“Hope your sushi was worth it”: JD Vance heckled in California as 100 die in Texas

San Diego, California – Vice President JD Vance faced a wave of public anger Sunday evening in San Diego as protesters gathered to heckle his motorcade outside a Michelin-starred sushi restaurant. The confrontation came as the death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas climbed above 100 people, intensifying scrutiny of past budget decisions affecting the National Weather Service (NWS) and the federal government’s disaster preparedness.

Vance had been dining at Soichi Sushi with his wife, Usha, following a weekend of political engagements in California, including a high-profile dinner held in his honor by the Claremont Institute. The vice president, serving as the Republican Party’s finance chair, has recently been active on the donor circuit, with upcoming events scheduled in Nantucket and Jackson Hole.

But it was the optics of Sunday’s dinner — fine dining in coastal California as families in Texas faced devastation — that fueled a sharp rebuke from protesters. Videos posted to social media captured demonstrators booing and shouting as Vance’s Secret Service detail exited the North Park restaurant. One protester called attention to the timing: “Hope your Michelin-starred sushi was worth it with 82 people dead in Texas! Thanks for cutting the National Weather Service.”

The criticism reflects a broader and increasingly urgent concern about the health of the country’s forecasting infrastructure. In the years following staffing reductions and budget constraints implemented during Donald Trump’s first term, the NWS has faced chronic underfunding. The agency currently operates with a 19 percent vacancy rate, with over 50 of its 122 offices classified as critically understaffed. Some operate with less than 60 percent of the needed personnel.

Balloon launches—crucial for collecting upper-air data that powers forecasting models—have been reduced or canceled in many regions, particularly across the central U.S., near Tornado Alley. Meteorologists warn that such reductions may not always show immediate effects in day-to-day forecasts but could have catastrophic consequences during severe weather outbreaks. Doppler radar systems, another essential component of early-warning infrastructure, face similar risks from delayed repairs and frozen budgets.

While the Biden administration has disputed claims that recent flooding could have been avoided with a better-staffed NWS, the issue has nonetheless gained political traction. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday called for a formal investigation into whether the staffing shortage contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.

Vice President Vance issued a brief message of sympathy on social media, calling the floods an “incomprehensible tragedy” and offering prayers for victims and their families. But for many, especially those affected by weather disasters or concerned about the erosion of public safety infrastructure, the gesture fell short.