Affordable Housing
The Trump administration fired employees at a Seattle HUD office, with multiple outlets reporting that they plan to close the office and lay off all 100 of the employees there, as well as cancelling multiple affordable housing grants in the state.
Agriculture
The Trump administration fired multiple Washington-based scientists who studied hops, with the scientists warning their layoffs will hurt farmers and breweries.
Energy
The Trump administration froze funding that would have helped farmers and small businesses reduce their energy bills and laid off employees responsible for electricity in the state.
Environment
The Trump administration fired at least a dozen employees working on cleaning up “the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere” and several employees who protected Olympic National Park from invasive species.
Health Care
The Trump administration’s NIH funding cuts threatened cancer research in the state, along with the 12,000 jobs that NIH funding supports in Washington.
Veterans
The Trump administration fired multiple veterans in Washington, along with employees who worked for Veterans Affairs in the state.
March 2025: Trump Administration Froze Emergency Food And Shelter Assistance Program Funding For Washington State Nonprofits. According to KEPR, "Funding to combat food insecurity and homelessness throughout the Columbia Basin is at risk. Leaders with the United Way of Benton & Franklin counties tell KEPR News a federal funding freeze has been placed on FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Applications for the funding opened back in February. They say that money is vital for thousands in our community. 'We're estimating about 18,000 people would be supported by this in one way or another throughout the counties,' Dr. LoAnn Ayers, the President & CEO of United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties.'So we're just asking everyone to reach out to your congressmember to advocate support for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.' [...] The United Way says more than $1.4 million in EFSP funds have been given to local agencies over the last five years across the two counties." [KEPR, 3/18/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Began Firing Several Employees At Seattle HUD Office As They Implemented Reported Plan To Close Location Entirely. According to Cascade PBS, "Layoffs have begun and employees are scared at Seattle’s regional office of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. Some workers have started bringing personal items home from the office for fear that their badges may stop working without notice, according to one Seattle-based HUD employee who spoke to Cascade PBS on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The angst comes amid reports that the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency want to cut HUD’s 9,600-person workforce by half and close many regional and field offices across the country. Seattle’s office is one of 11 HUD regional facilities and serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Bloomberg, The Washington Post and the Associated Press have all reported that HUD plans to close the Seattle office entirely and that its more than 100 workers will likely be laid off, along with about 50 based in Portland. [...] The Seattle HUD employee told Cascade PBS at least five probationary employees were laid off already along with seven people from the Field Policy Management program, which serves as the go between for HUD and local and state governments. The employee said several other staff in Seattle were told they must relocate to other offices to keep their jobs. " [Cascade PBS, 3/14/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled Affordable Housing Grants To Multiple Seattle Nonprofits. According to Cascade PBS, "Some Seattle-area affordable-housing and community development nonprofits are already feeling the pinch from frozen HUD funds. HUD’s Section 4 grant program is meant to help small nonprofits expand their capacity to build affordable housing or do economic development work that benefits low-income residents. The money is used for things like helping a small affordable-housing developer get through the environmental review and permitting process, hire a site surveyor or get legal assistance on a project. Section 4 grants get distributed through intermediary nonprofits including Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise Community Partners. Section 4 uses reimbursable grants, meaning nonprofits that receive funds must submit receipts to the intermediary for reimbursement. In February, LISC and Enterprise learned their Section 4 grants were being terminated. Nationwide at least $60 million in Section 4 grants have been frozen, the Associate Press reported. Lauren McGowan, LISC Puget Sound’s executive director, said the organization had about $225,000 in contracts committed to Seattle-area nonprofits that it can no longer pay, and another $380,000 that were awarded but not yet under contract. LISC’s local awardees include the YWCA, the Financial Empowerment Network, Urban League, United Way Pierce County and Workforce Snohomish, most of which were using the funds for jobs training and economic development projects. According