March 11

Federal Cuts Strip $1.1B from DC Budget as Unemployment Claims Jump 20%

Federal workforce reductions and budget rescissions stripped an estimated $1.1 billion from Washington DC's operating budget, as the District saw a 20% surge in unemployment insurance claims. The cuts hit agencies that provide services to DC residents who disproportionately work for the federal government, creating cascading effects on the local economy and city services.

EPA terminates $20B Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced termination of the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund just before a scheduled court hearing in Climate United Fund v. Citibank. Citibank had already frozen grantee accounts after a Trump administration order, blocking nonprofits like Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities from accessing IRA section 60103 funds. The DC District Court granted a preliminary injunction on April 15, 2025, but the DC Circuit set it aside on September 2, 2025.

Trump pardons former Tennessee state senator Brian Kelsey for campaign finance crimes

Trump pardoned former Tennessee Republican state senator Brian Kelsey on March 11, 2025, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and aiding campaign finance violations for funneling state campaign money through nonprofits to a federal congressional race. Kelsey received a 21-month federal sentence for circumventing federal contribution limits. The pardon of an elected official convicted of deliberately undermining campaign finance law drew condemnation from election watchdog organizations.

Education Department fires roughly half its workforce

Secretary Linda McMahon's Education Department fired more than 1,300 employees in one wave on March 11, 2025, while another 600 had accepted separation packages or were terminated during probationary periods. The cuts left the National Center for Education Statistics with just three staff, gutting federal capacity to collect K-12 data. The action prefigured the May FY2026 budget proposal to consolidate 18 K-12 programs and cut $4.5 billion.

Education Department cuts nearly half its workforce ahead of a closure order

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced a reduction in force terminating roughly 1,300 employees and accepting buyouts from about 600 more, cutting the department from 4,133 to roughly 2,183 staff. The cuts hit the Office for Civil Rights, the Institute of Education Sciences, and Federal Student Aid, which manages a $1.7 trillion loan portfolio. The layoffs preceded Trump's Executive Order 14242 by nine days.

CISA halts election security support to state officials

CISA notified the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors that it was pausing all election-security services, including cyber assessments, tabletop exercises, and threat-information sharing. State election officials had relied on those services since 2017 when DHS designated election infrastructure as critical. The pause came before any FY2026 budget vote.

Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law

President Biden signs the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (HR 1319), providing COVID-19 relief including $1,400 direct payments, $350 billion in state/local fiscal recovery funds (SLFRF), expanded Child Tax Credit, enhanced SNAP benefits, $130 billion for K-12 schools, and extended federal unemployment benefits. One of the largest economic relief packages in US history.

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Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan sending $1,400 checks as COVID relief

President Biden signs the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that sends $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, extends $300 per week in supplemental unemployment benefits, allocates $350 billion for state and local governments, and significantly expands the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child. No Republicans vote for the law. The legislation passes via budget reconciliation. The child tax credit expansion cuts child poverty nearly in half within months, from 15% to 12%, before expiring at year-end 2021.

Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan with stimulus checks and school funding

President Biden signs the American Rescue Plan Act, his first major legislative achievement, on a historic one-year anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID a pandemic. The $1.9 trillion package includes $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350 billion in state and local government aid, $130 billion for K-12 school reopening, expanded unemployment benefits of $300/week through September, extended eviction moratorium, $28.6 billion for restaurants, $15 billion for airlines, expanded Child Tax Credit, and $1.9 billion for the 1776 Commission abolition and racial equity initiatives. The bill passes the Senate 50-49 without a single Republican vote. Independent economists credit it with driving the fastest jobs recovery in US history.

American Rescue Plan expands ACA subsidies, cutting premiums for millions

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021, which included the largest expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies since the law's 2010 passage. The law eliminated the income cap on subsidy eligibility and capped premiums at 8.5 percent of household income for all marketplace enrollees through 2022. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 1.3 million uninsured Americans would gain coverage as a result of the enhanced subsidies.

American Rescue Plan creates 70,000 emergency housing vouchers

The American Rescue Plan Act allocated $5 billion to create 70,000 Emergency Housing Vouchers — targeted rental assistance for people experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or at risk of housing instability. HUD distributed the vouchers to 626 public housing agencies, with the largest allocations going to California, New York, and Texas. The vouchers were intended to run through 2030 on the fixed pot of ARPA funding without additional congressional appropriations.

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