How federal cuts are hitting Seattle
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Demonstrators at Seattle Center on Saturday protested efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle or defund federal programs. Photo: Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Community Change Action
The Trump administration's restructuring of the federal bureaucracy by cutting funds and axing entire departments is reverberating across Seattle and the state.
Why it matters: The cuts threaten local public health, education, research, and social services.
- They're part of a broader push by President Trump and the Elon Musk-led DOGE to dismantle or defund federal programs the administration considers unnecessary.
State of play: As of last week, state officials were still reviewing the full scope of the cuts and filing legal challenges.
What they're saying: "This level of funding and staff cuts to public health services is unconscionable. This will hurt Seattle," said City Council President Sara Nelson in an email last week.
- "There's no justification — medically, scientifically, fiscally, or morally — for cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from the very institutions and programs that care for our most vulnerable, including vital treatment services."
What's happening: This is an evolving situation, with federal decisions changing by the week, but here's where things stand:
Head Start: Officials moved last week to shutter the federal Health and Human Services office in downtown Seattle, which oversees Head Start, and the staff of about 200 was terminated, per Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).
- Six staff members with Head Start — a federally funded program to promote school readiness for children from low-income families — were placed on leave, the Seattle Times reported.
- Joel Ryan, head of the Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP, told AP he is worried the administration is slowly dismantling the programs and classes that serve about 15,000 children in Washington.
Public health: The state Department of Health was set to lose $160 million in federal funding for disease tracking, vaccinations, and behavioral health, putting 200 full-time jobs at risk — until a judge put the cuts on hold.
Education: Washington stands to lose up to $845 million in K–12 funding under the administration's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.
- The state's Title I funding, which provides support for low-income students, is also at risk under a new Trump administration order tying federal support to the elimination of diversity programs, wrote Axios' April Rubin.
Research: National Institutes of Health cuts could have cost local institutions such as the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center more than $1 billion in research funding.
- Those cuts were blocked Monday by a federal judge following lawsuits from 22 states, but NIH has signaled that it plans to appeal.
Culture: The Trump administration's recent cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities have resulted in Washington state's cultural organizations losing approximately $10 million in funding.
- That will slash grants to artists and writers, children's reading programs and speaker events on topics from apples to tribal fishing rights, Humanities Washington executive director Julie Ziegler told Axios.
Between the lines: The effects of federal funding cuts are also showing up in Washington's wilderness and energy sectors.
- Staff cuts at national forests and parks, including Mount Rainier National Park, have led to trail closures and reduced visitor services.
- In eastern Washington, staff reductions and budget uncertainties at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Hanford Site have raised safety concerns among federal lawmakers.
- Earlier cuts to the Bonneville Power Administration's workforce — now reversed — also sparked fears about the power grid.