Throughout the government shutdown, President Trump Maintained That his administration would “clean up dead wood, waste and fraud.” Because the Democrats”started this thing,” he said, adding that the shutdown presents “a unprecedented opportunity“To finish “Democratic-oriented” program and giving his opponents “a taste of their own medicine.”
Trump then posted a photo of himself signing a document emblazoned with the statement on Truth Social: “Cry as much as you want.”
Trump did not specify what qualifies as “Democrat-oriented.” As they should know, the impact of dismantling federal agencies will be felt by Americans across the country, with the pain falling disproportionately on low-income individuals and families – Out of which lakhs of people voted for him.
Shutdown firing has just begun and has already Challenge: In the court. So far, the layoffs affect programs at the Treasury Department, Health and Human Services and Education Department.
Virtually all staff in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services have been EndResponsible for distributing $15 billion in federal appropriations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires states to provide special education services to millions of children, the office monitors compliance and informs parents, family members, day care and public-school administrators of their rights and responsibilities.
Nearly all of the 60 staff members who work on the college preparation program for students from economically disadvantaged families were also permanently fired from job,
Department of Education, Joe Trump intend to endToo care Title I provides funding for schools in low-income neighborhoods, assists low-income and first-generation students attending college, and helps support historically black colleges and universities.
All 83 members of the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which allocates money to private-public partnerships that support low-income communities, fired from jobwhen trump signed executive Order While cutting appropriations for the fund in March, a bipartisan group of 23 U.S. senators informed them that for every dollar spent by the government, the initiative “generates at least eight more dollars from private sector investment.” One an even larger group of senators The fund was endorsed in August in an appeal to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Watt.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has one hundred employees Let goThe agency, which had 900 employees when Trump took office, now has about half that number. Created by Congress in 1992 with bipartisan support, it distributes most of its $7.5 billion budget directly to states for mental health and addiction diagnosis and treatment.
On October 10, 1,300 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were laid off. noticeWithin a few days, there were 700 of the pink slips canceled itHealth and Human Services for the error”Data inconsistencies and processing errorsNonetheless, the CDC, once lauded as the gold standard for pandemic and chronic disease prevention and treatment, has lost a third of its staff since January.
“If you want to undermine America’s public health capacity without saying it directly,” a CDC official said. Is said“Do it this way – remove the people connecting the dots, keep the ship steady and keep the public informed.”
It seems clear that the shutdown layoffs, which began this January 20, will continue to decimate federal government services.
One Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed by Trump on July 4 cut $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years – the largest cut ever in the program’s history. According to the Congressional Budget Office, these cuts and rule changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Program could cause 11.8 million low-income Americans to lose their health insurance and food supplement eligibility by 2034.
Removing policies that simplify applications and automatically enroll some people would mean 1.3 million Americans who qualify for Medicare won’t get Medicaid benefitsOlder couples with an annual income of $21,000 may face this Health insurance premiums increase by $8,340In 2026, a law requiring additional deductions Medicare may well be affected if the federal government’s deficit exceeds a certain threshold.
These changes make it likely that emergency room visits by the uninsured will increase, placing additional pressure on hospitals, which must treat them even though they will not be compensated. when estimated 1.8 million rural Americans If they are taken off the Medicaid list, the hospitals that serve them may close.
in August, Administration stopped A large portion of the 2025 congressional appropriation under Title X, a federal government program dating back to the Nixon administration, is dedicated to family planning, pregnancy and related health services. Secession jeopardizes access to birth control for 800,000 low-income women. Fifteen organizations are suing.
Subsidies for Americans insured under the Affordable Care Act are set to end in late 2025. date expiredmost of them live here Republican congressional districtsThree-quarters of families are receiving subsidy Have an income of $37,650 or less.
The premiums would affect about 22 million people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Average increase of 75 percentACA recipients earning 150-200 percent above the poverty line ($64,300 for a family of four) will receive a 400 percent increase from $180 to $905. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4 million people will be unable to afford health insurance. Are these programs “democracy-oriented”?
I think there are more important questions to ask. Are the programs being put on hold a good way to spend our tax dollars? Are they better or worse than “Republican-oriented” priorities? These would obviously include tax cuts that would increase loss Average increase of more than $3 trillion over the next decade $12,650 in the pockets of people with annual incomes of $217,000 or moreAlso “Republican-oriented” is ICE’s budget increase $8.7 billion to $27.8 billion,
In a democracy, “we the people” should answer these questions, right?
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.
