Statement on the Trump Admin’s Proposal to Cancel Federal Funding for California
The Trump Administration has indicated that it plans to terminate federal contracts and grants that, among other things, fund research in California. This would have catastrophic impacts on lifesaving medical research, economic growth, and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of UAW members in higher education and state science agencies.
UAW members and other researchers in California conduct critical research that directly contributes to the public good in California and across the country: researching cancer and other deadly diseases to work towards cures and improved treatments, developing agricultural practices that help feed millions, advancing new practices for preparing and recovering from natural disasters, and so much more.
Research funding not only drives critical public goods, making the US a global leader in innovation, it also drives significant economic growth. Targeting research funding in California alone threatens more than 55,000 jobs. As home to nearly 40 million people, California makes up the world’s fourth largest economy – an engine of economic activity that Trump’s misguided attacks could devastate, impacting the entire country.
Targeting of higher education and research funding also threatens the upward mobility of working people across the state. Tens of thousands of UAW members are higher education and research workers at University of California, California State University, University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, CalArts, NYFA Los Angeles, and public science agencies. Many students and workers in California higher education are the first people in their families to receive a higher education. Many are immigrants and international workers. Many are parents and caregivers for family members. Cancelling federal research funding would directly hurt countless working families.
We urge the Trump Administration and all members of the California Congressional Delegation not to go through with these cuts. Should cuts be implemented, we also call on Governor Newsom and the California legislature to retract all proposed state budget cuts to higher education and state science agencies in the coming year, and to take strong action against the Trump Administration’s attacks on public higher education and research in California.
UAW members across the West Coast have already been organizing for months to defend lifesaving research, healthcare, and education funding, and are ready to fight back against these newest attacks on our work and communities.