to an Enterprise spokesperson, four nonprofits in Washington were expecting about $154,000 in Section 4 reimbursements that will no longer be paid. Enterprise was also about to announce another $1.15 million in grants for Washington and Oregon that have been cancelled." [Cascade PBS, 3/14/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Terminated Program That Fed 850,000 Washington State Students With Produce From Local Farms. According to the Seattle Times, “For the past two years, the Bellevue School District has allocated more of its food budget to buy from farmers across Washington to offer students meals with locally produced raspberries, blueberries and coho and chum salmon. The Local Food for Schools program, a federal program that funneled $8.8 million to Washington, played a crucial role in helping 160 districts, including Bellevue, boost the amount of fresh produce and locally grown meat, poultry and seafood they served students. But, earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled the program, leaving school nutrition staff in the Eastside district and across the state scrambling to revise their menus and determine which local foods they can still buy without the federal funding. In Washington alone, Local Food for Schools helped feed 850,000 students.” [Seattle Times, 3/31/25]
February 2025: Research Scientists Were Fired By The Trump Administration In Washington State. According to NonStop Local KHQ, " Probationary federal staff layoffs at the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) took place in the last week, and Washington State researchers who study hops learned they are out of a job. Hops are the flowers used to flavor and preserve beer." [NonStop Local KHQ, 2/18/25]
May 2025: Port Of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins Warned The Had No Container Ships Due To Trump's Tariffs, Which Caused A “Significant Drop In Container Volume."
March 2025: Trump Administration Executive Order Called For Reduction To Federal Agency That Provided Almost $4 Million For Washington State Libraries. According to KING-TV, "Many library workers throughout the state are worried their library could be facing some major cuts. President Donald Trump issued an executive order that will eliminate the only federal agency that funds libraries and museums nationwide. 'When I was a kid, this library was the way that I read,' Shannon Curry said. [...] IMLS supports many other libraries across the state. 'I'm going to argue that every library is going to be impacted,' Sara Jones said. 'There are 60 systems and 400 individual ones, and I think we touch everyone in some manner.' Jones is the Washington State Librarian. She said currently IMLS is providing $3.9 million to help support various library programs that Washington State Library (WSL) supports. She's baffled the agency is on the verge of being eliminated. 'I was shocked and dismayed,' Jones said. 'This is the most effective and efficient federal program bar none. I have no problem saying that.'" [KING-TV, 3/17/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Spending Cuts And Freezes To Clean Energy Research Forced Washington State University To Move Employees To Other Projects. According to Tri-City Herald, "The Trump administration’s crack down on education and grants is threatening groundbreaking clean energy research being conducted in Tri-Cities. There also are growing concerns about loans and tuition for local college students. [...] Nearly $2 million in research at Washington State University’s campus in Richland was on hold after federal officials cut two grants that pay for work at the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and the Ankeron Carbon Management Hub. The employees working on those projects were moved to other projects or funding sources, said Phil Weiler, WSU’s VP of University Marketing and Communications." [Tri-City Herald, 3/26/25]
April 2025: Washington State Association Of Head Start, An Early Childhood Education Program, Stated Their Office Was Closed By The Trump Administration And 6 Employees Were Placed On Leave. According to KING-TV, "The Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP (WSA) posted on their Facebook page Tuesday the Region X office, based in Seattle, was closed without warning. All six federal employees had been placed on administrative leave until June. The office oversees grants, funding distribution, program monitoring and compliance for more than 70 Head Start grantees in their region. Head Start, which is funded by HHS and falls under the umbrella of the federal Administration for Children and Families, is a federal program that funds school readiness for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children from families with low income. The closure has sparked concern from Head Start programs about whether their grants will be renewed." [KING-TV, 4/2/25]
