SANTA FE, N.M. – Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation were in Santa Fe, addressing lawmakers Monday in the Roundhouse. 

The state’s U.S. senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, along with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, discussed accomplishments in Washington, D.C. that benefit New Mexicans. They called on lawmakers to take action on crime, education, and rural development.

They also didn’t hold back on the Trump administration’s actions to reshape the federal government. 

“We are at the door of a constitutional crisis when profiteering billionaires, who were not elected and do not believe in fairness and justice, have taken over our federal government,” Leger Fernandez said, referring to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. 

The organization is going through government departments and cutting funding. That includes firing thousands of government employees. 

Lujan recalled New Mexico leaders tossing party politics aside to speak out against military base closures in the state.

“Did we sit idly by and let it happen? No! We come together strong. Democrats, Republicans, leaders from industry, from educational institutions, from every corner of the state and we stop it from happening. So why is it so quiet when people across New Mexico are being fired every day from these federal agencies that help our farmers and our ranchers, that are jeopardizing infrastructure, that are taking away money from farmers and acequias? We’ve got to speak up!” Lujan said to lawmakers, drawing a standing ovation.

In a news conference following the speeches, Lujan said job and budget cuts were throwing daily life out of balance for everyday New Mexicans. He said he’d spoken with a Farm Service Agency employee who was “terrified” about the cuts he saw coming. The agency handles USDA assistance for ranchers and farmers.

“Already understaffed, already freezes on staff hiring. Now every farmer and rancher in every jurisdiction that depends on these USDA programs, there’s a question if they’re going to be able to make payroll or what’s going to happen to them,” Lujan said, noting the cuts had moved him to vote against President Trump’s Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins. The Senate confirmed Rollins 72-28 last Thursday.

“The impacts to New Mexico are going to be substantial. It’s going to take us a while to get a handle on it,” Heinrich said. 

The Trump administration says it’s making the cuts to align spending with administration policy, and to reduce the federal deficit. 

“This is not about the deficit. This is about extending the Trump tax cuts and potentially increasing the Trump tax cuts,” Heinrich said.