Under the Biden Administration:

• President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark bill with substantial funding for clean energy, energy efficiency, and environmental justice.
• He rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement.
• The Biden Administration established a new Federal Climate Strategy that focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• President Trump has signed an executive order to fast-track mining and oil and gas drilling.
• Opened more federal lands for fossil fuel development.
• Fired thousands of workers dedicated to environmental protection and conservation
• Taken steps to undo federal energy and environmental regulations.
• Ordered the U.S. to withdrawal from the Paris Agreement – an international treaty designed to ad dress the climate crisis.

Future Threats:

• President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal continues his assault on efforts to protect the environment and address climate change. His proposed 2026 budget cuts include:
• $900 million for the National Park System.
• $2.5 billion for clean and drinking water infrastructure funding for states.
• $1 billion for state and local environmental and infrastructure-related grants.
• $250 million for the Superfund Program – charged with cleaning up contaminated sites and responding to environmental emergencies.
• $240 million for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, targeting climate and environmental justice research.
• $100 million to eliminate the EPA’s environmental justice program.
• $1.5 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to eliminate a variety of climate-related research, data, and grant programs as well as to cancel contracts related to climate change observation.

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• The Trump Administration has repeatedly attacked judges and the judicial system. President Trump has personally called for the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg who ordered a halt to his mass deportation program.
• Trump said: “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” He also called Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.”.
• Under the direction of FBI Director Kash Patel, the federal authorities arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly obstructing immigration authorities.
• The Trump Administration has disobeyed court orders, including an order by the U.S. Supreme Court, to take meaningful steps to return a father, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
• The Trump Administration has pursued and sought to deport legal immigrants for exercising their first amendment right to protest on college campuses.

Future Threats:

• President Trump has called into question whether non-citizens have any rights under the U.S. Constitution. Legal experts, and even members of the Republican party, have argued that the Constitution clearly affords all persons, not just citizens, due process rights on American soil.
• The Trump Administration is arguing before the Supreme Court that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution provides that all persons born on U.S. soil, even children born to undocumented immigrants, are automatically U.S. citizens. 
• President Trump has directed the IRS to target and potentially revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. The president is prohibited under federal law from directing the IRS to investigate particular parties. Other universities could face similar threats unless they capitulate to the administration’s demands regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
• President Trump has suggested that violent offenders who are U.S. citizens should be sent to prison in foreign jurisdictions, including El Salvador.

Under the Biden Administration:

• President Biden instituted sweeping student loan forgiveness, including:
  • Delivering $78 billion in debt relief to 1 million Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) borrowers after overhauling the program.
  • $57 billion in Income-Driven Repayment forgiveness to more than 1.4 million borrowers.
  • $34 billion in relief to nearly 2 million borrowers who were defrauded by for-profit colleges, or whose institutions closed.
  • $18.7 billion in relief to approximately 633,000 borrowers in Total and Permanent Disability status.
• The Biden Administration developed the SAVE income-driven student loan repayment plan, offering more generous terms to borrowers and lowering most borrowers monthly payments substantially.
• Additional investments in Institutions of Higher Education, including:
  • Allocating over $17 billion to HBCUs.
  • Invested $5.3 billion in federal TRIO and GEAR UP programs to promote college access and success for low-income students, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• The Trump Administration halted the SAVE student loan repayment plan.
• The Office of Federal Student Aid has had their workforce reduced by roughly half since Trump entered office.
• The administration has revoked significant federal funding from several universities, citing failures to address antisemitism and other policy violations. For instance, Columbia University faced a $400 million cut, leading to staff layoffs and policy overhauls.
• The Trump Administration has threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status following its refusal to comply with federal demands, including changes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. 
• The administration has revoked over 300 student visas, targeting individuals accused of promoting antisemitism or supporting foreign terrorist organizations.

