Vermont response to federal actions: What is already happening and what else is needed?
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Resources for tracking federal policy changes

LAST UPDATED: 02/13/26

January 29, 2026  |  Staff
Explainer |Federal Tax & Budget, Economic Security

There have been a lot of changes to federal policy in recent months that are affecting Vermonters. Some have taken effect, some have been proposed and are under consideration, some have been implemented and then reversed, and some are working their way through court challenges. We will keep this page updated as much as possible as new changes happen.

Federal shutdown update – 2/13/26

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding will expire tonight at midnight following failed negotiations to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Some DHS branches will be affected; Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Coast Guard personnel are expected to work unpaid. However, programs under CBP and ICE are likely to continue due to Congress’s allocation of $140 billion in supplemental ten-year funding to these agencies last summer. DHS employs 260,000 people, including more than 2,500 Vermonters. Of those in Vermont, roughly 140 work for TSA or FEMA.

Calls for ICE and CBP reforms arose after the deaths of protesters and detainees in Minnesota. Ongoing negotiations around these reforms include the following demands:

  1. Requiring judicial warrants for DHS officers to enter private property.
  2. Prohibiting immigration enforcement agents from wearing masks.
  3. Requiring agents to wear identification, including their last name and agency.
  4. Prohibiting the use of federal funds for immigration enforcement near medical facilities, schools, child care facilities, churches, polling places, and courts.
  5. Preventing racial profiling through prohibiting stops, questioning, and searches based on a person’s race, ethnicity, and spoken language.
  6. Mandating a reasonable use of force policy and training protocol.
  7. Continuing to allow state and local entities to investigate crimes and excessive use of force incidents involving federal agents.
  8. Ensuring that detainment facilities require immediate access to a person’s attorney.
  9. Requiring the use of body cameras and creating requirements for the storage and access of footage.
  10. Regulating what equipment agents can carry during enforcement operations.

Federal update – 2/11/26

Over the last year, the federal government has taken actions that undermine the safety and security of all of us. The deaths of protesters and detainees in Minnesota and elsewhere are the most visible and visceral example of this, but any aggressive immigration enforcement, cuts to critical services, arbitrary funding freezes, abrupt grant cancellations, government shutdowns, and investigations based on political retribution are also harming the well-being of Vermonters.

Slide deck on the impacts of federal actions on Vermonters and the state budget

What is already happening and what else is needed in our communities, at the state level, and at the federal level?

Current State Policy

Vermont’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy passed in 2024, restricts what Vermont police departments can share with federal immigration authorities. While this is one of the strongest policies in the nation some key gaps remain.

Proposed legislation

Bills can move quickly with amendments and changes as they make their way through committees and chambers. For the most up-to-date information about each of these bills, refer to their legislative pages.

  • H.742, An act relating to providing legal representation in federal immigration proceedings. The bill provides legal representation to folks detained by immigration enforcement including $1 million appropriation for additional staff. Pending in House Judiciary.
  • S.208, An act relating to standards for law enforcement identification. The bill establishes standards for law enforcement identification which includes an anti-masking measure. No appropriation necessary. Passed Senate and headed to the House.
  • S.209, An act relating to prohibiting civil arrest in sensitive locations. The bill prohibits civil arrest in sensitive locations including public schools, emergency shelters, and hospitals without a warrant. No appropriation necessary. Passed Senate and headed to the House.
  • S.227, An act relating to creating immigration protocols in Vermont schools. The bill establishes procedures and limits for federal immigration agents’ entry into schools and restricting the collection and sharing of sensitive data about students and employees. No appropriation necessary. Pending in Senate Education.
  • S.144 / H.895, An act relating to secondary enforcement of certain motor vehicle violations. The bill restricts the enforcement of certain motor vehicle violations, and limiting the searching of cars and questioning of drivers to vehicle-specific inquiries. No appropriation necessary. Pending in Senate and House Judiciary.
  • H.745, An act relating to immigration enforcement. The bill restricts federal immigration officials’ access to records including sensitive information about students and their families and restricting access to nonpublic spaces within sensitive locations including health care facilities, schools, childcare centers, and polling places without a warrant; limiting the Department of Corrections’ assistance to, and collaboration with, federal immigration agents; and prohibiting civil arrests at government buildings. No appropriation necessary. Pending in House Judiciary. 
  • A measure to ensure that Vermonters have the right to sue law enforcement at all levels, including federal agents.

