Agriculture
The Trump administration fired 10 employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Office in Arizona.
Energy
Arizona froze an air-conditioner replacement program that saved energy over the uncertainty of federal funding.
Veterans
The Trump administration fired staff from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans working for other agencies, including a Phoenix-area disabled veteran at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a Marine Corps veteran in Phoenix working for the VA helping other veterans avoid foreclosure.
March 2025: Trump Administration Cut $21 Million In Funding For Arizona Schools And Food Banks To Buy Produce From Local Farmers. According to the Arizona Republic, "Arizona local food advocates have been riding a roller coaster for the past two months, in the face of federal miscommunication and funding cuts that would reduce the amount of Arizona-grown produce in school lunches and food banks. Programs that strengthened Arizona’s local food systems after the pandemic are facing a $21 million loss after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week it was terminating future agreements. As a result, schools and food banks foresee a shift back to conventionally grown produce from out of state. Small-scale Arizona farms face losing a wholesale market that allows them to scale up and reach school children and low-income families." [Arizona Republic, 2/18/25]
February 2025: The Trump Administration Fired 10 Employees At The U.S. Department Of Agriculture's Rural Development Office. According to the Arizona Republic, “Abbott was one of 10 staffers fired in mid-February from Arizona’s rural development office as President Donald Trump’s administration initiated mass layoffs in the federal workforce. Abbott’s job was to oversee the nuts and bolts of administering government loans for projects such as drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, hospitals, and food programs across rural Arizona. […] The Arizona Department of Agriculture confirmed the 10 federal layoffs in a statement to The Arizona Republic, with spokesperson Rachel Andrews adding that the rural development office's ‘interim director remains in place, and all programs are continuing as planned.’” [Arizona Republic, 2/24/25]
February 2025: Arizona Residents Protested Against Layoffs At The National Park Service And U.S. Forest Service In Arizona And Worried About Their Impact On The Economy And The Government's Wildfire Response.
April 2025: The Trump Administration Froze And Canceled Inflation Reduction Act Grants And Contracts, Forcing Kore Power To Cancel Plans For A $1.2 Billion Factory That Would Have Created 3,000 Jobs. According to KJZZ, “During a press conference Tuesday at the state Capitol, Jose Flores with the group Poder Latinx said Arizona has become a leader in clean energy industries such as solar panel manufacturing and battery development. He said growth has been driven in part by federal investments through the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, but some of that money is now frozen or canceled. ‘No doubt the IRA has meant progress, better quality of life, and opportunities for Arizonans, but this administration’s actions put these and future clean energy projects in peril,’ Flores said. Flores noted plans were recently scrapped for a $1.2 billion battery plant that would have brought 3,000 jobs to Buckeye, because the company, Kore Power, was not certain it would receive a federal loan to help to fund its construction.” [KJZZ, 4/29/25]
May 2025: Arizona Small-Business Owner Said Navigating Price Increases From Trump's Tariff's Had Been A "Roller Coaster."
April 2025: An Arizona Business Owner Said He Was In "Survival Mode" Over Trump Tariff Uncertainty.
February 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled $11 Million Grant To Train 20 Teachers In Maricopa County Schools. According to the Arizona Republic, "Republican Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs has appealed the Trump administration's termination of federal grant funding for a program intended to serve students in more than a dozen 'high-need schools' in the Phoenix area. The Maricopa County School Superintendent's Office received a three-year, $11.2 million grant in 2023 under former Superintendent Steve Watson for a program called the Learning Acceleration Partnership. The money funded 20 full-time positions in 15 schools across the Liberty, Phoenix and Tolleson elementary school districts, as well as the Nadaburg Unified School District, to help classroom teachers develop and deliver instruction to students, with a focus on helping students recover from missed learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Feb. 18, the U.S. Department of Education notified the Maricopa County School Superintendent's Office that the grant had been terminated. The notification came a day after the department announced that it had ended more than $600 million in grants to institutions and nonprofits training 'teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies.'" [Arizona Republic, 3/8/15]
February 2025: Trump Administration’s NIH Cuts Threatened $250 Million In Funding To Arizona Universities. According to the Arizona Mirror, "If the Trump administration succeeds in implementing the steep cuts to medical research grants that a court temporarily blocked on Monday, more than $250 million in grants to Arizona universities, research institutions and companies would be at risk. That would amount to more than half of the nearly $495 million in active grants the National Institutes of Health has awarded to Arizona entities. If those cuts are implemented, 'cutting edge work to cure and treat human disease will grind to a halt,' a group of 22 attorneys general, including Arizona AG Kris Mayes, wrote in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the cuts. [...] The Arizona Mirror’s analysis of NIH data shows that nearly 80% of the 754 active grants awarded to Arizona institutions and companies have indirect costs greater than 15%. All told, those 607 affected grants amount to $254 million. The cuts would hit all three Arizona universities hard. More than 300 of the University of Arizona’s 376 grants would be affected, totalling $126 million of the university’s $229 million in grants." [Arizona Mirror, 2/11/25]
April 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled 8 Humanities Grants At The University Of Arizona. According to the Arizona Daily Star, "The University of Arizona has received termination notices for eight National Endowment for the Humanities projects, spokesperson Mitch Zak said Friday. 'We are assessing the impact on the university and will work with our researchers as they navigate these changes,' he said in a written statement to the Arizona Daily Star. 'We are proud of the scholars, staff, and students whose work drives innovation and discovery, and we will continue to champion their work to help address global challenges.' Zak didn’t disclose the names of the eight grants or projects or any further information on how much funding the UA is losing; how this affects researchers, faculty, students or staff positions; and what kind of humanities research is affected by the cancellation." [Arizona Daily Star, 4/5/25]
