HAGATNA (GUAM PACIFIC DAILY NEWS) —Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero on Wednesday said her administration is planning for the “worst case scenario,” given Trump’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget that seeks US$163 billion in federal spending cuts.
The governor said, however, that it’s “very hard to plan,” considering the rapidly evolving federal policy shifts and funding cuts.
Despite the uncertainty, the governor said congressional approval is still required before any budget becomes law.
“This has to be approved by the Congress, and I know that we’re talking about those very critical programmes,” Leon Guerrero said. “These are all programmes to protect the public health, not just our island, but throughout our nation, throughout the whole world.”
Actions taken so far amidst policy changes include absorbing employees impacted by federal grant cuts, cancelation and expiration. The president’s proposed 2026 budget, if enacted, would require more actions from GovGuam.
Appropriations committee chair Senator Chris Duenas earlier said “GovGuam cannot shoulder this level of personnel with local monies,” referring to the nearly 800 positions within GovGuam that he said could be impacted by Trump’s proposed budget cuts. The price tag is US$27 million.
Leon Guerrero said uncertainty continues to cloud the situation, as decisions often shift rapidly at the federal level.
“It’s really hard to plan well when we don’t really know the definite decisions, right? I know that history has shown within the last 100 days, our president would make an action, decision and then pauses it a few days later or a week later because of public outcry or it’s not being done through the regular process and protocols,” the governor told the Pacific Daily News. “So it’s very hard to plan, but we are planning, of course, on a worst case scenario, so yes we do have plans for government.”
Guam’s lone representative to Congress, Delegate James Moylan, asked for and received data from GovGuam on how many jobs and programmes in GovGuam are impacted by the Trump budget.
The governor said her administration is also “working closely” with Moylan as Guam’s voice in Congress.
“A lot of them have to go through some congressional action,” the governor said. “He’s advocating for us to retain those federal grants that are important to continue on with the public services and the lives that we think are important.”
The list that Duenas received shows 789 fulltime employee positions in programmes within GovGuam partially and fully funded by federal grants and are among those that could be impacted by the proposed budget cuts. The ones most impacted:
*386, Department of Public Health and Social Services
*86, Guam Behavioural Health and Wellness Centre
*63, Guam Environmental Protection Agency
*60, Department of Labour
*40, Department of Agriculture
*35, DISID
*32, GRTA
While no cuts are definite, the governor said agencies are already coordinating with federal counterparts and finding ways to move affected employees into vacant positions.
“When we got wind of the potential actions of President Trump in terms of federal grants and federal monies,” she said. “Although they’re all not definite at all, everything is very uncertain.”
The administration has directed all GovGuam agencies with federal grants to coordinate with their federal counterparts and assess how proposed budget cuts could affect their operations.
In the meantime, some local departments have already started absorbing staff whose federal grant funding is about to expire, the governor said.
“We have also been getting, taking people who are in federal grants that are about to expire, to weave them into current positions that are vacant,” Leon Guerrero said. “I know that the Department of Public Health and Social Services is doing that. I also do know Behavioural Health is doing that. I don’t think GMH does a lot of federal grants but other agencies that may be impacted are doing that.”
Leon Guerrero said there is no longer any unallocated funding left from the American Rescue Plan Act.
But most of the unspent ARP funds under the governor’s purview has been reserved for a new hospital.
Public Health services face some of the most significant risks under the proposed Trump budget, which includes deep cuts to major federal health agencies.
Leon Guerrero also reflected on the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the value of federal support in times of crisis.
“It’s very important, as we have seen during the pandemic, to be able to have those resources that we save people’s lives, people’s lives,” she said. “So we’ll see where that goes, keeping a close eye on that but we do have information that we have gathered to kind of give us an idea.”
Some programmes on Guam have already been eliminated, including the Digital Equity initiative, which aimed to improve internet connectivity, and 10 pandemic-era federal grants for Public Health. The Starbase grant was also terminated, with staff advised to seek other employment.
Trump’s proposed budget seeks to slash funding from several federal agencies and eliminate programmes such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Programme, LIHEAP, which assists low-income families with utility costs, and TRIO, which supports low-income and first-generation college students……PACNEWS