Washington State Organization Helping Farmers And Small Businesses Save Energy Was Forced To Furlough Three Employees After Trump Spending Freeze. According to KXLY, "David Funk is the president of Zero Emissions Northwest (ZEN) and is one of many who is frustrated and confused by the unprecedented move by the Trump Administration. ZEN works with farmers and small business owners to help them save energy. It also helps navigate the grant process for these types of projects. 'It was quite a shock to us, but mainly to our customers,' Funk said. 'We've done a lot of the work, but our farmers that we support have spent millions of dollars on projects that they are expecting to get reimbursed, and these projects make their farms better. They make their farms more financially resilient.' According to Funk, his clients have $1.9 million worth of projects under construction and are collectively waiting on $250,000 in reimbursements. Funk has had to furlough three employees because of the abrupt freeze that went into effect on January 20." [KXLY, 2/5/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Laid Off Employees At Washington State Power Plant Responsible For Electricity In Area. According to the Tri-City Herald, "Workers assigned to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, also lost their jobs, as well as employees of Bonneville Power Administration, she said. She suspects there have been hundreds of layoffs at BPA, which supplies much of the electricity for the Tri-Cities area." [Tri-City Herald, 2/24/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired At Least A Dozen Workers In Washington State Responsible For Managing “The Most Contaminated Site In The Western Hemisphere.” According to Tri-City Herald, "Murray said that more than a dozen DOE workers were laid off at DOE’s Hanford office in Richland, including safety engineers and environmental scientists. They apparently were people who had been hired within the last one to two years and were still in a probationary period of their jobs with the federal government. The Hanford site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons work, leaving the site heavily contaminated. It has been called the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere. Hanford DOE workers are responsible for negotiating with regulators to agree on the environmental cleanup work that must be done, the standards that must be met and the schedule for completing work. They oversee contractor work to ensure it is done correctly and meets state and federal regulator standards. They also monitor and respond to urgent safety issues and make sure the rights of workers at the site are protected, Murray said." [Tri-City Herald, 2/24/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Laid Off Five Workers At Olympic National Park Responsible For Road Maintenance And Preventing Invasive Species. According to Peninsula Daily News, "Olympic National Park fired five employees in their probationary period, said Hazel Galloway, a science communications specialist who was fired on Feb. 14. In addition to her position, the park cut two road maintenance employees and two biological science technicians, all probationary employees, Galloway said. [...] Galloway said the road maintenance employees fired is something most locals know the impact of. Road crews are responsible for keeping the road to Hurricane Ridge open. [...] Valeriano, one of the two biological science technicians fired, was on a small crew which traveled throughout western Washington supporting teams at small parks in dealing with invasive weeds [...] Invasive species are highly flammable, threaten biodiversity, and their shallow root systems may allow for erosion, impacting waterways, Merchant said." [Peninsula Daily News, 3/1/25]
March 2025: Seattle Doctor Warned Of Potentially “Devastating” Impacts From Trump NIH Cuts To Local Cancer Research. According to KING, "Funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could have serious consequences for cancer research in Western Washington, including critical work being done at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. However, potential reductions in NIH funding could slow down their progress. Dr. Tina Termini, Assistant Professor of Translational Science and Therapeutics at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, is leading a lab that examines how blood regenerates after cancer patients undergo treatments. Her research aims to help patients recover faster by finding ways to regenerate blood cells after radiation or chemotherapy. Looming cuts to NIH funding could threaten this vital research. In 2024, the NIH awarded $1.26 billion in grants and contracts to Washington State, directly supporting over 12,000 jobs. Termini’s lab relies heavily on these funds to carry out essential studies. 'When you submit a grant to the NIH you are requesting funds to complete the scientific studies but you’re also requesting funds to help you execute those scientific studies,' Termini said. 'So indirect costs can pay for things like maintenance of equipment that is shared between labs for example or the individuals who actually help us make purchases for our labs or things as trivial as maintaining our restrooms so that the scientists have a place to use the restroom when they’re completing their experiments.' The Trump administration’s new policy could cap funding for these indirect costs at just 15%, a significant reduction from the current system where institutions could charge up to 50% or more of their research funding for indirect costs. 'If we don’t have the funds to execute our experiments as planned, it would be devastating to our progress,' Termini said." [KING, 3/6/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Cut Over $150 Million In Funding To Washington State’s Health Agencies. According to KIRO, "The Washington State Department of Health is losing $130 million in grants as part of cuts to federal agencies budgets, according to multiple news outlets. 'The reality is that, when we take funding away from public health systems, the systems just do not have the capacity, because they’re chronically underfunded over the decades,' said Dr. Umair Shah, former Washington State health secretary, told The New York Times. The state’s Health Care Authority will also lose $34 million in funding. That money comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. " [KIRO, 3/27/25]