HEADLINE: “Lack Of Federal Funding Forces Arizona To Pause Air Conditioning Replacement Program.” [12 News, 2/28/25]
Amid Trump’s Funding Freeze, Arizona Paused A Program That Helped Residents Pay For Air Conditioning Replacements. According to 12 News, "Efficiency Arizona, the program that helps residents in need pay for air conditioning replacement, has been put on pause as uncertainty looms over the future of federal funding. Days after taking office, President Donald Trump ordered that trillions of dollars of federal grant money be frozen immediately. Although a federal judge blocked that plan, the administration hasn't fully unfrozen federal grants and loans." [12 News, 2/28/25]
March 2025: Saguaro National Park Visitor Center Closed Shortly After Trump Administration Instituted Mass Layoffs. According to the Arizona Daily Star, "Both visitor centers at Saguaro National Park will be closed on Mondays 'until further notice,' as the impacts ripple out from the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce. The 92,000-acre park bracketing Tucson announced the closures in a social media post on Thursday but provided no additional details. [...] Park advocates said the reduction in visitor center hours at Saguaro is almost certainly the result of the administration’s staff cuts, and more disruptions are sure to follow at park sites nationwide. 'What we can say for sure is that more than a thousand national park staff have been arbitrarily fired since Friday (Feb. 14). We do not have any reason to believe that this is the last of the cuts, either,' said Kyle Groetzinger, associate director of communications for the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent, nonpartisan group that supports the park system.” [Arizona Daily Star, 3/14/25]
March 2025: Grand Canyon Wait Times Increased To Over An Hour After Trump Layoffs Despite Peak Season Being Months Away. According to KNXV, "The cuts to Grand Canyon staff have led to reduced open lanes and operating hours at the popular South Rim's entrance gates, where fees are collected, multiple park employees said. Signs demarcating wait times for visitors have been put up at the entrance to manage visitors' expectations for wait times. Even in March, which is not peak season for the park, visitors have been experiencing waits as long as an hour and a half to enter the park. Currently working through the busy spring break season for Grand Canyon, staff told ABC15 the cuts were being felt deeply in a park that was already understaffed and anxiously awaiting the arrival of seasonal workers in April." [KNXV, 3/22/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Paused At Least $4 Billion In Relief Funding For Communities Dependent On The Colorado River. According to KUNC, "An executive order issued in the early days of the Trump administration hit pause on at least $4 billion set aside to protect the flow of the Colorado River. The funds from the Inflation Reduction Act were offered to protect the flow of the water supply for about 40 million people and a massive agricultural economy. With the money on hold, Colorado River users are worried about the future of the dwindling water supply. The river is shrinking due to climate change. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, created by dams on the Colorado River, have reached record low levels in recent years amid a megadrought spanning more than two decades. If water levels fall much lower, they could lose the ability to generate hydropower within the massive dams that hold them back, or even lose the ability to pass water downstream. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed Biden to designate $4 billion for Colorado River programs, funding farmers, cities and Native American tribes to conserve Colorado River water by leaving it in those reservoirs. The payments are compensation for lost income." [KUNC, 2/26/25]
February 2025 Op-Ed: Local Arizona County Official Warned Trump Layoffs At Grand Canyon National Park Would Hurt Clean Water Project. In an Arizona Republic op-ed, Coconino County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Patrice Horstman wrote, "The recent executive order directing federal agencies to terminate probationary staff has resulted in the loss of essential Grand Canyon National Park employees. This is in addition to employees lost through retirements, deferred resignations, the hiring freeze and rescinded employment offers. Six of those terminated at Grand Canyon National Park include specialized scientists working on the Transcanyon Waterline Project. The $208 million project was decades in the making and is currently about two-thirds complete. The 12.5-mile waterline brings water from Roaring Springs on the North Rim to Havasupai Gardens, where it is pumped to the South Rim. The waterline provides drinking water, sewer and fire suppression services to the South Rim’s visitors, residents and businesses. The original pipeline was built in the 1960s and has experienced more than 85 major breaks since 2010. Each of these breaks results in temporary closures of restrooms, trails, hotels and restaurants. A pause or delay in construction of the new waterline prolongs the risks involved in managing an antiquated, unreliable and dangerous infrastructure." [Patrice Horstman op-ed, Arizona Republic, 2/27/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled $190 Million In Funding For Arizona Public Health Agencies. According to KPNX, “ Arizona's health department has been told by federal officials that over $190 million in grant funds had been canceled. On Friday, the public health department said the central focus of these grants was to detect and control infectious diseases throughout Arizona. The federal funding included the COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant and multiple COVID-related sub grants within the Immunizations and Vaccines For Children Program Grant and the Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity Grant.” [KPNX, 3/28/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired Tonto National Forest Worker Responsible For Supporting Firefighters. According to KNXV, "When the fire starts, you want the firefighters to be ready. That was Eric Yost's job. 'Getting like the rental vehicles going and picking up signs or whatever needs to be done out in the field... going and purchasing supplies and support items for the firefighters,' Yost says, going through his long mental list of job expectations. 'If they need something, you know, figure it out and go do it.' As a support services specialist with Tonto National Forest since 2023, Yost was essentially the 'gofer' for federal wildland firefighters. 'We do a lot with very little, but you know, we're great at it,' the Glendale man said. Yost's last day on the job was Tuesday, a quick goodbye after he was notified over Valentine's Day weekend that he'd been let go. He was one of 3,400 National Forest Service employees nationwide to be laid off under new efforts to reduce the federal workforce." [KNXV, 2/20/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Fired Entire Office Responsible For Operating And Maintaining Phoenix Federal Courthouse.
