The G.O.P. Fought for This Bill. When Trump’s Cuts Came? Silence.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Opinions
Episode: The G.O.P. Fought for This Bill. When Trump’s Cuts Came? Silence.
Release Date: July 8, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion, host Noah Chestnut delves into the paradoxical actions of the Republican Party during Donald Trump’s second term. Specifically, the focus is on the abrupt funding cuts to a bipartisan mental health program initially championed by the GOP following the tragic Uvalde school shooting. Chestnut explores how the Trump administration’s decision to defund this crucial initiative contradicted the party’s earlier advocacy, leaving educators and students without essential mental health support.

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Background: The Uvalde Shooting and Legislative Response

The narrative begins with the harrowing account of the Uvalde elementary school shooting on May 24, 2022. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, recounts witnessing the tragedy firsthand from the Senate floor.

Chris Murphy [02:05]: "I was sitting in the Senate president's chair when on my phone I started to see notices of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas."

This traumatic event galvanized lawmakers to seek solutions to prevent future incidents, leading to unprecedented bipartisan cooperation.

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The Passing of the Bipartisan Bill

Senator Murphy took immediate action, advocating for stricter gun control measures while acknowledging Republican concerns about mental health.

Chris Murphy [03:34]: "What are we doing? Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate?... as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing."

Republicans, led by figures like Senator John Cornyn of Texas, emphasized the need for mental health reforms alongside gun legislation.

John Cornyn [05:03]: "People who do have mental health problems, we want to make sure they have access to mental health care."

The collaboration resulted in a landmark bill that introduced the first federal gun restrictions in three decades and allocated approximately one billion dollars to school-based mental health programs. President Biden signed the bill into law on June 25, 2022.

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Implementation and Impact of the Mental Health Grants

The program was lauded for its comprehensive approach to student mental health, as exemplified by Phoebe Bailey, director of the Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative in Hope. Bailey secured a $4 million grant, enabling the hiring of seven counselors to support over 11,000 students.

Phoebe Bailey [08:54]: "Like the best Christmas gift ever?"

The initiative led to significant improvements in school environments, including reduced suspensions and enhanced overall student well-being. Schools experienced calmer classrooms and better academic performance, with some institutions improving their accountability grades.

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The Trump Administration's Funding Cuts

Despite the bipartisan origins and initial support, the Trump administration in 2025 abruptly cut the funding for these mental health programs, citing conflicts with federal priorities.

Noah Chestnut [13:05]: "The letter says that the original grant included funding for programs that conflict with the Trump administration's priorities."

The Department of Education labeled the cuts as "non continued," implying a future recompete under new criteria. However, the termination left schools like Bailey’s grappling with the sudden loss of vital mental health resources.

Phoebe Bailey [20:12]: "700,000. Maybe Missouri has more school funding than we do."

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Reactions from Lawmakers and Administrators

Senator Chris Murphy expressed frustration over the administration’s reversal, highlighting the lack of support from Republican colleagues who were initially instrumental in passing the bill.

Chris Murphy [16:43]: "These money's gone. It's gone."

Former Senator Roy Blunt criticized the cuts, advocating for sustained mental health investments as essential for school safety.

Roy Blunt [17:45]: "The thing you could do, in my view that would create the most school safety would be handle these significant behavioral health issues..."

Administrators like Phoebe Bailey voiced their concerns, emphasizing the long-term benefits of the program and the dire consequences of its termination.

Phoebe Bailey [21:00]: "700,000... That's a big pot of money."

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The GOP's Silence on the Funding Cuts

Chestnut’s investigation revealed a troubling silence within the Republican Party regarding the funding cuts. Despite having fought for the bill, Republican senators have remained largely silent, abandoning the program without public opposition.

Noah Chestnut [17:37]: "Senator Blunt did a lot of work on mental health while he was in office and he saw mental health as key to stopping school shootings."

Efforts to engage current Republican senators were met with resistance or non-responsiveness, highlighting a shift in priorities under Trump’s leadership.

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Legal and Future Prospects

The Department of Education maintains that schools can reapply for the grants under revised Trump-approved criteria focused solely on mental health without the diversity components. However, experts and school districts argue that the cuts are effectively targeted and detrimental, with potential legal challenges looming.

Noah Chestnut [14:09]: "There's a section in there, and it just talks about looking for diverse staff just to increase the diversity of your providers."

Lawrence Georgetown professor suggests that the cuts may be legally questionable, but fears of retribution deter schools from pursuing lawsuits.

