Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego rebuked President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office on Monday, April 28, saying his administration’s changes had led to economic uncertainty that threatens to exacerbate the homelessness crisis and thwart cancer research.
“It has been a difficult 100 days,” the mayor said, before listing a series of hardships she pinned on Trump. “It’s a deeply concerning time.”
Gallego was speaking in a press call organized by the Democratic Mayors Association. It featured Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. The call cast Trump’s first 100 days as “chaotic” and said his administration was bringing a “hacksaw” to government programs that made communities healthier and safer, such as Meals on Wheels and Head Start.
In Phoenix, Gallego said the city recently learned the federal government would no longer be funding a portion of housing vouchers the Biden administration had committed to Phoenix through 2030, the mayor said.
“I don’t understand why we would do that,” Gallego said. “To take away that funding is very heartbreaking.”
The mayor said she was worried Trump’s upcoming budgets would defund additional housing vouchers “at a time when we already have incredible demand…”
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“The president says that he wants to address homelessness, but it’s really hard to see when it’s literally cutting vouchers for people experiencing homelessness,” Gallego said. “And it comes at a time where the federal government is really exiting its role in so many areas related to housing and homelessness.”
Phoenix is trying to create flexibility in Phoenix’s local budget to navigate the “defederalization,” but Gallego said so many cuts all at once made it “difficult” and “chaotic.”
It doesn’t help, she added, that every other day, more federal employees are being fired. She gave two specific examples of the city working with a federal transportation official and a Drug Enforcement Agency official, who suddenly were no longer there.
Gallego also pointed to the University of Arizona pausing construction of its downtown Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies. The over 200,000-square-foot, seven-story building was expected to be finished in 2027, but the school announced in late March that it would halt construction due to “potential changes to federal funding, including federally funded research support.”
The announcement was a major blow to Phoenix, a city whose leadership, including Gallego, has diligently sought to attract bioscience companies and innovation.
Phoenix will continue to look for public-private partnerships or broader coalitions to help the development advance, Gallego said.
“It was a gut check moment the day they paused construction to drive by the giant hole in our downtown and think about all the people who could have gotten help fighting cancer and other difficult diagnoses, but who are victims of the changes in Washington, D.C.,” Gallego said.
“Sorry not to have better news,” she said.
Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ‘Deeply concerning’: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego rebukes Donald Trump