Federal Budget Cuts That Disproportionately Affect Red States

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While it’s true that the president of the United States works on behalf of all Americans, it’s also true that nearly half of voters usually vote for the other guy or gal. Still, looking at a post-presidential race electoral map by The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, you’ll see a sea of red. And for a lot of those red states, government programs are vital to their citizens’ health and job security.

But for President Trump voters, five months into his presidency, it might not be working out exactly as they’d like. Here are three major federal programs that are being slashed to a point that could hurt the very people that swept Trump into office.

FEMA

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has not had a good year under Trump. According to E&E News by Politico, earlier this year, Trump cancelled nearly $19 billion in two FEMA programs — the Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program and Building Resilient Infrastructure (HMGP) and Communities grants (BRIC).

In addition, Trump appointed a 13-person council to make further FEMA overhaul suggestions and has spoken about getting rid of the agency altogether, as reported by AP News. In fact, according to the Associated Press, in the council’s first meeting, Trump appointee Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told the group to not assume that they’re just planning minor adjustments. But that FEMA should be fundamentally changed or discontinued.

That would be bad for all states, especially those vulnerable to natural disasters. But it would be worse for states that voted Trump into office, according to AInvest.

For instance, according to the Los Angeles Times, since 2011, Republican-led states have received an average of $222 per person from FEMA disaster relief. That includes 475 federal disaster declarations in 27 states. In contrast, Democratic-led states averaged $193 per person since 2011, with 320 disasters in 23 states. Swing states like Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan received the least: $35 per person.

Department of Veterans Affairs

Depending on who you ask, Trump either reveres or reviles our nation’s veterans. But one thing is clear: he and his administration has its sights on massively cutting the department that employees and provides services to them. Plans are underway to cut 80,000 jobs at the Department of Veteran Affairs, according to Federal News Network.

The Trump Administration says it’s a necessary step in restructuring and streamlining the organization so it can serve our veterans better and more efficiently. That’s a noble goal, to be sure. But many are skeptical — especially since the layoffs were instigated through DOGE. And work or not, it doesn’t help the 80,000 veterans potentially joining the unemployment line.

The cuts also hit red states hardest. While WiseVoter said California tops the nation for number of vets, veterans only make up about 4.1% of the state’s over 18-year-old population, per Axios. Red states such as Alaska (10.5%), Wyoming (8.7%), Montana (8.9%), South Carolina (7.8%), South Dakota (7.8%), among others, have a much larger share by percentage. In fact, with the nation’s average at 6.1% per state, California and other blue states drop to the bottom, while red states top the list. 

Medicaid

If the Republican Party vote the Big Beautiful Bill through to Trump’s desk to sign into law, it could heavily impact the people that voted him in. That’s because, according to a Democratic-commissioned list, there are 338 rural hospitals that will be at risk of closing if the BBB’s $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid are implemented, per CBS News. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), that would result in 7.8 million people losing their Medicaid health insurance by 2034.

And for many red states, that would be devastating.

For instance, KFF, an independent health policy research institute, found that red states are much more vulnerable to the cuts than blue ones. They found that six states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina and West Virginia) rank in the top five for having multiple risk categories. The bill has not passed yet, but it is (as of June 17) being debated in the Senate, where even bigger cuts are being suggested.

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