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Conclusion: Implications for the GOP and Future Legislation

The episode underscores a critical moment where legislative intent was undermined by executive action, reflecting broader trends within the GOP during Trump's tenure. The cancellation of a program once supported by Republicans exemplifies the party’s shifting stance and raises questions about their commitment to bipartisan initiatives and the welfare of future generations.

Noah Chestnut [21:47]: "The story of this funding cut is the story of the GOP in Donald Trump's second term... Even the funding they fought so hard for just three years ago."

The episode concludes with a cautionary note on the erosion of legislative power to effect meaningful change, emphasizing the need for congressional intervention to protect essential programs from arbitrary executive decisions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Chris Murphy [03:34]: "What are we doing? Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate?... as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing."

• John Cornyn [05:03]: "People who do have mental health problems, we want to make sure they have access to mental health care."

• Phoebe Bailey [08:54]: "Like the best Christmas gift ever?"

• Chris Murphy [16:43]: "These money's gone. It's gone."

• Noah Chestnut [21:47]: "The story of this funding cut is the story of the GOP in Donald Trump's second term... Even the funding they fought so hard for just three years ago."

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the critical discussions and insights from the episode, highlighting the complexities of bipartisan legislation, executive intervention, and the tangible impacts on educational institutions and student mental health.

Transcript

[Noah Chestnut]

Hey, it's Noah Chestnut from the Athletic. If you're into games and sports, pay attention. I'm gonna give you four sports terms. You tell me the common thread. Ready?

[Phoebe Bailey]

Game. Match point.

[Noah Chestnut]

Set. This one's kind of a gimme. The answer is how tennis is scored. Do you want more of a challenge? Check out Connections Sports Edition. It's a new daily game for sports fans to play. Now go to theathletic.com connection. This is the Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it. If I had to sum up Donald Trump's second term in one word, that word would be cut. USAID cut. Department of Education cut. Thousands of federal jobs cut. With so much breaking news, it's hard to stop and fully document the impact of all these cuts. But then in April, I heard about one that made me pause. The Trump administration cut about a billion dollars in funding for a program that Trump's own party had pushed for. How did this happen? That's the story I'm going to tell you today. The rise and fall of a program Republicans championed just three years ago, a program funded through a rare bipartisan agreement. And how in 2025, no Republicans who fought for it seem to care that it's being gutted. The law that created this program came together after a tragedy. Can you tell me a little bit about where you were and what you were thinking when you heard about the Uvalde shooting?

[Chris Murphy]

I was actually presiding over the Senate.

[Noah Chestnut]

On May 24, 2022. Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat from Connecticut, was at work.

[Chris Murphy]

I was sitting in the Senate president's chair when on my phone I started to see notices of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

[John Cornyn]

We're coming on the air with breaking.

[Phoebe Bailey]

News of a shooting at an elementary school. At least 19 children were killed and.

[John Cornyn]

And to adults at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, we're going to take.

[Noah Chestnut]

You right to Texas, where many parents spent the night waiting for word on whether their children survive.

[Chris Murphy]

You know, for me, when any of these school shootings happen, but certainly when Uvalde happened, the first thing I started thinking about was, you know, my friends in Sandy Hook, the parents that I'm now so close to, and I know that every time another one of these school shootings appears on the news, they have to relive the horror of that day. I went through some of that day with them. I was at the emergency respons as the parents were told that Their kids were dead. But of course, I was just an interloper. Uvalde looks so familiar. The scenes outside of the school, the parents waiting around to hear about their children. And so I knew it was going to be even harder for the parents.

[Noah Chestnut]

And Sandy Hook Murphy has become a major advocate for gun control. On the day of the Uvalde shooting, he took his politics to the Senate floor.

[Chris Murphy]

I came down from the dais and I went straight to my desk in the Senate. I'd written down just a few words on a piece of paper while I was sitting there.

[Noah Chestnut]

Senator Chris Murphy is speaking on the Senate floor. Let's listen.

[Chris Murphy]

What are we doing? Why do you spend all this time running for the United States Senate? Why do you go through all the hassle of getting this job, of putting yourself in a position of authority if your answer is that as this slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing, what are we doing? A couple of my Republican colleagues heard that speech, and within almost hours, we were off and running on a negotiation, the first really substantive one in 30 years.

[Noah Chestnut]

Senator Murphy got a bipartisan group together, lawmakers ready to take action to prevent school shootings. Most of the Democrats were for stringent gun control measures like an assault rifle ban. Republicans quickly coalesced around mental health treatment.

