Letters from an American - Dramatic Cuts

Episode Date: July 22, 2026

July 21, 2026The One Big Beautiful Bill Act has made the deepest cuts to SNAP in its history, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans without benefits, The administration claims it is cleaning out fraud, but there is little fraudulent use of SNAP services, The government is withholding Medicaid funding from California and Minnesota, again claiming fraud, The National Parks are suffering from cuts, and the losses wlll take years - if not decades - to repair, The government is privatizing systems that it had managed, including airport screening, exposing the public to dangerous vulnerabilities, The Pentagon is asking for $67 billion to tide it over to the end of the fiscal year, In Senate hearings, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would not answer questions about the truthfulness of his statements on the Iran war, Senator Andy Kim has introduced a proposal to expand Medicaid to all American children, with legislation that has been endorsed by a range of organizations with an interest in the health of America's families.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

July 21, 26. The front page of yesterday's New York Times featured some of the 440,000 Americans from Arizona alone, who have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits since the Republican's One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the deepest cuts to SNAP in its history, expanded work rules, and shifted costs to the states, even as cuts to federal grant programs have forced Arizona. to lay off a third of its caseworkers. Those Arizona residents include D. McDonald, a 65-year-old cancer survivor who weighs 69 pounds and skips meals to feed her three teenage grandsons. Snap falls under the Department of Agriculture, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins celebrates the cuts, claiming the program is rife with fraud. Like other Republicans, she cites...

error rates. But error rates usually reflect mistakes in classification numbers by caseworkers, not fraudulent use of services. Today, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., told reporters the federal government is withholding more than a billion dollars in Medicaid funding from California and Minnesota, saying they want to see proof that payments there aren't fraudulent. Sarah Cliff of the New York Times notes that the administration was already withholding money from those two Democratic states. It is withheld $1.3 billion from California since May and $243 million from Minnesota since February. Now, Kennedy says, it will withhold more than $867 million from California and more than $200 million from Minnesota.

In the Denver Post today, Executive Director of the Association of National Park Rangers, Bill Wade, wrote that during his years as the son of a park ranger, and then as a park ranger himself, I learned that these extraordinary parks belong to every American and that the people entrusted to care for them carry a sacred responsibility to protect our country's breathtaking natural resources and key elements of our nation's history. But never, not once in decades, have I witnessed such systematic degradation, disrespect, and dismantling of the National Park Service as I see today under the thumb of the president, Donald Trump, and Interior Secretary Doug Bergam. Wade continued. Budgets go up and down and policies change as administration's turn. over. But what is happening now is an assault on the people, the mission, and the values that have made the National Park Service one of America's most valued institutions. The Trump administration has slashed staff, starved the service of funds, and imposed a political narrative on historical

interpretation. Recovery from these losses is likely to take years, if not decades, Wade wrote. At the same time that the federal government is cutting programs that benefit the public, it is also privatizing systems that the government has been managing. Yesterday, Justin Doubleday of the Federal News Network reported that Des Moines International Airport and Tampa International Airport have opted into the Transportation Security Administration's or TSA's new privatization model for airport screening. Congress created the TSA after the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. Before then, individual airlines contracted with private security firms to screen passengers and baggage,

but the 9-11 attacks showed that this private system had dangerous vulnerabilities. Now the Trump administration is resurrecting that system. While administration officials are slashing government programs, that protect ordinary Americans, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegesith and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Cain, appeared on Capitol Hill today before the Senate Appropriations Committee to explain why the Pentagon is urgently in need of an injection of $67 billion to tide it over until the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The Pentagon has sunk billions into the war in Iran. Hegzeth told senators the war had cost $37.5 billion, but independent analysts estimate the true number is significantly higher.

Two congressional aides told Noah Robertson, Riley Began, and Gerald Dillard of the Washington Post that both the Navy and the Air Force will run out of money provided for ongoing military operations in 2026 at the end of this month. The Pentagon is already moving money around to bridge the gap, diverting money budgeted for equipment and maintenance, and limiting or canceling military exercises and training. Yesterday, Rose L. Faire of Stars and Stripes reported on one such diversion. The Army is reducing the legal resources available to soldiers being evaluated for disability, as review boards determine whether they are fit to. to serve or should receive medical retirement benefits. In the past, the Office of Soldiers' Council

has provided those services, but dramatic cuts have left personnel available only for an initial evaluation, rather than throughout the three-stage process. After the initial evaluation, soldiers must either represent themselves or hire private attorneys. At today's hearing, Senator John Ossoff, a Democrat of Georgia, grilled Hegzeth. Mr. Secretary, early in the conflict, day three, you said one of those core objectives was to, quote, destroy the missile threat, and as you restated it on day five, to, quote, obliterate Iran's missiles and drones. Those were clearly and repeatedly stated core objectives of the campaign, which four months ago you declared had been completed victoriously with every single objective achieved.

Were those objectives achieved four months ago? Hegseth answered, No one ever stated that every single missile was gone. Ultimately, combat ineffective means they're not able to dig them out of their UGFs or underground facilities and shoot at us. Assoff. Had the missile threat been defeated four months ago? Hegsith continued over Ossoff. It doesn't mean they don't have underground facilities where they put missiles in them and hold on to them because they're the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism.

So we never expected they would stop having capabilities to shoot. The question is, at scale, against an opponent like the United States of America, which went toe-to-to-with them in Iran, couldn't? Assoff continued. You stated on March 8th, day 9 of the war, on 60 minutes, you assured the American people of Iranians surrender. Does that remain your prediction? Hegsiv. Ultimately, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon to threaten the United States of America.

That has been the objective, and it remains so. Assov. So, just to review, you will not answer whether your statement made on the United States of the 14th day of the war that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and made combat ineffective was a truthful statement to the American people as you sit here and ask for tens of billions more for the conflict. The second Trump administration is forcing the American people to define how they think the United States government should spend their tax dollars. Today, Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat of New Jersey, introduced a proposal to expand Medicaid to all

American children from birth to age 26. Kim noted that about 4.4 million children in the U.S. don't have health insurance and 23 million are underinsured. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will make things worse. Joseph Choi of the Hill reported that Democratic Senators, Alex Padilla of California, Corey Booker of New Jersey, and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois are co-sponsoring the bill. The legislation proposing MediKids has been endorsed by a range of organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Every child should have health care, Kim said in a video. Every child should have the ability to go to a doctor when they're sick. Every child deserves to be healthy.

MediKids would automatically enroll every child in health care coverage at birth because the system we have right now isn't working. Because healthy kids make healthy adults and that makes for a healthier, stronger future for our country. Because as a parent, you deserve to be able to provide care for your kids without worrying about going into debt, emptying your savings, or straining the family budget, and because we all have a responsibility to care for each other. Kim said Democrats need to bring new ideas forward while also opposing the Trump administration's destruction. He told reporters, I know that there's overwhelming support from the American people for ideas like this.

And there's a hunger for ideas right now. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead in Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.