Heinrich, Luján Statement on President Trump’s 2027 Budget

Heinrich, Luján: "Trump's budget is a slap in the face to working families in New Mexico"

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Financeand Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement on President Trump's Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget request, which will hurt New Mexico families by slashing funding for programs that help them afford the basics, all to fund the largest military spending request in history.

"This budget is a slap in the face to New Mexico families. Right now, New Mexicans are paying over $4 a gallon on gas and up to 13 percent more on their electricity bills. Instead of doing something about that, President Trump wants to slash the programs that help working people, all to fund the largest military spending in history. That's not putting 'America first'.

"After already gutting Americans' health care to finance tax breaks for billionaires and expand an out-of-control ICE, the President is now pushing a budget that would drive up the cost of energy, groceries, housing, and child care even more; strip away programs that help families afford the basics like heating their homes and putting food on the table; eliminate housing assistance and force more Americans out of their homes; slash funding for public schools and make it harder for students to afford college; gut lifesaving medical research and mental health care; and abandon rural communities, farmers, and small businesses. It would also restrict access to America's public lands and make communities more vulnerable to threats from extreme weather events.

"The President's budget is the opposite of what New Mexico families want or need right now. With costs rising, we should be lowering families' bills and investing here at home - not pulling the rug out from under folks. And that's exactly what we plan to do: as New Mexico's senators, we will do everything we can in the Senate to pass a bipartisan budget that actually puts working families first."

President Trump's FY27 Budget Request Proposes:

Ripping Funding Away from Feeding Children and New Mexico Families

• Cuts $550 million from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which would mean a significant reduction in monthly fruit and vegetable benefits, from $54 to $13 for breastfeeding mothers and from $27 to $10 for young children.

• Eliminates funding for the farm to school grant program and school equipment grants, which make it easier for schools to serve fresh, healthy American produced food in schools nationwide.

Making Communities Less Safe

• Guts funding for grants to help keep communities safe by $1.42 billion and continues the Trump administration's assault on nearly 30 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs. This includes cutting Office on Violence Against Women funding by $181 million and diverting resources away from victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

• Wastes $152 million to turn the Alcatraz Island tourist site in San Francisco into an operational maximum-security federal prison. Ultimately, billions would be required to create a modern prison on a small island with no existing water, power, sewer, or transportation infrastructure. This vanity project by the Trump administration also ignores the critical repair-backlog needs for existing, crumbling Bureau of Prisons facilities.

• Squanders over $30 million on President Trump's partisan agenda of targeting political opponents, through a hoax "anti-fraud task force" that will report directly to the White House. This comes amid the elimination of agency teams tasked with investigating cryptocurrency scams and staff reductions in the DOJ's public integrity office.

• Diverts over $3 billion to continue President Trump's unconstitutional federal law enforcement surges in U.S. cities. These politically motivated occupations prioritize the administration's partisan agenda over public safety, while spreading fear and anxiety throughout local communities.

• Slashes Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding by $1.4 billion - allowing the wealthy and large corporations to continue to cheat on their taxes and costing average Americans billions more in lost tax revenue. This follows the elimination of nearly all of the $46 billion earmarked for tax enforcement in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Increasing Energy Costs and Weakening America's Energy Infrastructure

• Eliminates the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which served 5.9 million households in 2024, including over 66,000 in New Mexico, and saved families $400-$600 on their energy bills. New Mexico received over $18 million in LIHEAP funding last fiscal year.

• Cancels $15.2 billion in funding from the Infrastructure Law, slashing investments in American energy infrastructure. This comes at a time when we need every electron on the grid to increase reliability and reduce soaring electricity prices.

• Eliminates the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) renewable energy programs, cutting $45 million in funding that is critical for energy projects to be built and produce American-made energy.

• Guts the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by almost 65%, at a time where we need more renewable energy to combat Trump's energy crisis. The budget also claims that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) "abolished" this office, which is illegal and violates Congressional intent.

• Eliminates funding for workforce partnerships and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), which train the next generation of energy workers - hurting our ability to build the systems needed to power our future.

• Slashes by over 40% the bipartisan program that works to ensure U.S. leadership on developing and deploying energy technologies, known as ARPA-E. ARPA-E also promotes revolutionary advances in energy research and cultivates early technological innovations.

Slashing Funding for New Mexico Veterans

• Continues the administration's pattern of disrespecting our veterans by slashing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) workforce, including at the Veterans' Health Administration, which provides medical care to our nation's veterans.

• Eliminates over 25,000 unfilled positions at the VA, even though the Department has already lost 30,000 employees since January 2025. Eliminating vacant positions will only make it even harder for the VA to meet increased demand for services. More than one million veterans enrolled for VA health care and benefits as a result of expanded eligibility under the PACT Act.

Risking New Mexicans' Health

• Slashes funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by $15.4 billion.

• Consolidates or completely eliminates programs across the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. This includes eliminating the Sexual Risk Avoidance Program and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program and the Minority Fellowship Program, which aims to train emerging behavioral health professionals to respond to the health workforce shortage.

