When Donald Trump ran for president, he promised to fight for working people and the forgotten. But today, the truth is undeniable: his regime has betrayed the people who put their faith in him.

Through an overwhelming number of illegal executive orders and actions, the Trump regime is robbing funding that Congress enacted into law. While gutting essential services for regular families, it’s handing billions in tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.

The cuts are already coming to Idaho. The Trump regime yanked a $59 million grant the University of Idaho rightfully secured. That funding would have helped more than 200 Idaho farmers adopt practices to increase resilience to weather changes and expand into new markets. The funds farmers were counting on — some already spent — vanished, along with opportunity across 34 counties.

In Pocatello, a $16.4 million grant was lawfully awarded for sewer lines, clean drinking water, safe sidewalks, and other infrastructure improvements. Idahoans would have built these upgrades, earning good wages and boosting the economy. The regime wiped it all away.

The Trump regime also took funds from CASA of Southwest Idaho, which advocates for abused and neglected children. The Idaho Humanities Council canceled exhibits in Burley, Moscow, Coeur d’Alene, and Priest River after the regime wiped out 75 percent of its budget without warning. Many more Idaho nonprofits face devastating cuts that hurt kids and families.

The illegal bypassing of Congress to dismantle services is part of the unpopular Project 2025 agenda. While the Trump campaign denied any connection, it’s what they were plotting all along. If the proposed budget based on Project 2025 passes, the worst is yet to come.

The budget would slash funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and public schools. It would gut infrastructure, cut rural broadband and investments in affordable homes, and strip away rental assistance helping families living paycheck to paycheck. It would eliminate preschool funding, hitting Idaho children hard. We’re one of the few states where the Republican supermajority refuses to invest state funding in our youngest learners.

Over 315,000 Idahoans rely on Medicaid, including more than one-third of our children. Another 130,000 need food assistance. Nearly 400,000 count on Social Security to retire with dignity. Trump’s budget puts all of them at risk.

In Kootenai County, fire and rescue teams use federal funds to distribute opioid reversal kits that prevent tragic overdose deaths. The Trump budget shuts the program down.

But Idahoans can resist these hostile, fascist moves. We can demand that Idaho’s Congressional Delegation override Trump’s illegal executive orders and reject his disastrous budget.

If we stay silent, the damage will deepen. If we organize, we can reject a rigged economy serving the powerful and protect what makes Idahoans thrive.

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Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair