Representative April McClain Delaney is sounding the alarm over what she calls a “tsunami” of cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration that she believes will disproportionately harm rural Americans.
Delaney, a Democrat who represents Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District—a diverse stretch of territory from the rural panhandle to the Washington, D.C., suburbs—spoke with Newsweek about the wide-ranging impacts of Republican-backed funding rescissions and the president’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She warned that cuts to programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and public broadcasting will hit hardest in communities that can least afford it.
“When you freeze funding for Medicaid, SNAP, national parks, and government employees, and then add in these deep rescissions, it’s not a ripple—it’s a tsunami about to hit rural America,” Delaney said.
Rural Media and Emergency Alerts at Risk
One of Delaney’s sharpest criticisms centers on cuts to PBS and NPR, which were included in a rescission package passed by Congress earlier this July. While Republicans called funding for public media wasteful and ideologically biased, Delaney argued that rural Americans rely heavily on these outlets for trustworthy local news, educational content, and critical public safety information.
“One of the last bastions of trusted news in this country is local broadcasting,” she said. “When we lose that, we lose Amber Alerts, emergency broadcast updates, and the ability to respond quickly in a crisis.”
She cited a recent flooding incident in Allegany County, a conservative rural area in her district, where emergency alerts helped keep schoolchildren safe as waters rose rapidly.
“Those kids were moved floor by floor in a flooded school—rescued thanks to early emergency warnings. That’s the kind of system that gets weakened when we defund rural radio,” she said.
PBS: A Lifeline for Rural Children
Delaney, who previously worked in child advocacy at nonprofits like Common Sense Media, said cuts to PBS threaten access to the only free educational programming available to millions of underserved children.
“You’ll hear Republicans say ‘you can just stream Sesame Street.’ But many of our poorest kids don’t have broadband, let alone Netflix,” she said. “PBS is all they have.”
Federal Job Losses and Health Care Uncertainty
Beyond rural regions, Delaney warned of major fallout in the D.C. suburbs from President Trump’s mass firings of federal workers. Her district includes over 35,000 government employees, many of whom are still searching for new jobs after layoffs and early retirements under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“We’ve heard from countless constituents—skilled, educated, experienced—who are now out of work and unsure how they’ll afford health care,” she said. “Some are even thinking about leaving the country.”
Delaney stressed that state governments may try to absorb displaced workers, but many need retraining and support in navigating a rapidly changing job market.
“There’s real concern that we’re losing human capital—people who helped make this country run.”
Foreign Aid Cuts ‘Foolish and Dangerous’
Delaney also blasted the administration’s slashing of foreign aid, calling it “one of the most foolish acts” she’s seen in public service.
“The world is on fire, and America used to be the one to show up—with vaccines, with food, with support,” she said. “Cutting that aid weakens our global influence and invites nations like China to step in.”
She called soft diplomacy “the cheapest part of our defense budget” and warned that neglecting it now will have domestic consequences later.
Restoring Trust in Government
Delaney said much of her work in Congress is focused on rebuilding public trust—something she believes has eroded amid increasing polarization, economic anxiety, and cultural shifts.
“We have to listen to the anger, understand why people feel forgotten, and reconnect from the bottom up,” she said. “That starts at the community level, not just with speeches in Washington.”
Delaney said she plans to keep engaging her constituents directly and adjusting her priorities to reflect their concerns.
“The world feels chaotic right now. But I believe we’re going to get through it. It’ll be rough, but we’ll swim through the chop.”
