New Mexico farmers, tribes could feel impact of federal funding freezes, members of congress say
Feb. 17—SANTA FE — Three members of New Mexico's all-Democratic congressional delegation warned Monday the state could feel an outsized impact of federal firings and funding cuts by President Donald Trump's administration.
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, along with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, specifically cited the impact of funding freezes on New Mexico agriculture, acequias and wind farm projects.
That includes more than $130 million earmarked for New Mexico farmers under a federal grant program that is now in limbo, Leger Fernández said.
Heinrich said his office has struggled to get solid firing numbers from the Trump administration, but described the cuts as deep and drastic.
"The impacts for New Mexico are going to be substantial," he told reporters.
The three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation visited the Roundhouse on Monday to deliver remarks to lawmakers, while roughly 1,000 protesters held signs protesting the Trump administration outside the building.
The other two members of the state's delegation — U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez — already spoke to legislators last month.
Only a small number of Republican lawmakers stayed in the House chambers for all three speeches Monday, though Luján received a standing ovation from all legislators when he referenced his recovery from a serious 2022 stroke.
Leger Fernández was the most pointed in her comments to lawmakers, saying the nation was at the doors of a "constitutional crisis" due to the actions of a DOGE cost-cutting initiative led by Elon Musk.
Musk has defended the actions as intended to root out waste, fraud and abuse in federal government programs.
Heinrich, who recently announced he would not run for New Mexico governor next year and instead planned to stay in the U.S. Senate, told reporters after his remarks to lawmakers that he believes the federal layoffs and cuts are intended to find savings to pay for tax cuts supported by the Trump administration.
"It's an endless game of whack-a-mole that I suspect we're going to be playing for a long time," Heinrich said.
Among other targeted programs, he cited possible cuts to tribal initiatives that provide health care services and benefit students with disabilities as areas of concern.
The three members of New Mexico's congressional delegation also said nearly $5.5 billion in federal disaster aid appropriated to help victims of the 2022 Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire is set aside in a separate funding pool and has not been impacted by the Trump administration's actions.
But they urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expedite payments to northern New Mexico residents who have submitted damage claims.
"It was the right thing to do then, and it's an urgent thing to do now," Leger Fernández said.
With Republicans holding a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and a slightly larger majority in the U.S. Senate, Leger Fernández also said members of New Mexico's delegation will be looking for GOP allies to try to halt some of the Trump administration's policies.
Luján, whose father Ben Luján served as New Mexico's Speaker of the House for 12 years before his 2012 death, called for a bipartisan approach to what he described as federal government overreach.
"I know we are all concerned about these illegal federal funding freezes," he said, referring to recent judicial rulings halting some of Trump's executive orders.
Heinrich, for his part, vowed Democratic leaders will not turn their backs on immigrant families and women seeking reproductive health care services, including abortion.
"We live in an era of loyalty pledges, from the right and the left, frankly," Heinrich told legislators. "I want to implore you not to sign pledges, but to solve problems."
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