[Chris Murphy]

Republicans had always said that this gun violence epidemic is not a question of guns, it's a question of mental health. And it was clear that if Republicans were gonna get in a room and have a conversation with me about what I wanted, changes to our gun laws, then we were gonna have to talk about what they wanted to talk about. Mental health reform, mental health investment as a mechanism to reduce violence.

[Noah Chestnut]

You can hear that in interviews Republicans gave as they tried to negotiate this Bill back in 2022. Here's Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, where Uvalde happened.

[John Cornyn]

People who do have mental health problems, we want to make sure they have access to mental health care. This young man in Uvalde was literally circling down the drain from a psychological standpoint, and obviously not only took the lives of others, he took his own life in the process. And we'd like to try to find some way to intervene to stop that before it occurs again.

[Noah Chestnut]

In the end, Murphy's bipartisan group created a bill that would address gun laws and mental health. It got a lot of Republican support. Even Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, fought for the bill.

[Chris Murphy]

Democrats came our way and agreed to advance some common sense solutions without rolling back rights for law abiding citizens. The Result is a product I'm proud to support.

[Noah Chestnut]

This bill was a big deal. It enacted the first new federal restrictions on guns in nearly 30 years. And it included about a billion dollars in school based mental health programs. School based because as one researcher told me, kids are six times more likely to go to therapy when it's offered in school rather than in the community. The program also invested in universities to train new social workers to address shortages in the field. President Biden signed the bill into law on June 25, 2022. Across the country in Hope, Arkansas, a school administrator was watching.

[Phoebe Bailey]

I was very excited because it was something that both sides said. As a nation, we've got to address this. My name is Phoebe Bailey, and I'm director of Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative in Hope.

[Noah Chestnut]

I want to get to the federal grant program, but I wanted to ask you first. The grant program came about because of legislation that passed after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. I'm curious if you remember hearing about that incident? And yeah, it sounds like yes.

[Phoebe Bailey]

So, yeah. And then, I mean, it brought back memories. When I was still in the classroom, we had a shooting in my district.

[Noah Chestnut]

Oh, my God.

[Phoebe Bailey]

No one was killed. That. We had two students that were injured. And I taught the shooter, and I would have never picked Colt out as the shooter. He wasn't causing me problems. He wasn't hanging from the ceiling, he wasn't beating up kids, he wasn't stealing, you know, all the things that the quote, unquote, bad kids do. But he didn't have friends. He was very withdrawn. And those were signs that as a young teacher, I had no idea I was supposed to look for. So anytime that there's a school shooting, my mind always goes back to that day. And like I said, we were just lucky that we only had injuries, but just the sounds and the screams.

[Noah Chestnut]

So you were in school when that happened?

[Phoebe Bailey]

Mm.

[Noah Chestnut]

Phoebe left the classroom in 2000 as an administrator. She now spends her days supporting teachers for the 11,000 kids in her area. Some of these students have a lot of needs. About a fifth of the people in Phoebe's region live below the poverty line. In any given year, there are a lot of students in her area who could really use help with mental health. But that was especially true when the post Uvalde legislation passed in the wake of the COVID pandemic. So Phoebe applied for one of the school based mental health grants. It was administered through the Department of Education. Can you remember the feeling of getting the grant?

[Phoebe Bailey]

Like the best Christmas gift ever?

[Noah Chestnut]

Her region got about $4 million over five years. And with all that money, Phoebe hired seven counselors and therapists to do one on one and group therapy with students. They also help schools put together safety plans and they help with threat assessments.

[Phoebe Bailey]

Like if someone said so and so said he has a hit list, so and so said he wants to kill himself. What is the procedure and the steps?

[Noah Chestnut]

The therapy program has been incredibly popular, even with parents.

[Phoebe Bailey]

Parents show up with their kids and say, I need help. You know, I hear that somewhere in this building there's somebody that can talk with my kids. And every spring I'm like, you guys cannot take on anybody else. You killing yourself, you're going to burn out. You don't. But the need, you know, they just do whatever the need is.

[Noah Chestnut]

The counselors she hired are also there to help when there's a crisis. Like in the first year Phoebe had.

[Phoebe Bailey]

The grant, there were two cousins that were being raised by grandparents. Still to this day, it just depends on who you ask. They either were playing around and one accidentally shot the other, or that one was angry with the other, I don't know. But there was a shooting and one passed away.

[Noah Chestnut]

Each boy had his own group of friends.