• Cuts biomedical research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $5 billion and completely eliminates the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; Fogarty International Center; National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health; and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

• Guts funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) by $129 million, which is responsible for supporting the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in its goal of using science-driven data to recommend health insurance coverage of preventive screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications.

Gutting Programs that Keep New Mexico Families Housed

• Eliminates some and significantly reduces other federal programs that build more affordable housing and address New Mexico's housing supply shortage, including in Indian Country. In 2024, these programs provided at least $69 million for housing programs in New Mexico.

• Eliminates the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that cities and towns across the country use to improve the quality of life for their citizens every day. In 2024, New Mexico received $17 million in CDBG grants.

• Eliminates the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), which New Mexico typically uses to expand homeownership and rehabilitate homes. In 2024, New Mexico received $9 million in HOME grants.

• Eliminates the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program. New Mexico typically receives around $1.5 million a year in HOPWA funding. HOPWA is the only federal program dedicated to the housing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.

• Reduces funding to address and prevent homelessness. In 2024, New Mexico service providers received $18.5 million to serve individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Ripping Funding Away from New Mexico Students

• Eliminates dozens of elementary and secondary education programs while slashing funding for K-12 education. The budget proposes eliminating programs that aim to improve student achievement in key subjects like math and reading, provide targeted support for bilingual and English language learner students, and connect teachers with evidence-based professional development opportunities.

• Proposes a $1.5 billion cut to Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), which provides training and support for students pursuing in-demand careers in the trades.

• Cuts the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) budget by $437 million. This slashes funding for building maintenance, operations, and construction at Tribal Colleges and Universities. New Mexico is home to four Tribal Colleges and Universities and 45 Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. BIE schools, often in extremely rural and remote areas, already have to do more with less and less funding.

• Eliminates funding for programs that provide targeted support for schools that serve Tribal students and families.

• Eliminates funding for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, which support student success programs and efforts to improve outcomes for veterans, first-generation students, and low-income students.

Slashing Public Lands Funding and Threatening New Mexicans' Drinking Water

• Slashes the U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) by $2.3 billion.

• Cuts the National Park Service (NPS) budget by over $730 million. This drastic reduction would weaken the NPS by limiting its ability to maintain park staff, ensure visitor safety, and protect natural and cultural resources.

• Eliminates the Bureau of Reclamation's (BOR) WaterSMART grants, gutting key investments in water security and conservation projects at a time when drought is ravaging the west and threatening drinking water supplies for millions of people in New Mexico.

• Slashes the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) budget by over $740 million. This reduction in BIA funding would prohibit meaningful improvements in quality of life, hinder economic opportunity, and fail to protect or enhance the trust assets of American Indians, Indian Tribes, and Alaska Natives.

• Slashes two-thirds of the U.S. Forest Service's mission areas, including the Research and Development program and the State, Private, and Tribal Forestry program. These programs strengthen partnerships across state, private, and Tribal lands, while ensuring Americans can recreate in forests.

• Slashes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funding by $1.9 billion, which will hinder the Corps' ability to mitigate extreme flood risks - making Americans less safe.

• Slashes U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding by $4.6 billion. This includes cutting the EPA State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs by over $2.5 billion. SRFs are crucial for states and local municipalities to access funding to provide safe drinking water and protect the health of their communities.

• Eliminates additional funding for the Superfund Program, which is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation's most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills, and natural disasters.

• Slashes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funding by $442.3 million, including through zeroing out important programs that support cultural resource protection, wilderness management, and renewable energy development. Privatizing public lands for extractive only purposes will further restrict New Mexican's access to their favorite and most sacred places.

Taking Funding Away from New Mexico Farmers and Rural Communities

• Slashes funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by a fifth. USDA supports rural farmers all over the country with on-the-ground, in-the-community expertise and financial support.

• Wastes $50 million to chaotically reorganize the USDA without any clear plans in place to ensure that the reorganization does not negatively impact customer service. The reorganization will likely result in rural communities and farmers waiting longer and longer to receive technical assistance and access to critical financing programs.

• Eliminates $732 million for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Technical Assistance program, which helps farmers put together conservation plans and access USDA programs - including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program dedicated to helping farmers do more with less, install water saving drip irrigation systems, and plant cover crops that help farmers save money on fertilizers.

• Guts funding for agricultural research and extension activities, which are critical to ensuring American agriculture is competitive with the rest of the world and provides key resources to help farmers and ranchers prepare and adapt in an uncertain environment.

• Reduces funding for the Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) by $61 million. AMS facilitates efficient and fair markets for American farmers, from cattle to specialty crops, providing stability for producers and keeping farmers farming. This cut would hurt the ability of the USDA to provide transparent prices for New Mexico cattle producers and further harm the ability of the USDA to purchase meat, specialty crops, and dairy products to be distributed to food banks and school meal programs.

• Zeroes out foreign food aid that supports American farmers and is a lifeline for people living in extreme poverty across the world.

• Decimates funding for USDA Community Facilities Grant projects by $659 million. This is funding that Congress uses to support communities purchasing new fires trucks and road maintenance equipment to rehabilitate essential public safety infrastructure in New Mexico and nationwide.