State Legal Action

Federal Level

  • Ongoing negotiations about restrictions on ICE before continued DHS funding can pass – still unclear how those will play out, but current two-week stopgap ends 2/13/26

Resources:

Front-line organizations

Rapid response / immigration enforcement trackers 

Public Actions, protests 

Know your rights trainings and materials and other info sessions 

Community resilience and mutual aid

Policy/legislative advocacy resources 

Resource list in PDF
Federal update 1/29/26

Federal update 1/29/26

The continuing resolution that ended the federal government shutdown back in November is set to expire on Friday. The main current point of dispute is funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the face of aggressive and unlawful immigration enforcement, leading to the death of protesters in Minnesota and others in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Increased funding for DHS and ICE was included in the reconciliation bill passed in July.

Vermont is also one of a number of states being targeted for review of the use of federal funds.

Resources from our partners in Minnesota:

Federal shutdown deal - 11/13/25 update

Federal shutdown deal – 11/13/25 update

Yesterday, Congress ended the longest federal shutdown in history. What’s included in the funding package:

  • Federal funding through January 30th, 2026
  • Reinstatement of federal workers laid off during the shutdown
  • Backpay for federal workers furloughed and working without pay
  • A ban on using federal funds to fire federal workers through January 30th, 2026
  • Full-year funding for the legislative branch, military infrastructure, veterans’ programs, and agriculture programs
  • Full-year funding for nutrition assistance benefits, allowing for the continuation of SNAP even in the event of another shutdown

What’s not included in the funding package:

  • An extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits, which help 30,000 Vermonters access health insurance and are set to expire at the end of the calendar year
  • A reversal of program changes to SNAP and Medicaid included in the July budget bill that are estimated to cause up to 40,000 Vermont families to lose nutrition assistance and 16,000 Vermonters to lose health insurance

Here were some impacts of the shutdown, by the numbers:

  • 43 days
  • More than 60,000 Vermonters’ food benefits delayed
  • Thousands of Vermont’s nearly 6,600 federal workers furloughed or working without pay
  • Thousands of Vermont federal workers still facing the long-term risk of layoffs
  • Tens of millions of dollars in delayed federal wages in Vermont alone
  • Cancelled or delayed federal grant funding, including cuts to federal funding for Vermont renewable energy projects
  • 2 months of federal data not collected or released, including jobs data
  • Tens of millions of dollars in federal costs temporarily or permanently shifted to the state
Federal shutdown - 10/16/25 update

The federal government shutdown began on October 1st, the start of the new federal fiscal year, after existing funding expired and Congress failed to approve new funding. Until funding is restored, many federal workers in the state are furloughed (put on temporary leave) or working without pay.

Federal workers in Vermont: 6,590  

The Office of Management and Budget is trying to use the shutdown as an opportunity to lay off federal workers, targeting employees at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Treasury, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Vermonters working for federal agencies that are targeted for layoffs: 2,775 

The shutdown also means that certain federal programs and functions that use discretionary dollars are currently paused until funding is restored. For example, National Parks will remain partially open to the public but mostly unstaffed, Head Start grants (which help to provide early childhood education, health and nutrition) may be delayed for certain grantees, and new loans for farmers will be paused. As the shutdown continues, more programs could be impacted, including nutritional supports for women and children.

Women and children in Vermont at risk of temporarily losing nutritional assistance: 10,366 total, including 1,810 infants

In addition to the many grants already frozen or cancelled before the shutdown, the administration is permanently cutting grant funding during the shutdown for projects that expand renewable energy and address climate change, including two projects in Vermont.

Healthcare premium assistance
One of the main issues at stake is an extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits, which increase subsidies for ACA Marketplace health insurance and expand eligibility for subsidies to those making over 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($62,600 for an individual in 2025). These enhanced subsidies expire at the end of the calendar year, after which subsidies will return to their pre-COVID levels unless Congress extends them.

Vermonters receiving enhanced premium tax credits for healthcare in 2025: 30,280

Total enhanced credits to Vermonters: $65 million

There is currently no indication of when the shutdown may end. The longest federal shutdown in history was 34 days (2018-19).

Final details of OBBBA's funding changes

On July 1, the Senate passed a budget reconciliation bill with substantial changes from the  version passed by the House in May. The new, amended bill then passed the House on July 3, and the president signed into law the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on July 4. The details below are final. While some changes take effect immediately, other changes won’t go into effect for years. For example, many benefit and funding changes to Medicaid will take effect after the 2026 midterm elections, while more restrictive eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will take effect once the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues guidance.