[Phoebe Bailey]

You have the factions of your friend did this on purpose. You know, he meant to kill his cousin. And then that group of friends are saying, no, it was an accident. They were both defending the memory and, or the honor of the boys. I mean, there was literally a time I was down there with a team working on a different project, and you hear this big commotion in the hall, and that's what it was. So I'm out there calling my team, saying, okay, we need to get down here, we need to do more. We need to get them back in groups.

[Noah Chestnut]

What did they do in those groups?

[Phoebe Bailey]

Initially, it was handled like a grief group because for some of them, it may be the first person their age that they've lost. So giving them coping skills, talking through the grief process, it's okay to be angry. It's, you know, but then as it evolved and continued throughout that year, more how do you handle it? You know, yes, we said it was okay to get angry, but you can't get stuck there. We can process and brainstorm on not just how do we act or react when someone dies, but when anything causes that anger, emotion, what do we do with it? How do we work through it? How do we not get stuck in the depression, in the anger, in the whatever the emotion was?

[Noah Chestnut]

Yeah, I mean, those sound like great skills. For the rest of their lives.

[Phoebe Bailey]

Not Just exactly. That's what we're hoping. Yeah, right.

[Noah Chestnut]

This grant has made a huge difference in the schools. Under Phoebe's supervision, teachers can focus on teaching rather than on student mental health. Classrooms are calmer. There are fewer fights in the hallways, fewer suspensions. One school that started out with an F in accountability based on graduation rates, attendance, and test scores rose to a C. Earlier this spring, Phoebe was getting ready to hire an eighth counselor. She had just started advertising in the local paper when she got an unexpected letter.

[Phoebe Bailey]

When I opened it, I just. I read it, and then I reread it and could not make myself really comprehend that this was truly where. Where we were going. And it was just an email.

[Noah Chestnut]

The letter told Phoebe her funding for school mental health would end on December 31, 2025. Phoebe is desperately searching for other funding, but for now, it looks like the seven counselors Phoebe has hired will be out of a job in the new year, and her students will lose all that support and expertise. Phoebe sent me this letter. So did some other districts. They're all nearly identical. The letter says that the original grant included funding for programs that conflict with the Trump administration's priorities. In what way? It lists a couple of reasons. It says the programs violate federal civil rights law and, quote, conflict with the department's policy of prioritizing merit. I talked to more than a dozen school administrators in states across the country for this story, and most of them thought the cancellation stemmed from one small part of the grant proposal. Do you remember what the grant application said about diversity?

[Phoebe Bailey]

There's a section in there, and it just talks about looking for diverse staff just to increase the diversity of your providers. When we wrote the grant, we just wanted to mirror our. Our area, mirror our community. But by that same token, when we advertise, there's nothing in our ads at all that say, you know, this round, we're trying to be more diverse. Only, you know, I truly do not know the race of the people until they show up at the interview. But we have one African American, two Hispanics, and the rest are Caucasian. And that mirrors our demographics. Probably if we were actually going to go totally by the demographics, we'd need more African Americans. But what I need are people that can help the kids. And I think the part that bothered me the most was that the letter was like we were trying to break some civil rights law. I mean, if you don't like that piece of the grant that says have a more diverse staff, take that one little section out.

[Noah Chestnut]

I talked to the Department of Education about This a spokesperson was unhappy with me for describing these grants as canceled. These grants, she told me, were quote, non continued. What's the difference? Well, she said the Department of Education plans to recompete the grants so this money will be made available again. Schools can reapply under new Trump approved priorities. She told me that these priorities would be quite, quote, more aligned with resolving students mental health and not divisive or ideological slants. But calling this a non continuation seems like a euphemism. As of January 1st for a lot of schools, this government funding will no longer exist. Whether or not the administration lets schools reapply for the grants under different criteria is beside the point. This funding has been canceled and it is unclear when these grants will actually be re competed. I asked Senator Murphy what he made of this.

[Chris Murphy]

They're not going to repurpose this money. This money's gone. It's gone.

[Noah Chestnut]

Have you heard from any of your Republican colleagues on this?

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, sure. I don't talk about those conversations publicly, but I've, I've talked to some of my Republicans who voted for this bill who don't understand what Trump has done, but by and large are not willing to say it publicly.

[Noah Chestnut]

I did my own search for Republicans who had worked on this bill to see if anyone would speak with me. I reached out to Senator Collins, Senator Tillis, Senator Cornyn. Ten in all, only the former US Senator from Missouri, Roy Blunt, agreed to see me. He left the Senate in 2023 and he's now a lobbyist in downtown D.C. hi, Senator, how are you?

