation and appointed to the Elections Committee. Tangipa was removed from the Insurance Committee and the Utilities and Energy Committee, and Patterson was removed from the Health Committee.

Concurrently, Modesto Assemblyman Juan Alanis, also a Republican, was appointed to the State Budget Committee, as well as to the Budget Subcommittee for Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation.

Republican Assemblyman Greg Wallis was additionally appointed to the Budget Subcommittee on State Administration, while Republican Assemblywoman Laurie Davies was appointed to the Governmental Organization Committee.

Democratic Assemblywoman Mia Bonta was appointed to the Assembly’s Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact Committee.