April 2025: Trump Administration Cancelled Grant To Help Tacoma-Pierce County Improve Local Health Protections Against Wildfires. According to the Tacoma News Tribune, "The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department hasn’t been immune to federal budget cuts, while federal-level layoffs also have left data collection in at least one program at risk. In response to questions, TPCHD media representative Kenny Via told The News Tribune that two local health department programs took the initial hit of funding losses: one tied to COVID-19 response and the other with wildfires. [...] The other cut was tied to a $1 million, 3-year grant that began in March 2024 'to help build community capacity to protect against wildfires, wildfire smoke, and the health effects associated with both,' Via wrote. The Environmental Protection Agency terminated the grant last month." [Tacoma News Tribune, 4/4/25]
February 2025: Trump NIH Cuts Could Cost Washington State Universities, Research Centers, And Companies $179 Million In Scientific Research Funding. According to a New York Times’ analysis, the Trump Administration’s proposal to cap NIH indirect funding costs at 15% could cause Washington State colleges, research institutes, and companies to lose $179 million in funding. [New York Times, 2/13/25]
April 2025: Sen. Patty Murray Stated The Trump Administration Fired 200 Seattle-Based Department Of Health And Human Services Employees. According to KING-TV, "Hundreds of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees based in Washington were abruptly fired or placed on leave from several different offices, including the HHS regional office, the regional Head Start office and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratory in Spokane. The cuts come following a vow from Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr. to remake HHS into a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America, which included purging 20,000 employees from its payroll, nearly a quarter of its workforce. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to do 'more with less.' According to a release from Sen. Patty Murray, this week, 'some, if not all,' of the employees at the HHS regional office in Seattle were abruptly fired. That impacts nearly 200 people, Murray estimated." [KING-TV, 4/2/25]
February 2025: Washington State Residents Worried About The Impact The Trump Administration's Mass Layoffs Of Federal Workers Could Have On Public Health And Safety.
April 2025: Trump Administration Laid Off Workers At Spokane Office Of The National Institute Of Occupational Safety And Health, Which Studied Worker Injury And Illness. According to KREM, "Workers at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are being laid off. CBS reports this is part of a national push to restructure NIOSH, which has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Right now, two-thirds of workers at the NIOSH are being laid off. On Tuesday, leadership staff was let go and by June 30, the rest of the employees will be laid off, according to the union representing some of the employees at NIOSH." [KREM, 4/1/25]
[VIDEO] March 2025: A Disabled Veteran In Spokane, Washington, Was Forced To Fill Prescription Elsewhere After Local VA Center Told Him Trump Hiring Freeze Had Forced Delays In Operations. “ANCHOR: Since DOGE’s mission began, it has laid off tens of thousands of government employees, including many from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Now those cuts are now being felt at our local VA medical center. This here is Mike Dowgiewicz, he’s a disabled veteran who served in the Vietnam War. For the past four and a half years he has received care at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center here in Spokane. Recently, he came to drop off an eye glass prescription and realized operations had changed. MIKE DOWGIEWICZ: When I came here as I’ve done for prior years to drop off the prescription, I was told I needed to get an appointment now because of the hiring freeze, and I couldn’t get an appointment just to drop the prescription off until the middle of April. ANCHOR: Mike says he’s had to go somewhere else to get his glasses since he would’ve had to wait until July to get a new pair. He said he feels bad for the employees who told him they were understaffed, and he’s concerned for other veterans who may need more serious care.” [KXLY, “Local Veteran Concerned About Layoffs, 3/5/25] 00:00:09 - 00:01:00
