The Rundown
- White House recession package would reduce already approved USAID funding for water, sanitation, and hygiene.
- Commerce Department agency opens applications for $1.4 billion in post-disaster economic aid.
- USDA researchers contribute to a study on exporting manure from watersheds that have excess nutrient levels.
- Interior eliminates regulations in order to boost energy development and mining on federal lands managed by the BLM.
And lastly, President Trump celebrates the ocean’s economic potential.
“This National Ocean Month, my Administration renews its resolve to usher in a new and radiant golden age both at home and at sea – using our oceans and their magnificent resources to empower our citizens, defend our homeland, and preserve our glorious American sovereignty for generations to come.” – Excerpt from a presidential proclamation to commemorate National Ocean Month. As during Trump’s first term, the proclamation focused on resource “dominance” instead of pollution prevention and ecosystem protection.
By the Numbers
$1.4 Billion: Funding available from the Economic Development Administration, an arm of the Commerce Department, for communities who have economic struggles due to natural hazards that struck in 2023 or 2024. Hurricanes, floods, wildfire, and tornadoes are among the eligible hazards. The funding is meant to provide for a post-disaster economic rebound. Applications are being accepted until the funds are claimed.
18: Regulations rescinded by the Department of the Interior in order to facilitate fossil fuel production, geothermal generation, and mining on lands managed by the BLM.
News Briefs
Cut Here, Please
The White House sent a request to Congress to pull back 2025 funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs that it says do not align with the administration’s priorities.
In total, the Office of Management and Budget asked for $9.4 billion to be rescinded from 22 programs across the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Among the USAID targets are $1.7 billion in the Economic Support Fund, which has been used for climate projects; $125 million in the Clean Technology Fund; and $496 million from international disaster assistance.
Yet the largest line item is $2.5 billion for development assistance, a catchall category from which water, sanitation, and hygiene funding is drawn.
The development assistance programs are designed to alleviate poverty and human misery, but the administration claims that many of them “conflict with American values, interfere with the sovereignty of other countries, and bankroll corrupt leaders’ evasion of their responsibilities to their citizens, all while providing no clear benefit to Americans.”
In context: USAID Shutdown Causes Global Alarm in International Water and Climate Programs
Studies and Reports
Exporting Manure
Could redistribution be the solution to manure pollution?
High concentrations of livestock operations in a watershed corresponds to high levels of nutrients, which pollute water and cause algal blooms. How about exporting manure?
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture contributed to a study that examined “manure-sheds.” They found that shipping manure to nearby counties could rebalance the nutrient equation – by increasing concentrations elsewhere.
On the Radar
Congressional Hearings
- On June 11, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the president’s 2026 budget proposal for the Department of the Interior.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, the ranking Democrat, criticized the administration’s proposed cuts to the U.S. Geological Survey as a “multi-front assault on the nation’s scientific infrastructure.” - On June 12, a House Science subcommittee will hold a hearing on using nuclear power for AI computing.
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
