New York’s Senator, Member Of Senate Appropriations Cmte. Releases Statement On Federal Budget Request

GILLIBRAND STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BUDGET REQUEST

Editor’s note: Multiple local organizations and residents, including Citizen Action Of New York and Make The Road NY (based on Staten Island)  have stood together, particularly in front of our representative’s offices in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, to decry the cuts provided for in the House final budget.  The main complaints are that cuts to Medicaid and Social Security will have either direct or indirect effects on people receiving benefits from these programs.  This will serve to make it harder for those already struggling to make ends meet, put food on their tables, and get the healthcare they might need.  Senator Schumer has also raised the alarm about this budget, which will disproportionately affect Islanders who utilize Medicaid in large numbers.  Additional statements by local politicians and organizations will be published this coming Saturday.  Learn more about the failure of the Affordable Care Act in the Deep South, and what that has meant for hospitals in rural communities that are often the only hospitals in a large area. Most people who cannot afford healthcare apparently seek it regardless when absolutely necessary, and then don’t pay the debt, causing a burden on the smaller hospitals who can’t afford to carry such debt themselves (as they must still pay salaries, supplies, etc). It would also presumably have a negative effect on the individual with the unpaid medical bills, presumably making it harder for them to get a loan to buy a house, for instance. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on President Trump’s full budget request for the 2026 fiscal year:

“President Trump’s budget would cut funding for programs that provide nutritional assistance to the hungry, help low-income families pay rent and heat their homes, and invest in the health and education of our kids – commonsense, bipartisan measures that help Americans in red and blue states alike. The budget slashes FEMA grants that help communities prepare for natural disasters, scientific research funding at the CDC and the NIH, and Department of Labor workforce training programs that help Americans secure good-paying jobs. And despite the president’s claim that public safety is a priority, he is cutting funding for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and community violence intervention programs.

These cuts will hurt the American people. They are an insult to hardworking Americans who rightfully expect their tax dollars to be reinvested in their communities. This budget will set us back decades and make life harder for working families. I urge my Republican colleagues to join me in opposing it and in finding a bipartisan path forward on government funding.”