The Trump administration handed 'Pure Michigan' a major hit, firing staff across federal agencies without reason and blocking funding for critical programs. Understanding the direct impact of these drastic and often illegal actions and advocating with your members of Congress to stop the reckless dismantling of essential programs in the Great Lakes state is a critical way to hold our elected officials accountable for the damage done to Michigan. Learn more about some of the direct impacts on Michigan below. See the article Join the Resistance below for details on how you can be a part of fighting back and protecting our democracy.
The Sierra Club (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/climate-greenpeace-sierra-club-center-biological-diversity-laswuit-trump-offshore-drilling-leasesgroups-sue-over-trumps-orders-to-expand-offshore-drillin/) is also joining a vast array of organizations (https://www.nteu.org/-/media/Files/nteu/docs/public/2025/Dismantle%20Govt%2021225.pdf and states that are fighting back through litigation and advocacy. This assault on our nation demands an all-hands-on-deck approach.
The impacts on Michigan’s economy and well-being from the unwarranted anhttps://radio.wcmu.org/local-regional-news/2025-02-20/a-nightmare-dozens-of-michigan-forest-service-workers-lose-jobsd thoughtless cuts (https://radio.wcmu.org/local-regional-news/2025-02-20/a-nightmare-dozens-of-michigan-forest-service-workers-lose-jobs)
are beginning to affect day-to-day activities in Michigan. With the nation’s longest freshwater coastline along the Great Lakes and more federal public lands than any other state east of the Mississippi River, the ripple effect of these cuts will hit communities across both peninsulas. The administration's actions are curtailing natural resource-based economic drivers from camping (https://apnews.com/article/trump-national-park-firings-doge-grand-teton-baedee0a748a6374eafb6f95aac5dadc) to timber production and protection from forest fires, as well as control of invasive species, like sea lamprey, (https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/trump-firings-hit-great-lakes-sea-lamprey-program-michigan-forestry) that harm fisheries.
Cuts in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 staff despite some reversals (https://planetdetroit.org/2025/02/epa-layoffs-reversed-chicago/) and the dismantling of environmental justice programs https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-cancels-20-grants-2nd-round-cuts-doge-saving-americans will reverse years of slow but steady progress toward cleaning the air, improving drinking water and dealing with contaminated land in Michigan's most polluted communities. Administration efforts are underway to claw back federal grants under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which invests in clean energy manufacturing and deployment in Michigan to save money, protect public health and fight climate change.
While Congress has the ultimate say over appropriations of funds for federal programs, the Republican majority has declined to intervene in the destruction of congressionally authorized programs and funding. The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have taken initial steps to lock in drastic, permanent cuts in federal funding for the coming decade, as the stalled 2025 fiscal year budget process has restarted just weeks before the country hits the federal debt ceiling.
See the article Join the Resistance for details on how you can be a part of fighting back!