February 2025: Washington State Army Veteran With Service-Related Cancer And Lung Failure Worried About Decline In Quality Of Care After His Nurse, A Fellow Army Veteran, Was Fired By Trump Administration. According to King 5 NBC, "Now, Washington state leaders are pushing back to defend the care of our country’s defenders, defenders like U.S. Marine Andrew Stevens from Seattle. He got cancer from toxic chemicals he was exposed to overseas, and last year, his chemo caused his lungs to fail. Even though he was primarily a patient of the VA in Seattle, he had to go to Chicago to get a lung transplant. [...] Stephanie Rudat said last week that her husband, Andrew Stevens, lost his VA nurse due to the federal worker layoffs. 'This makes my job as a caregiver much more complex. I don’t know how to navigate the VA,' said Rudat. 'It's devastating.' She glowed about how kind and competent he was and the value he brought to their family. 'He served in Afghanistan: Army Combat Medic. Earned his BSN and RN,' she said. 'There isn't a replacement for that particular service. And while there are other people who work at the VA and everyone we work with wants to help and be useful, having someone who's an RN and understands on the medical side what we need, and then also can help on the administrative side, is invaluable.'" [King 5 NBC, 2/26/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Fired Seattle Army Veteran Processing Disability Benefit Claims At Regional VA Office. According to KOMO, "Raphael Garcia said it was a rough transition from active duty military to the workforce in Spring 2024. What helped, he said, was finding a role with the Department of Veterans Affairs where he could relate to the people he was serving. 'A lot of things you go through [in the] service: it’s very high-demand stress environments, does a lot of damage to your body [and] mentally,' Garcia explained. [...] He was hurt to lose those relationships when he was let go from his job in February amid widespread federal layoffs. The Army veteran said he ran a short-staffed regional office out of Seattle that processes Army disability benefits claims." [KOMO, 3/5/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Laid Off Employees At Spokane, WA VA Center. According to KREM 2, "KREM 2 News has confirmed that local employees with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane have been laid off. Shaneka Barefiled, public affairs specialist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, sent the following statement to KREM 2 News Thursday morning: 'Mann-Grandstaff VAMC has dismissed a small number of probationary staff this month. This decision will have no negative effect on Veteran health care, benefits or other services and will allow VA to focus more effectively on its core mission of serving Veterans, families, caregivers" [KREM 2, 2/27/25]
February 2025: 14 VA Medical Workers Were Fired In Puget Sound, Washington, By Trump Administration. According to King 5 NBC, "So far, 2,400 people have been fired from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and KING 5 has learned that 14 of those people were fired from the Puget Sound VA Medical Center. " [King 5 NBC, 2/26/25]
February 2025: Trump Administration Fired Veteran Working For VA In Washington State. According to WBUR, "Thousands of federal workers have been fired from agencies across the government from the Department of Transportation to the National Park Service and more. President Trump says he wants to trim the fat in government bureaucracy and increase efficiency. But in doing so, workers with exceptional performance reviews are getting fired. Among them is Raphael Garcia, an army veteran who worked with the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs in Washington state up until last week. 'I'm still taking a lot of it in [and] kind of adjusting mentally,' Garcia says. 'But I'm still committed to serving my veteran community and going from there and showing support for my federal workers out there.'" [WBUR, 2/20/25]
March 2025: Trump Administration Fired Cancer-Survivor Army Vet Who Worked At Seattle VA Helping Homeless Veterans. According to the Seattle Times, "It was the exposure to toxic burn pits in Baghdad that likely caused Scott Olson’s cancer, he said. The Army veteran was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma after spending 15 months in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. When Olson returned to the U.S., he sought care from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Seattle, relying on it through stem cell transplants, two hip replacements and other treatments and surgeries. 'It’s kind of hard to hold down a job while you’re going through all that,' Olson, now 47, said in an interview. Two months ago, he was relieved to get hired by the VA, where he supported homeless veterans at a community center in Georgetown. There, he helped people connect with housing, health care and career development resources — work that 'gave (him) purpose,' he said. Then last week, he was suddenly fired, as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass cuts of thousands of federal workers nationwide. He was stunned as he read the email and realized the 'notice of termination' referred to his own job." [Seattle Times, 3/6/25]