Federal cuts and policy rollbacks leave US facing multiple crises

Health officials say disease tracking slowed by funding reductions

Over the past year, the administration has moved to shrink the federal workforce, roll back environmental protections and climate policies, reduce funding for scientific research, and advance legislation that would impose new voting restrictions, the Guardian analysis found. Just this week, Trump delivered an address casting doubt on the integrity of US elections, and last week appointed a critic of mainstream climate science to oversee the government’s flagship report about the impact of climate change on the United States.

Public health officials in five states, including hard-hit Michigan, are tracking one of the nation’s largest outbreaks of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness that causes “explosive” and watery diarrhea for weeks. Officials said their tracking of the disease was slowed because of a lack of resources. The administration cut $11.4 billion in funding from state and local health departments a year prior and reduced the remit of a program dedicated to coordinating information on foodborne illnesses, including cyclospora.

Although the source of the five-state outbreak was linked to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell, public health officials warned the outbreak could continue through August.

The US is also on course for another record year of measles cases in 2026, surpassing last year, which was itself the worst year for cases in three decades. Some public health officials worry the country is on track to lose its measles elimination status, gained in 2000.

The outbreak of new world screwworm, a parasitic fly, has caused concern across the ranching and conservation sectors. Several former officials told Politico last month that the administration’s federal spending reviews slowed efforts to contain the issue. USDA reviews held up funding for construction of a facility crucial to slowing screwworm’s impact on the US cattle supply, the officials said, adding that a $100 million research initiative meant to create new tools to slow the insect’s advance was also delayed.

“We’ve already seen what happens when Donald Trump’s political appointees are put in charge of health and science funding — disaster ensues,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, which works to elect scientists to public office. “Screwworm monitoring, food safety surveillance and vaccine programs have been arbitrarily cut and less than a year later, we’re facing multiple infectious disease outbreaks. All of this was preventable — but it’s no surprise that Americans are getting sicker as Republicans continue to halt research and cut billions in funding for critical programs.”

On election security, the administration has weakened offices intended to safeguard US elections. The administration began by downplaying the significance of Russia’s threat of election meddling. Staffing cuts cost the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency a third of its workforce, according to Mark Warner, a Democratic senator. The administration has also proposed slashing the agency’s budget by $707 million to address “weaponization and waste.”

Earlier this month, Trump ousted the only three commissioners left serving on the independent federal commission that assists states with election administration. The FBI has lost as many as 2,800 agents since January 2025, and when federal housing official Bill Pulte took over as acting director of national intelligence, he fired dozens of staff members, according to CNN. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned about 1,500 people convicted or facing charges for the January 6 insurrection.

The administration has also rolled back clean air and water standards and promoted fossil fuels, the Guardian reported. Even as wildfire smoke from Canada spreads over parts of the US, experts have warned of a future in which the country grows more vulnerable to environmental disasters and toxic exposure. The administration’s efforts to exempt polluting companies from emissions controls — in some cases by simply sending an email — could expose Americans to more unhealthy air. Research shows the administration’s pro-fossil fuel agenda has already helped push up the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, which are warming the planet and increasing the severity and frequency of wildfires, hurricanes, and other environmental disasters.

In one particularly significant move, the administration repealed the 2009 endangerment finding, which serves as the legal foundation for all federal climate regulations. The president has also pulled the US from the United Nations’ main climate treaty and top climate science body while slashing funding for climate science. Officials have shuttered climate and weather research offices, terminated climate science projects, and scaled back environmental monitoring. Taken together, the Guardian concluded, “the administration’s actions could leave Americans facing greater risks while weakening the nation’s ability to anticipate and understand them.”