Cuts Affect Health Research, BPA staffing, Firefighters and Potentially Medicaid
Federal spending cuts are drawing blood in Oregon impacting health research, power grid management, wildfire fighters and special education students. An even deeper wound could occur if congressional Republicans approve deep cuts in Medicaid reimbursements.
At a press conference Friday, Oregon Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici warned that federal spending cuts could jeopardize foundational research at OHSU on Alzheimer’s, pancreatic cancer, opioid addiction, HIV medication and flu vaccines. In 2024, OHSU received $352 million for biomedical research from The National Institutes of Health.
Wyden and Merkley dispatched a letter Friday to Trump administration officials calling for a reversal on what they called “reckless and financially ludicrous” worker reductions at the Bonneville Power Administration. BPA is self-funded and the staff reductions include experienced, hard-to-replace workers who run and maintain the region’s transmission infrastructure and Columbia River dams.
Wyden and Merkley also implored the Trump administration to exempt wildfire fighters from a hiring freeze. Some 15,000 seasonal wildfire fighters are recruited and hired during February and March to prepare for the summer wildfire season. More than 32 million acres or roughly half of Oregon is protected by firefighters hired by federal agencies.
In Washington, DC, Linda McMahon sat Friday for her confirmation hearing as head of the Department of Education, which Trump wants to abolish. McMahon faced questioned on what would happen to the agency’s programs and funding for low-income communities and students with disabilities. She suggested the student disability program would remain but may shift to Health and Human Resources underly newly confirmed Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The Republican-controlled House is advancing a budget proposal that could slash federal spending on Medicaid by up to $880 billion over 10 years. House GOP leaders, claiming Medicaid is rife with fraud and abuse, are considering options to end enhanced federal matching funds and lower the threshold to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Some lawmakers want to impose work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries.
The abrupt suspension of USAID foreign aid programs has left many businesses and farmers in the lurch. According to USAID, it works with seven Oregon farmers, one business and one nonprofit. The status of contracts and payments are in limbo as the USAID closure faces multiple court challenges.
Oregon transportation officials are waiting to learn whether federal grant money will be disbursed for EV charging stations. Oregon was promised $52 million over five years but only received partial funding under the grant in 2022.
OHSU Research
The Oregon Capital Chronicle reported NIH grants are appropriated by Congress and Democratic lawmakers stress the executive branch doesn’t have the power of the purse. “The bottom line is this, Trump and (Elon) Musk cavalierly and illegally cut resources for medical research,” Wyden said. “It is lawless to unilaterally freeze congressionally approved decisions.”
Bonamici said, “We are going to do all we can to stop this short-sighted, dangerous anti-science agenda.” Merkley said, “Donald Trump is trashing the Constitution.”
The new Trump policy limits indirect costs for research funding, which translates into funding for institutions like OHSU where research is conducted. The new indirect cost limit would be 15 percent of research grants. Federal data indicates OHSU received $277 million from NIH in 2024, with $73.6 million or nearly 27 percent for indirect costs.
Oregon is one of 21 states that successfully won a temporary reprieve for new indirect cost ceiling.
BPA Workforce
The Wyden-Merkley letter urged Trump to exclude BPA from workforce reductions and buyout provisions that could shrink the agency’s staff by 20 percent, including many senior linemen, engineers and dispatchers, posing a threat to the reliability of the Pacific Northwest electrical grid.
Their letter said, “We do not believe there is an energy emergency, but your actions certainly appear to be creating one through these cuts that actively jeopardize the stability of our energy infrastructure, right now.”
In a parallel situation, the Trump administration backtracked on the firing of probationary for the National Nuclear Security Administration that oversees U.S. nuclear weapons. Underscoring the chaotic way the firings were handled, agency officials lacked information on how to contact many of the workers to rehire them.
Wildfire Fighters
Unless the hiring freeze is lifted, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management may enter summer short-staffed to fight wildfires and conduct. That would shift more responsibility onto states to backfill firefighter shortages and could require contracting with more expensive private firefighting teams.
BLM issued work stoppage orders on preventive burn projects. Wyden and Merkley called the hiring freeze “flagrantly illegal” and said the work stoppage could undermine effort to “increase safety and resiliency and put communities at greater risk.”
Department of Education
McMahon’s main mission as Secretary of Education will be to draft a plan eliminating the agency created by Congress in 1979. At her hearing, McMahon distinguished between the agency and its functions, which she said could be transferred to other agencies.
McMahon emphasized the Individuals with Disabilities Act, commonly called IDEA, and Title I that deals with education in low-income communities are congressional creations and cannot be summarily ended.
Also during her hearing, McMahon voiced support for school choice but said, “I absolutely do believe that our public schools are the bedrock of our education. You know, they go back to the very founding of our country.”
House GOP Budget Proposal
House Republicans put Medicaid funding cuts at the top of the list of spending reductions in their budget reconciliation proposal, which also contains a major tax cut and spending increases for energy production and border security.
Lawmakers who drew up the proposal focused on changes to how much the federal government will contribute to state-run Medicaid programs, which in congressional lingo is called the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).
As reported by The Hill, The joint federal-state program provides health coverage for more than 70 million Americans, with the federal share ranging from 50 to nearly 75 percent of the costs for traditional Medicaid. For states like Oregon with expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the federal contribution can be as high as 90 percent.
“Possible changes floated by Republicans,” The Hill reported, “include capping Medicaid spending on a per capita basis at a potential savings of $900 billion per year; rolling back the enhanced federal matching rate for ACA expansion states to save $561 billion; and lowering the 50 percent floor for the traditional Medicaid population, for a savings of up to $387 billion.”
Photo Credit: Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman
Idaho Republican Congressman Russ Fulcher told The Hill that Republicans have to go after Medicaid for cuts because “that’s where the money is. We got the word that we’ve got to come up with $900 billion [in cuts]. There’s only one place you can go, and that’s Medicaid. FMAP will be debated.”
The GOP-controlled Senate has rolled out its proposed budget reconciliation measure that maintains existing spending levels, increases defense and border security funding by $300 billion and requires a commensurate $300 billion in spending cuts. The Senate bill doesn’t include a tax cut.