According to the Arizona Republic, "The entire Phoenix field office of the U.S. General Services Administration has been fired, according to a federal court administrator. The field office 'was the subject of a reduction in force,' said Debra Lucas, the district court executive and clerk of court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The firings included people who operated and maintained the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse in downtown Phoenix, Lucas said. 'This hit every part of GSA,' she said. 'There were cuts from all areas.' The General Services Administration is an independent agency that manages the government's real estate portfolio and oversees most government contracts. The agency had about 12,000 employees, according to its 2024 annual report." [Arizona Republic, 3/7/25]
March 2025: Arizonans Criticized The Trump Administration's Cuts At The Social Security Administration.
March 2025: Trump Administration Fired Phoenix, Arizona-Area Disabled Veteran Working For Department Of Defense And Homeland Security. According to KPNX, " An Arizona veteran recently laid off due to DOGE cuts will join Senator Ruben Gallego at President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night. Kyle Rahn, a disabled veteran from north Phoenix who has lived a life of public service, was laid off months into his promotion as a physical security specialist, he told 12News. 'But at the end of the day, my probationary status, you know, I got terminated for getting a promotion,' Rahn said. Rahn served in the Army for almost 10 years after joining right after high school. He was medically discharged. 'Obviously, I got my bumps and bruises across that, and some, you know, more challenging things happened at the end of my last deployment, and you know that led to my eventual medical retirement,' Rahn said. His service led him to a job with the Department of Defense and eventually with Homeland Security. 'They saw my performance reviews. They saw my certifications. They saw my experience, Rahn said. 'And so started that in July.'" [KPNX, 3/4/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired Marine Veteran Helping Other Vets Avoid Foreclosure In Phoenix. According to KPNX, "It's a job David Carreras loved. For almost a year, he worked for the Phoenix Veterans Benefits Administration where he would help Valley veterans struggling to pay their mortgage and facing foreclosure, keep their homes. 'I felt like I was serving a bigger purpose than myself,' Carreras said. 'Being able to hear veterans call and say, 'Hey, thank you so much for helping me save my home,' was the best reward that I could ever ask for.' [...] Being a veteran himself, serving four years in the Marine Corps, Carreras said it meant so much to help those who served our country. Giving them the help they deserve. 'This is a crucial job,' he said. Then on Monday just a few hours into his shift. Carreras received an email from the federal department that said he was terminated. " [KPNX, 2/26/25]
April 2025: Arizona Veterans Criticized The Trump Administration's Layoffs And Cuts At The VA.
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired Phoenix, Arizona, VA Center Therapist Using Music To Help Treat PTSD In Veterans. According to the Arizona Republic, "When music therapist Kristin Fray heard about President Donald Trump’s plans to dramatically shrink the federal workforce, she hoped her job at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Phoenix would be safe. 'I work with veterans. Why would they want to cut health care for veterans?' Fray said. 'But they clearly did.' Fray is among the thousands of federal employees who were fired en masse on Monday at the Department of Veterans Affairs. [...] The cuts included government employees such as Fray, 44, who helped veterans manage challenges like pain, anxiety and post-traumatic stress through music at the VA in Phoenix." [Arizona Republic, 2/27/25]
February 2025: Recreational Therapist Fired By Trump Administration From Phoenix VA Center Warned Therapist/Veteran Ratio Would Fall Below Standard After Cuts. According to the Arizona Republic, "Taylor Hernandez, a 23-year-old recreation therapist at the VA, was fired in the same way and has also appealed the decision. She warned the Community Living Center unit where she worked would no longer meet the therapist-to-veteran ratio standard and the remaining therapist would likely be overwhelmed with work." [Arizona Republic, 2/27/25]