US Department of Agriculture Cuts Will Hurt Bucks County Families

As the Trump Administration and DOGE implements sweeping program and funding cuts nationwide, Bucks County Commissioner Chairman Robert J. Harvie, Jr. said at Wednesday’s regular meeting that about $800,000 in federal funds has been cut that would have supported food pantries and other non-profit organizations serving those with food insecurity in Bucks County.

According to a USA Today report, about $1 billion in funding will impact school lunches, food pantries, and other programs nationwide.

“A program that is being cut will prevent about $800,000 worth of funding coming to food pantries and non-profits in this county to those who work with people who need assistance,” Harvie said.

The cuts will also impact farmers and the farming industry – Pennsylvania’s top economic sector and a major economic driver in Bucks County.

According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture Profile, there were 871 active farms in Bucks County, which accounted for $98.3 million in products sold, or a 30% sector increase over 2017.

USDA grant cancellations are delivering big blows to small farmers who supply local schools and food banks. New from me for @barnraiser.bsky.social

— Miles MacClure (@milesmacclure.bsky.social) 2025-03-17T19:46:17.067Z

Harvie noted that’s $800,000 less in funding area non-profits will have to support those who have “trouble putting food on the table for their families.”

Harvie said the cuts will mean non-profit programs that purchased food directly from farmers or arrange for excess food from farms to be distributed to ALICE families would suffer. ALICE is an acronym for those who are Access Limited, Income Constrained Employed.

“ALICE individuals are people who work full time jobs – sometimes more than one job – and still have trouble making ends meet,” he said.

READ: Nearly 1 in 3 Families with Children in Bucks County Are Struggling Economically, Says New Report

Other funding cuts announced this week include the closure of the Election Information Infrastructure Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which is  part of the Department of Homeland Security.

EI-ISAC is the agency that monitored cyber security around elections, including elections held in Bucks County.

The Trump Administration announced program and “funding cuts related to cyber security in this country. When it comes to working with the federal government to protect us from cyber attacks from places like Russia, China Iran and North Korea, we are less safe,” Harvie said.

The Multi State Information Sharing Analysis Center, another Homeland Security department experienced funding cuts, too, though it has not been shuttered yet, Harvie said.

According to its website, MS-ISAC’s goal is to “protect the overall cyber security posture of U.S. state, local, tribal and territorial government organizations through coordination, collaboration, cooperation and increased communication.”

“There will be less information coming to us – and this is across the country – about threats…we are less safe, there is no other way to put it,” Harvie said.

READ: Election Officials Blast Trump’s ‘Retreat’ from Protecting Voting Against Foreign Threats

Reuters reported on March 18 that the Trump Administration has cut funding to track kidnapped children taken from Ukraine and brought to Russia, impacting an estimated 35,000 youngsters.

“When it comes to protecting children this country began an effort to try and track tens of thousands of children kidnapped out Ukraine…taken from their families and moved to Russia. That is an effort that has now stopped,” Harvie explained, “the Trump Administration has decided it will not fund any effort to fund, find or track those children” any longer, he said.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington D.C. are expected to call on Trump’s administration to restore the Ukrainian children’s funding program, Reuters reported.