Featured December 1, 2025 Most Americans think the management of the federal government is moving in the wrong direction Back to Blog A deeper look at the stories featured in The Cost to Your Community product, a new tool from the Partnership for Public Service Date December 15, 2025 Authors Partnership for Public Service Tags Government Effectiveness The federal government supports Americans’ day-to-day lives in countless ways, offering funding, expertise and programs that enable a range of core functions Americans rely on, such as food safety, medical research, weather forecasting and natural disaster response, public health, and more. The Cost to Your Community, the latest product of the Partnership for Public Service’s Federal Harms Tracker, highlights stories that show the consequences of the Trump administration’s arbitrary cuts to these core functions in states and congressional districts across the country. While a smaller federal government may be a reasonable goal, these stories reveal how the administration’s unprecedented—and often haphazard—cuts have disrupted lives and harmed communities nationwide. We analyzed more than 530 of the news stories featured on the map to provide a snapshot of the impact of these cuts. Education: Schools, universities and research funding Program cuts and funding freezes at the Education Department—and now plans to effectively shutter the agency—have affected after-school and literacy programs, mental health services, and school repair and construction projects. On the Map: The abrupt cancellation of millions in federal funding ended critical building repairs in multiple North Carolina school districts and impacted schools in some of the state’s poorest areas, including Robeson and Richmond counties. Universities also lost funding for research programs, causing faculty layoffs and reduced financial support for students through scholarships and stipends. Experts worry that this will limit long-term innovation in key sectors including biomedical science, energy, agriculture and the environment. On the Map: The University of Texas-El Paso lost more than $2.7 million in federal research funding for biological sciences and engineering programs. Agriculture: Food banks and farmers Program cuts at the Agriculture Department have threatened food banks, jeopardized farmers’ income, interrupted school lunch initiatives and reduced meal programs for underserved groups like senior citizens. On the Map: Food banks and schools across southwestern Pennsylvania have lost millions in resources after the USDA cut more than $1 billion in funding for programs that supported food purchases from local farmers. Public safety: Disasters, weather and emergency preparedness Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants from FEMA have been rescinded across the country, causing the cancellation of disaster- and climate-resilient infrastructure projects. These cancellations leave state and local communities more vulnerable to flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, landslides and earthquakes. On the Map: Savannah, Georgia, lost $30 million in federal funding for drainage and flood control improvements to protect several neighborhoods from severe weather. Funding cuts at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have also affected emergency response services, with many rural Americans relying on public radio as their main source of information during a natural disaster. On the Map: Public radio in the Four Corners region of Colorado lost more than $500,000 in federal funding to upgrade tower equipment essential for broadcasting emergency alerts in an area prone to wildfires and floods. Science and techonology: Public health, disease prevention and healthcare Federal funding cuts to American public health and health care programs have affected vaccine access and distribution, sexually transmitted disease and infection screening, HIV prevention and tracking efforts, women’s health services, and mental health care. Layoffs have also been concentrated in public health positions focused on immunization and disease tracking. On the Map: The Community Counseling Center in Los Vegas, Nevada, is among the local mental health organizations that lost federal funding to support treatment programs for adolescents and those suffering from HIV. Funding cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation and the National Cancer Institute have reduced medical research and clinical trials, limiting patients’ access to treatment. On the Map: Due to federal funding cuts at the National Cancer Institute, a children’s hospital in Aurora, Colorado, will have to end its research on brain tumors in children. On the Map: Cancer patients in Washington have seen revolutionary treatments slowed or cancelled due to staff and funding cuts at the National Institutes of Health. Visit the Partnership’s Federal Harms Tracker to learn more about how unprecedented cuts to the federal government are disrupting critical public services.