Hurting New Mexico Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

• Eliminates all funding for the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the only federal agency tasked with promoting the growth and competitiveness of minority-owned businesses.

• Eliminates all funding for the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), which aims to helpentrepreneurs overcome various challenges associated with running a small business. In 2024, SCORE helped start 190 new businesses in New Mexico.

• Eliminates the Indian Loan Guarantee and Insurance Program, stripping access for American Indian and Alaska Native communities and individuals to vital capital investments.

• Significantly reduces funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) Program, which is instrumental in helping New Mexicans access loans to become first-time homeowners and small business owners. This program also administers the New Market Tax Credits, which helps finance the construction of affordable housing.

• Eliminates funding for Women Business Centers (WBC). WBCs were created to assist small businesses that are primarily owned by women. The Women's Business Center in New Mexico (WESST) serves small businesses throughout the state in four locations.

Cutting Funding for Rural Airports and the Southwest Border Regional Commission

• Drastically cuts funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Essential Air Service, which is crucial to ensuring New Mexicans living in rural communities can quickly, safely, and conveniently connect with the rest of the country.

• Eliminates funding for the Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC), one of eight authorized federal regional commissions and authorities, which is a congressionally chartered, federal-state partnership created to promote economic development in the southern border regions of New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Texas. Congress first authorized the establishment of the SBRC in 2008.
  • In 2024, Heinrich secured an expansion of the SBRC's jurisdiction to include the following counties in New Mexico: Bernalillo, Cibola, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Roosevelt, Torrance, Lea, and Valencia. These are in addition to Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra, Socorro, Lincoln, Otero, Eddy, Doña Ana, and Chaves Counties in New Mexico, which are already included within the SBRC's jurisdiction.
  • In 2023, Heinrich led the introduction of the Southwest Border Regional Commission Reauthorization Act, legislation to reauthorize and fully fund the Southwest Border Regional Commission (SBRC). The bill was cosponsored by Luján and U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and former-U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), and Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.).

Eliminating Job Training and Worker Protections

• Decreases the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) budget by $3.5 billion.

• Eliminates Job Corps, cutting $1.6 billion from a program that provides free education and job training for low-income young people, including at two Job Corps centers in New Mexico, in Albuquerque and Roswell.

• Eliminates the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), cutting $395 million from a federal job-training program for low-income older adults. In New Mexico, SCSEP is run through the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, which places eligible seniors age 55 and older in paid, part-time training roles at nonprofits and public agencies, including schools, hospitals, day-care centers, and senior centers.

• Cuts $234 million from DOL's worker protection agencies, which weakens federal workplace safety enforcement and eliminates Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Susan Harwood Training Grants aimed at supporting workplace safety training. Trump's budget also forces OSHA to further engage in immigration enforcement by creating a newly elevated office under the DOL Secretary.

Cutting Disaster Recovery Funding and Eliminating Program that Combats Foreign Interference in American Elections

• Cuts $1.3 billion from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant programs and eliminates the Next Generation Warning System Grant Program, which supports and improves local public media stations' ability to provide emergency alerts and warnings to the public - including in rural areas. It also cuts the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), which provides critical training to first responders across the country and supports the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) at the New Mexico Tech.

• Decreases the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) budget by $707 million and completely eliminates CISA's Election Security Program.

• Eliminates the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. The Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is responsible for investigating civil rights complaints made by the public against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman conducts independent oversight of immigration detention and promotes safe and humane conditions for detainees. And the Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman is responsible for assisting individuals and employers in resolving problems with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Gutting Funding for Space Exploration

• Guts funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by cutting the budget by $5.6 billion. Trump's budget raids Science and Space technology programs that drive discoveries about Earth and the universe, improve weather forecasting and disaster response, and provide communities with the tools they need to stay safe and prepared.

• Just last month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed a bipartisan NASA Authorization Act that increase authorization levels by 2.5%, soundly rejecting the Trump administration's efforts to decrease NASA's budget.

Increasing Starvation Around the World and Risking Americans' Health

• Cuts funding for humanitarian assistance by at least $2 billion and rescinds an additional $1 billion in disaster aid. These programs deliver emergency food, shelter, and medical care in order to prevent global instability and displacement that can threaten American national security.

• Completely eliminates $240 million for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program and cuts $1.2 billion from Food for Peace, programs that save children from starvation globally. Hunger can lead to radicalization, violence, and war. By cutting these programs, the Trump administration is actively making the world more dangerous and less stable.

• Guts funding for global health programs by $4.3 billion. These programs combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases and help prevent outbreaks from spreading across borders and reaching the United States.

• Slashes funding for international organizations by $2.7 billion, including the United Nations and peacekeeping missions. These institutions help prevent conflict and support regional stability.

• Cuts funding for the U.S. Department of Treasury's international programs by $642 million and rescinds funding from multilateral development banks. These programs support U.S. economic and strategic interests abroad by advancing global economic development and financial stability, particularly in developing countries.

• Eliminates $315 million in funding for the National Endowment for Democracy, which supports democratic institutions and independent media in countries vulnerable to authoritarian influence.

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