The recent wave of federal funding cuts by President Donald Trump reveals a disturbing truth: He is not interested in balancing budgets, but more so in punishing the dissent. From infrastructure sabotage to retaliatory education cuts, this administration’s actions reflect a disturbing pattern of petty revenge politics masquerading as fiscal policy. This is just another chapter in his wanna-be authoritarian playbook or, officially branded, “Project 2025.”
Trump is weaponizing federal funding and turning fiscal policy into a tool of retaliation targeting Democratic districts, inclusive education policies and infrastructure projects. While Republican districts have lost $738.7 million in federal funding, Democratic ones have lost a staggering $27.24 billion. The disparity is glaring. Governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York are pushing back, utilizing local decrees and courts to resist federal overreach. However, there is only so much states can do when federal retaliation becomes policy. Hochul said “We’ve done our part,” underscoring the frustrations of state leaders who have fulfilled their obligations, only to be met with retaliation from the federal government.Trump is wielding the national budget as a weapon, specifically targeting states and districts whose leaders are unafraid to dissent. Take the $18 billion withheld from the Hudson River tunnel project — a bipartisan infrastructure effort designed to double commuter railway capacity between New York and New Jersey. On Oct.1, the Trump administration suspended funding and claimed the spending is based on “unconstitutional DEI principles.” Apparently, even a tunnel can be labeled as a DEI hire. Even the project’s CEO Thomas Prendergast refuted that claim: “GDC complies with all federal laws and regulations, and will continue to do so through the project.”
The timing and location are no coincidence. New York is the home of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Across the river, New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim are vocal Trump critics. Their joint statement was blunt: “President Trump is more focused on punishing perceived enemies than serving the American people.” Proving the hypocrisy of these fiscal actions, they pointed out that Trump’s own Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy praised the project as “important” just days earlier.
This pattern of phony justification extends beyond infrastructure. New York City Public Schools sued the Department of Education after it cut $47 million in funding, imposed because the district refused to change policies supporting transgender students. The administration labels these policies as “ideological indoctrination,” when they are inclusive practices grounded in civil rights law. Why is the president more concerned with excluding children rather than ensuring every student gets an equal and fair education? Is that not one of the cornerstones of our country — or have we abandoned that, too?
Clean energy investments, electric grid updates and other transportation improvements are being slashed. Trump aides claim the spending “conflicts with the president’s priorities.” However, what are his priorities? According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, one of them is a $300 million privately funded ballroom, which symbolizes personal indulgence that starkly contrasts slashed public investments. During recent weeks, Trump has sent a total of $40 billion to Argentina to bail out its economy, requested $230 million from the Department of Justice as reparations for his criminal investigations, and presided over a government shutdown to bypass congressional oversight and threaten federal firings.
This is the same president who promised before his first term, “We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals.” Now, those promises are being dismissed as wasteful. What happened? Why have we abandoned them?
Trump, we see through the facade. These cuts are not budgetary decisions. They are calculated moves to punish perceived enemies at the expense of the American people. Most of us did not vote for this. None of us deserve it. That $40 billion could have helped our farmers, children and seniors, but Trump does not care about the American people. When federal funding becomes a tool for punishing political opponents, we lose more than money. We lose the integrity of democratic governance.
Democratic leaders must stop playing defense and start calling this what it is: authoritarian maneuvering disguised as fiscal reform. The numbers do not lie. The motives are not hidden. Furthermore, the consequences are already here. Our founding fathers fought for the right to dissent against our government. Allowing Trump to take that away means losing the core principles of American democracy.
Catherine Payleitner, FCRH ’28, is a political science and journalism double major from Chicago, Illinois.