Future Threats:

• The Republican House Education Committee has proposed eliminating the grad PLUS program.
• The Republican education proposal would increase the number of credits per semester required for students to receive a maximum Pell Grant from 12 to 15. This change would result in a $1,479 cut to the maximum Pell Grant of $7,395 for any student taking 12 credits, approximately a quarter of Pell recipients. Those students’ Pell awards would drop to $5,916. It would take effect during the 2025-26 school year and continue for the 10 subsequent years, changing the value of student aid offers made throughout this year.
  Republicans have proposed capping the amount a student can borrow at the median cost of attendance for students enrolled in that program nationally. Additionally, Republicans have proposed capping borrowing limits for undergraduate ($50,000), graduate ($100,000), and professional ($150,000) students, which would leave many students – particularly professional students – unable to borrow enough to cover the cost of their program. Finally, the proposal includes caps to the parent PLUS program.
• Rolling back of provisions protecting students from predatory for-profit private colleges. Republicans plan to end provisions protecting borrowers when their school suddenly closes or if it is found that a school misrepresented information to prospective students or otherwise engaged in substantial misconduct.
• The Trump 2025-26 budget includes the following cuts to higher ed programs:
  • TRIO and GEAR UP: $1.579 billion billion cut to programs helping colleges engage with low-income students and increase access.
  • Federal Work Study: $980 million cut.
  • Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant: $910 million cut.

Under the Biden Administration:

• President Biden rolled back Medicaid work requirements that Trump allowed on an elective state by state basis during his first term.
• Rolled back a Trump I administration rule limiting Title X funding for family planning providers that mentioned abortion to clients and/or had affiliated providers providing abortion services.
• Released a new, streamlined application and process for Medicaid and CHIP in March 2024:
  • Simplified applications, verifications, enrollment and renewals in Medicaid and CHIP.
  • Applied consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to Medicaid and CHIP enrollees, such as a ban on lifetime limits and waiting periods for coverage.
• Provided financial incentives for states who had not yet implemented Medicaid expansion.
• Extended postpartum coverage under Medicaid from two months to a full-year postpartum for new mothers.
• Guaranteed 12-month continuous coverage for kids on Medicaid and CHIP.
• Encouraged states to submit 1115 waivers to utilize Medicaid funding to address health-related social needs, also known as social determinants of health.

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• Title X contracts with family planning councils are either not being renewed or only extended 6 months with 20% cuts by the current Trump Administration, which will deny crucial healthcare such as preventive and treatment medications, cancer screenings, and postpartum care.
• As part of the Trump-backed budget reconciliation proposals, $880 billion in potential cuts are being considered to Medicaid related programs, including possibly CHIP. Cuts could include but are not limited to:
  • Work requirements for Medicaid enrollees which serve as a barrier to care and increased administrative costs for states.
  • Restrictions on Medicaid expansion enrollees and their benefits by limiting and/or capping the federal share of funding.
  • Restrictions on states to raise revenue to help pay the state share of Medicaid expenses through health care provider assessments.
    • Without other state revenue to replace any loss, states may be forced to eliminate or reduce benefits, opt out of coverage special populations and/or instituting waiting lists for services.

More On Medicaid:

Over 750,000 of Medicaid enrollees were not eligible for health care coverage prior to changes made under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is known as the Medicaid Expansion population. Without the ACA’s Medicaid Expansion option, these individuals would not qualify for public payor health care or for lower-cost coverage on the marketplace. In PA, 60,000 of the Expansion enrollees mentioned above have presented with a substance use disorder and 129,000 have presented with a severe mental illness. Hospital uncompensated care (legally required care provided in a hospital setting when a patient does not have coverage or a means to pay) is 27.7% less than it was in PA prior to the ACA’s Medicaid expansion option. This is even though health care costs have increased during that same time.

Future Threats:

• Reduce the amount of federal Medicaid funding and leave states to pick up a larger share of Medicaid funding.
• Limit or eliminate payments to hospitals to address uncompensated care costs and/or losses from serving a disproportionate share of patients on Medicare or Medicaid.
• Require more hurdles for eligibility determinations, including more strict asset tests and work requirements.
• Restrict or eliminate the use of waivers that could expand or change benefit delivery.
• Eliminate or restrict mandated benefits to be provided through Medicaid and limit federal funding for any “optional” benefit.
• Significantly restructure Title X funding for family planning service.

Under the Biden Administration:

• President Biden helped over 2.3 million people become first-time homeowners and supported more than 1.2 million borrowers of color, making homeownership more accessible and equitable.
• Helped nearly 2 million homeowners keep their homes during the pandemic and partnered with the U.S. Treasury to keep more than 8 million renters housed.
• Built or preserved more than 2 million housing units.
• Awarded $185 million through the PRO Housing program to support communities working to eliminate barriers to affordable housing.
• Reduced mortgage insurance premiums, saving over 1 million borrowers nearly $1K per year & making homeownership more affordable.
• Permanently housed or served more than 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness through HUD programs and initiatives.

