Maryland Democratic leaders have opposed President Donald Trump’s 2026 fiscal year budget proposal, which would cut non-defense spending by more than $163 billion.
Some of the largest cuts in the budget, which was announced on May 2, would come from the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore wrote in a May 2 news release that the proposed budget would kill jobs, slash healthcare and public school education and “accelerate the reckless assault” on the state’s economy that began after Trump’s inauguration in January.
“This isn’t fiscal stewardship; it’s fiscal sabotage. This is not taking care of our people; it’s cruelty,” Moore wrote in the news release. “And the most vulnerable among us would pay the highest price.”
Since taking office, Trump has threatened to reduce federal funding for Medicaid and significantly reduce the federal workforce.
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Maryland state Senate president Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said in a press conference Tuesday that if the federal government splits Medicaid costs with the states, Maryland would have to cover more than $1 billion in additional healthcare spending or release 300,000 people from their Medicaid coverage.
Ferguson also told reporters Tuesday the state may need to cut an additional $430 million in spending as a result of the proposed federal budget cuts.
Last month, Maryland lawmakers balanced the state’s budget after entering the session with a $3 billion deficit. Ferguson added that it’s “not off the table” for the Maryland General Assembly to convene for a special session this year due to the additional cuts, Maryland Matters reported.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who submitted Trump’s budget request on May 2, wrote that the proposal aims to move some federal programs’ funding sources to state and local governments where possible.
Vought wrote in the request that the fiscal 2025 budget, which was approved by former President Joe Biden’s administration, was “laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans” and funded non-governmental organizations and higher education institutes committed to “radical gender and climate ideologies.”
In a presentation on March 6, Maryland’s revenues board predicted the state would lose more than 28,000 federal jobs under the Trump administration.
“As the home to more than sixty federal facilities and 260,000 federal workers, Maryland is uniquely susceptible to these thoughtless and politically-driven cuts,” Moore wrote in his May 2 news release. “The entire nation is suffering from both Elon Musk’s DOGE project and an ideological and meritless trade war.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined several other Democratic senators, including California Sen. Adam Schiff and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, to urge Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration to drop its proposed nearly 84 percent cut to the Department of State.
Van Hollen and the other senators wrote that the cut “robs the United States of decades of experience, influence and goodwill that can be harnessed to prevent war, resolve crises, spread democracy, open markets, and preserve and enrich life.”
Trump also proposed a 15 percent budget funding cut to the U.S. education department. The proposed reduction comes after the Trump administration has worked to shutter the department and redistribute its responsibilities to other agencies.
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Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) led the Maryland congressional Democrats on Monday in demanding the Trump administration restore $98 million in education funding promised to the state through federal COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts.
“The loss of these dollars would be catastrophic for the state of Maryland and its students,” a letter the delegation sent to education secretary Linda McMahon on Monday read.
Ferguson and Maryland House of Delegates speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced in early April that the legislature would form a bipartisan joint federal oversight committee to track changes in federal policy and coordinate state responses while state legislators are in recess.
“In the face of chaos, Team Maryland remains committed to leading with clarity, calm, and courage,” Moore wrote in the May 2 news release. “I will continue to work alongside our partners in the congressional delegation to push back against these cuts, which neither put the needs of the people first nor uplift the aspirations of Marylanders.”
