State leaders’ response to federal funding cuts: Blame Republicans

State leaders seem to be on the verge of crying “uncle” when it comes to impending cuts to federal benefits that are facing New York. President Donald Trump is pushing a budget bill through Congress that would see millions of New Yorkers lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and health care covered by Medicaid, as well as other social safety net programs. But state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie are joining Gov. Kathy Hochul in making a last-ditch appeal to Senate Republicans to step in and prevent the spending plan from coming to pass.

Billed as a removal of bloat and a defense against fraud, the budget cuts are expected to hit New York’s $91 billion in federal funding. When asked whether state lawmakers have any plan to compensate for the cuts, Democratic leaders have instead tried to use the cuts as a cudgel against House Republicans, directing reporters and people concerned about the bill’s impacts to “ask the seven Republican members” of New York’s congressional delegation how they plan to keep New York running amid the funding cliff. 

At a press conference on Monday, Heastie laid the blame directly at the feet of House Republicans from New York. “(I’m) just calling on the good conscience of people, and I think they passed that bill by two votes,” he said. “So to say that these seven Republican members of Congress couldn't do anything, I think you're letting them off the hook with that. If even two of them said we're not voting for this, this wouldn't have happened.”

Stewart-Cousins said Republican support for the bill was shortsighted, since people won’t simply need less health coverage or social services just because there is less to offer. “The reality is that we’ll all be impacted with less services, with less opportunity for health care, with less food,” she said. “Everybody's going to suffer.”

The state’s House Republicans would seem to have a vested interest in protecting funding for the state, maintaining social services for their constituents and winning reelection. However, all but Rep. Andrew Garbarino voted for the House budget resolution. The Senate is the only savior that leaders can hope for, but with Democrats in the minority, not to mention Senate Republican leadership’s historical antipathy towards blue states like New York, the plea is more wishful thinking than a solution. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of the six who backed the bill, visited the state Capitol to deliver her own press conference following Stewart-Cousins and Heastie’s appearance. Stefanik, a possible candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial race, said that concerns over the federal budget were a distraction from the bloated state budget that Hochul and legislative leaders passed last month. 

“Here we are, another year under their failed radical, reckless agenda and legislative session in New York state passed by single-party, Democrat rule, led by the worst governor in America, Kathy Hochul,” she said. “I dubbed her worst governor in America because she is. Kathy Hochul and far left Democrats have, once again, failed New Yorkers with this year's legislative session. They have put New York last with this massive, loaded $254 billion budget.”

Democrats in New York defended Hochul’s budget. “While Stefanik lies to her constituents’ faces about her and Trump’s plan to gut Medicaid, New Yorkers see right through it – and they know Governor Hochul’s budget puts money back in their pockets, cuts taxes for the middle class, and makes our streets and subways safer,” said state Democratic Committee spokesperson Addison Dick. 

The narrative being sharpened by Democrats leans into the idea that Stefanik and the rest of the delegation capitulated to Trump rather than serve the state.

Stefanik is in a somewhat privileged position in comparison to some of her colleagues, with a district that is safely red. She remains confident that any backlash from the controversial budget her party is putting together – complete with funding cuts, a State and Local Tax deduction cap increase that is less than set in stone and clawbacks and cancellations for transportation and energy grants – won’t turn off the voters that she and her colleagues need to win next year.

“They are going to reward the Republicans for delivering on our promises to the American people,” Stefanik said.

State lawmakers are glum in comparison. Even if Democrats manage to flip Congress and retain control of the executive mansion next year, Trump will remain in office through 2028. The disastrous scenarios party members in New York imagine could just scratch the surface of what’s to come. “I'm not looking forward to the prospect of the next three-and-a-half years, if things stay the same,” Heastie said. “But hopefully, this is something that the people in this country are watching and are ready to respond to.”