‘Federal Funding Cliff’: Cambridge Prepares for Possible Cuts

The City of Cambridge receives $23 million in federal funding — with millions more going to independent programs like the Cambridge Housing Authority and Cambridge Health Alliance.

But city officials in a Monday City Council meeting warned that this funding could be threatened by the Trump administration, preparing residents for an uncertain future.

“We don’t know what path we are on, or how fast events will unfold, but there is growing and strong evidence that the federal administration’s actions are going to cause incredible harm and that the pain will grow going forward,” City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 said.

Huang warned the Council of potential cuts to the nearly $1 billion city budget, as slahes to the distribution of National Institute of Health funding endanger Cambridge’s vast education and biomedical industries.

This comes after Cambridge officials expressed concerns about the Trump administration’s impact on the city in last week’s State of the City Address, warning of a challenging and uncertain future.

Huang said that the potential loss of regular federal funding streams under the new administration has coincided with the loss of temporary grants the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“We are already facing a drawdown of federal dollars as ARPA programs expire, and so we are potentially facing a second federal funding cliff,” Huang said.

Huang informed the Council that Cambridge currently receives $10 million for human service programs, $7 million in education, and $6 million in community development from the federal government.

Though there are no current changes to the city’s federal funding, Huang listed numerous instances of federal funding cuts — such as the NIH reducing research and innovation funding by billions of dollars and federal agencies facing significant layoffs — as evidence of rising precarity.

While Cambridge may be at risk of losing direct funding, Huang also addressed the need to monitor and assist Cambridge’s nonprofit partners who receive significant financial support from the federal government.

“I also want to emphasize that the impact is not only on the city directly — many of our community institutions and nonprofit organizations also depend heavily on federal dollars,” Huang said.

“Changes to different voucher programs could have a tremendous effect on everything from homeless services, residents in affordable housing, and existing affordable housing projects — with even small changes resulting in millions of dollars of cuts,” he added.

Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern expressed concern about the potential loss of funding to the city and its independent partners.

“Inevitably, when folks are going to see those cuts that are impacting them and hurting them, they’re going to turn to us,” McGovern said. “They’re going to turn to the city, who traditionally has been able to bail out a lot of these programs, and we’re just not going to be able to do that to the same extent.”

As Cambridge officials attempt to chart a path forward, McGovern said they have faced a wild ride since Trump took office.

“It’s amazing that it’s only been a few months because it’s like drinking out of a fire hose,” he said.

“Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride for a while,” he added.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.