Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump Administration, DOGE, and Congress have taken a “chainsaw” to government grants, programs, and services, though by many metrics, DOGE has actually increased spending and the deficit through the costs of botched firings and rehirings, lost productivity, and hundreds of billions in lost tax revenue annually due to the gutting of the Internal Revenue Service.
Regardless, the cuts to grants, programs, and federal jobs that West Virginians rely on are undoubtedly having a concerning impact, with lost federal funds totaling at least $330 million already and at least 400 federal jobs lost.1 These reductions are already affecting public services and programs West Virginians rely on and are eliminating jobs in the state, but the speed and range of the cuts can make it hard to see a full picture of the impacts.
The WVCBP is tracking the ongoing impacts of federal funding cuts and job losses in West Virginia in real-time including terminated grants to state agencies, terminated grants to non-profit and non-governmental entities, federal offices closed through lease cancellations, federal workers fired or laid off, and federal program cuts enacted by Congress. Please note this resource almost certainly underestimates the impact of federal funding cuts, as things change from day to day. It is being updated regularly.
This page was last updated August 7, 2025. Do you know of a federal grant or job impacted by recent cuts that is not listed here? Have you been personally impacted by these cuts and are willing to share your story? Contact Kelly.
The $330 million in estimated federal funding lost is made up of the following categories, which are broken down in more detail by entity below.
Solar for All Funding Cancelled
The Trump Administration is moving to cancel a program that was intended to help lower electricity bills for low-income and disadvantaged residents through development of long-lasting solar programs. The West Virginia Office of Energy received $106 million via the EPA’s Solar for All program.
West Virginia Family Nutrition Program Eliminated
The federal budget reconciliation package, HR 1, eliminated funding for the nutrition education and obesity prevention grant program, SNAP-Ed. In West Virginia this program is known as the West Virginia Family Nutrition Program. Its defunding eliminates the$4.1 millionWest Virginia was anticipated to receive annually and an estimated 60 jobs in West Virginia. The West Virginia Family Nutrition Program operated Grow This! and a number of state programs that promoted healthy eating and food access.
Federal Funding for West Virginia Public Broadcasting Rescinded
In July, Congress approved a package that rescinded funding they’d previously appropriated, including $1.1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s share of that funding is about $1.6 million per year, funding that WVPB fears is unlikely to be made up by viewer and listener donations.
U.S. Department of Education Funding Withheld (since restored)
On June 30, the U.S Department of Education notified states that $6.8 billion in funding would not be distributed to states as seven federal education programs are under “ongoing programmatic review” despite a July 1 disbursement date enshrined in federal law and funding appropriated by Congress. West Virginia’s share of the withheld funding totals $32.5 millionincluding over $13 million for Title II-A Professional Development and nearly $4 million for adult education programs. Updated August 7, 2025: While the Trump Administration has since released this funding, there are reports that after school programming in school districts in West Virginia may be impacted as a result of the delay. We will update this as we learn more.
Federal Worker Layoffs
Hundreds of West Virginia federal workers have been laid off since January 2025, with estimates that at least 121,000 federal workers have been laid off nationwide. Statewide jobs data shows 400 job losses in the federal government in West Virginia, but that data is slightly delayed and does not necessarily include recent layoffs. These figures do not count federal workers placed on administrative leave or who took voluntary buyouts. The WVCBP estimates the loss of those positions cost the state $30 million in federal dollars (estimating an average of $75,000/year for salary and benefits).
In West Virginia, the agencies most impacted have been the Bureau of the Fiscal Service in Parkersburg, NIOSH in Morgantown, the Job Corps Center in Charleston, and National Park Service staff in the Monongahela National Forest and the New River Gorge National Park. In many cases, the specific job losses are unclear, including at NIOSH, where lawsuits and other actions have brought back some NIOSH employees but it is unclear how many or for how long.
NIOSH employee and AFGE Local 3430 President Cathy Tinney-Zara expressed how the layoffs came as a shock.
“I’m clearing out because I’ve been here for 32 years. I’m cleaning out my office because we had no notice this was going to occur today.”
Meadow Arbogast received a termination notice on February 14 from her “permanent seasonal” position as an information assistant with the Monongahela National Forest. She posted the following to her social media in response.
“If you’ve met me in any capacity while working you’ve probably heard me say “I love my job!” “This is my dream job!” “Getting to work in the forest that’s my backyard is a blessing.” My passion for teaching students sparked back in my undergraduate degree. Getting to share my passion and love for the environment sparked something in my soul. Seeing children light up when they see the wonders of the ecosystem made me feel like there is hope for the stewards of our lands for generations to come. What I couldn’t have imagine was being WRONGFULLY terminated from my job. Yes that’s exactly what happened. My program has did amazing things, reached a huge number in outreach, accomplished many monumental projects, and won an award for those things. I, just like my team, felt nothing but dedicated and committed to serving the people who access public lands.”
VISTA/AmeriCorps Layoffs
In April, the federal government abruptly cancelled over $400 million in federal AmeriCorps grants nationwide, including grants to nine West Virginia agencies impacting at least 209 staff.
According to WVNS, April Elkins Badtke, executive director of Steward Individual Placement in Beckley, an AmeriCorps agency, said that rural West Virginia is going to be impacted, calling the loss “devastating.”
“It’s the ripple effect, that that’s going to impact. It could be a local food bank,” Badtke said. “It could be a local Boys and Girls Club or a YMCA Center or a school that’s going to miss those mentors or those tutors.”
The same story quoted Sarah Riley, the executive director of another impacted agency, High Rocks.
“Nobody can make sense of that list. There’s not a reason that we’re on that list,” she said. “There is nothing about the High Rocks program that is waste, fraud or abuse. We’re really good at what we do. “
In addition to high profile federal job losses, grant cuts, and office closures, state agencies and non-profit entities in West Virginia have had awarded grants terminated, rescinded, or cancelled.
The WVCBP is currently awaiting responses to public records requests to give a cumulative picture of those results, but according to the DOGE “Wall of Receipts” website, more than $46.5 million in grants have been terminated or cancelled that had been awarded across a number of West Virginia state agencies including the West Virginia Department of Health, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, West Virginia Department of Education, and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. More data on these specific projects and the impact of the loss of funding will be added when available.
While this tracker primarily focuses on DOGE and Trump Administration funding cuts, Congress is also making significant changes to funding for programs that West Virginians, state agencies, and local government and non-profit entities rely upon. As part of the FY 2025 budget package passed in March 2025, Congressional leaders and the Trump Administration axed nearly $11 billion in funding that went to earmarks or “Congressionally Directed Spending” funding that sends federal dollars to home state projects requested by a state’s Congressional delegation.
In West Virginia, this terminated funding for 50 non-profit, university, and local government entities, eliminating nearly $110 million in funding for projects to do facilities improvements, workforce training, substance use prevention, and supports for seniors, among others.
1] WVCBP analysis of DOGE Wall of Receipts website, public records requests, and new reports and Bureau of Labor Statistics (for job loss data).