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, okay.

[Noah Chestnut]

Nice to meet you.

[John Cornyn]

Good to see you.

[Noah Chestnut]

Senator Blunt did a lot of work on mental health while he was in office and he saw mental health as key to stopping school shootings.

[John Cornyn]

And the thing you could do, in my view that would create the most school safety would be handle these significant behavioral health issues that even young kids in the social media environment, the post Covid environment, have as part of their background.

[Noah Chestnut]

I'm curious if you remember in the negotiation over what would be in the Bipartisan act, how this particular program became part of the bill.

[John Cornyn]

Well, I think there were a lot of people that wanted to be sure that there was a school focus. And frankly, I think that school focus turned out to be one of the pilot ideas. And the problem with pilots is that they are pilots. And you know, often the government will have a pilot and it'll go for two or three years and you can say, okay, the pilot was successful. We know that works. Which really the message to the Congress is now if you want to do that for everybody, you could do it for everybody. But the pilot is over.

[Noah Chestnut]

Nowhere in this legislation was this funding called a pilot. While this program was time limited, it was supposed to run for five years. Congress funded it for a full five years. The Trump administration cut it off after three. I told Senator Blunt what a problem this was for Phoebe's region. I've been talking to one school in particular in Arkansas, and they were able to hire, I think, seven counselors for 11,000 kids. They oversee, like, nine school districts. So it's a lot of kids. And they're gonna have to cut it off in December now because of the cancellation. So what would you say to them? Like, what do you think they should do now?

[John Cornyn]

Well, I don't know what. What you pay. Would you say seven counselors in total of nine districts? Less than one counselor per district. You know, sometimes you just have to decide what your priorities are. That doesn't sound like a mountain that you couldn't possibly climb if you wanted to. So, you know, the federal government can't solve every problem.

[Noah Chestnut]

I wanted to see what Phoebe would make of this, so I played this clip for her.

[John Cornyn]

So, you know, the federal government can't solve every problem.

[Noah Chestnut]

Your expression says a lot.

[Phoebe Bailey]

Yes. I don't have a poker face. It's easy to say, oh, yeah, seven people. That wouldn't be that much money until you understand education funding. Okay. But you're talking seven highly trained people that are making around 70,000. So you add benefits, it would take probably almost 100,000 per person for a year.

[Noah Chestnut]

$100,000 per counselor. $700,000 in total.

[Phoebe Bailey]

Yeah, 700,000. Maybe Missouri has more school funding than we do. I need to check that out. But that's a big pot of money.

[Noah Chestnut]

Yeah.

[Phoebe Bailey]

And that's just one year. It's an ongoing commitment. He's in Missouri. He's not that far. Come down, see my kids. See what they're going through. Talk to my schools, talk to my principals, to my teachers, and let them tell you what this is doing. Then talk to my superintendents and tell me where we're going to get the money. I mean, do I think that we've had wasteful spending? Sure, I do. There are definitely things that we need to cut, but not at the risk of our future. And that's what these kids are. And getting them healthy will help prevent the next evolving.

[Noah Chestnut]

In the cancellation letter Phoebe got, the Department of Education said she could appeal their decision within 30 days. Phoebe submitted an appeal on May 15 and hasn't heard anything back. There is one way this funding could be restored. The courts could step in. I talked to a Georgetown law professor about this. He told me that this cut is illegal. School districts could come together and challenge the White House in court. But many of these districts are dependent on the Trump administration for other funding. Would they really want to put that in jeopardy by joining a lawsuit? Case in point, I reached out to dozens of school administrators for this story. A lot of them wouldn't even talk to me because they're so worried about retribution from the White House. That means it's up to Congress to speak out. Back in 2022, after Uvalde, Republicans said we want to treat mental health, not restrict access to guns. That will prevent school shootings that will save lives. They mostly got their way. Now not one Republican senator is speaking out to save this program. The story of this funding cut is the story of the GOP in Donald Trump's second term. We are watching the legislature surrender its most important purpose. It's giving up its power over funding. The Republican Party will not stop this administration from cutting whatever they want, whenever they want, from whoever they want, even from one of the reddest states in the country. Even the funding they fought so hard for just three years ago. If you like this show, follow it on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Opinions is produced by Derek Arthur, Vishaka Darba, Christina Samulewski and Gillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin and Alison Bruzek. Engineering, mixing and original music by Isaac Jones, sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Sabaro and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Aman Sahota. The Fact Check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Christina Samulewski. The director of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Strasser.