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• President Trump issued an executive order to reduce housing costs, directing federal agencies to identify and eliminate regulations hindering housing development and affordability.
• Initiated a freeze on funding for over 100 HUD programs, pending a comprehensive review, which created uncertainty for local housing authorities and recipients of federal and fair housing assistance. In late February 2025, more than 60 fair housing groups received a letter informing them that their fair housing funding, including 78 grants totaling over $30M, had been terminated that same day.
• Implemented restrictions on FHA lending criteria, potentially limiting homeownership for Hispanic and other minority borrowers.
• Rescinded the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, eliminating a requirement for local governments to assess and address housing discrimination as a condition for receiving federal housing funds.
• Gutted the Housing department with mass layoffs:
  • Roughly 4,000 HUD employees have already been laid off, cutting the department’s workforce in half and disrupting work in key areas like fair housing enforcement, disaster recovery, and housing market data.
• All staff at the mid-to-senior level and below in HUD’s Office of Field Policy and Management will be eliminated by May 18, 2025, gutting field offices that directly support communities.
• These offices have been affected:
  • Community Planning and Development (down 84%)
  • Public and Indian Housing (down 50%)
  • Community Planning and Development (down 84%)
  • and Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (down 77%)
• all of these play a significant role in running housing assistance programs.

Future Threats:

• The Trump Administration has proposed eliminating the HOME Investment Partnerships Program cutting $1.25 billion in funding that supports the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income families.
• Proposed eliminating the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, a long-standing source of flexible funding for cities to revitalize neighborhoods, build affordable housing, and support vulnerable populations.
• Proposed a $60 million cut to Fair Housing enforcement, reducing the federal government’s capacity to enforce civil rights protections.
• Proposed eliminating key USDA rural housing programs, including Section 502 direct loans and self- help housing grants, which help low-income families in rural communities buy or build homes.
• Project 2025 proposes dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), removing federal oversight of discriminatory lending and fair housing enforcement in the mortgage market.
• Project 2025 calls for eliminating the Housing Trust Fund and ending Housing First programs, undermining support for extremely low-income renters and those experiencing homelessness.
• More HUD layoffs are expected soon, as a new HUD budget task force, established under DOGE, looks for additional ways to cut costs and shrink the agency.

Under the Biden Administration:

• President Biden was the first sitting President to walk a picket line when he joined the United Auto Workers in Belleville Michigan.
• The Biden administration’s signature economic investments—enacted through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act—promised to create millions of good jobs.
• The Biden administration updated Davis-Bacon standards to prevent federal construction contractors from paying below-market wages.
• President Biden appointed Gwynne Wilcox to National Labor Relations Board. She was the first Black woman to serve on the board.
• In spring 2021, President Biden signed an executive order creating the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment to “promote my Administration’s policy of support for worker power, worker organizing, and collective bargaining.”

Current State of Affairs under the 2nd Trump Administration:

• President Trump fired the chair of the National Labor Relations Board Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the Board one member shy of a quorum, rendering it incapable of issuing decisions in representation and unfair labor practice cases.
• Initiated the firing of thousands of workers throughout the federal government, including nearly two- thirds of the staff at the NationalInstitute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency created to ensure safe and healthy working conditions.
• Reduced the minimum wage for federally contracted workers by rescinding a Biden-era executive order.
• Ordered the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to not enforce a Biden-era rule that would have made it harder for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors. Misclassified workers are denied critical pay, benefit, and labor-related protections.
• Worked to systematically undermine efforts to promote a more diverse, inclusive and equitable economy, including rescinding a landmark 1965 Executive Order that prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion and national origin for organizations receiving federal contracts.
• Attempted to terminate collective bargaining rights for federal workers.

Future Threats:

• President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal continues his assault on workers by significantly cutting:
  • $1.6 billion (via a consolidation of grants) for workforce training programs that help Americans develop skills and secure good-paying jobs.
  • $1.6 billion to eliminate the Job Corps Program, a free program that helps youth ages 16-24 obtain employment and secure independence.
  • $400 million to eliminate the Senior Community Service Employment Program, a job training program for low-income, unemployed seniors.
  • $624 million, which includes an unspecified reduction to eliminate the Minority Business Development Agency.
  • $167 million, which includes eliminating funds for efforts that promote a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable economy, including support for women and LGBTQ-owned businesses.