Medicaid
The final bill makes a number of changes to Medicaid that will result in coverage losses in Vermont and nationally. These include increasing how often people must submit benefit renewal paperwork and requiring 19 to 64 year olds to work or participate in training programs for 80 hours a month to qualify for benefits. The law also further restricts immigrants’ access to health insurance by limiting Medicaid eligibility to fewer groups of immigrants, including removing eligibility for refugees and those granted asylum. While Vermont was already expecting to see big cuts to Medicaid under the bill passed by the House in May, the state’s expected Medicaid cuts doubled under the final law: Vermont could see a nearly $2.7 billion drop in Medicaid funding over ten years, and hospitals could lose nearly $400 million. Notably, 16,000 Vermonters could lose their health insurance.

SNAP
Significant changes to SNAP will impact Vermont beneficiaries and the state budget. Currently, the federal government pays all SNAP benefit costs. But under the new law, states with payment error rates (underpayments and overpayments) above 6 percent must pay between 5 and 15 percent of benefit costs starting in fiscal year 2028. Depending on Vermont’s payment error rate, the increased cost to the state could range from $7 million to $22 million annually. The bill also reduces federal funding for the administration of benefits starting in fiscal year 2027 and institutes stricter work requirements for 18 to 64 year olds than previous requirements under SNAP. Finally, the law prohibits benefits for people with certain lawful immigration status, including refugees and those granted asylum. In Vermont, an estimated 40,000 families could lose some of their food assistance.

Tax Cuts and Credits
The final law permanently extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts with some additional changes. In addition to making corporate tax breaks permanent and changing tax rates and brackets to primarily cut taxes for the wealthiest, the law also increases the amount of state and local taxes paid that filers can deduct from their federal taxes. Under this provision, filers with incomes of up to $500,000 can deduct $40,000 in certain state and local taxes paid from their federal taxes (with a phaseout above that amount) until 2030. In Vermont, the law is expected to save the richest 1 percent nearly $60,000 on average each year, over 500 times more than the expected savings for the bottom 20 percent. The top 5 percent of Vermont taxpayers are expected to accrue over $440 million in savings in 2026. More than 70 percent of all benefits—$730 million in 2026—from this tax proposal are directed to the top 20 percent of Vermonters.

The bill also increases the maximum Child Tax Credit to $2,200—an increase of $200—and makes it permanent. However, credit requirements are expected to leave an estimated 19 million low-income children out of receiving the full credit because their parents earn too little. Furthermore, the bill denies the credit to children with a social security number if both parents do not also have one, disqualifying an estimated 2 million children nationally.

Federal funding changes

On July 4, the president signed the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) into law, cutting social benefit programs and providing tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans. These cuts were passed by Congress via reconciliation, a separate process from the annual appropriations process. That budget process begins with the President’s budget request and involves discretionary funding. Reconciliation is typically used to change mandatory spending, like Medicaid. The final details of OBBBA’s funding changes are listed in the dropdown above. While some changes take effect immediately, other changes won’t go into effect for years. More information on the budget process can be found in this explainer of reconciliation. Additional information can be found here.

Medicaid

Medicaid provides health insurance to low-income families and individuals, including children, parents, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities. The House committee that oversees Medicaid was instructed to make at least $880 billion in cuts over ten years. In response, Congress passed several changes to Medicaid to cut costs, including instituting work requirements, increasing the frequency of eligibility redeterminations, and removing Medicaid eligibility for refugees and those granted asylum. Under the new law, an estimated 16,000 Vermonters are expected to lose Medicaid coverage. Vermont could see a nearly $2.7 billion drop in Medicaid funding over ten years, and hospitals could lose nearly $400 million.

Impacts of final bill:

More on the impacts of cuts to Medicaid in Vermont:

3SquaresVT food assistance

SNAP benefits provide food assistance to Vermonters with incomes up to 185 percent of federal poverty guidelines. The House committee that oversees the program was instructed to cut at least $230 billion in spending over ten years. To achieve these cuts, Congress instituted stricter work requirements, shifted some benefit and administrative costs to the state, and prohibited assistance for certain people with lawful immigration status, including refugees and those granted asylum, along with additional changes. More than one in ten Vermonters receive food stamps, nearly three-fifths of whom—40,000 households—may be impacted by these cuts. Depending on the payment error rates, starting in federal fiscal year 2028, Vermont could be responsible for covering $7 to $22 million annually in benefit costs previously paid for by the federal government.

Impacts of final bill:

More on the impacts of cuts to food stamps in Vermont:

Tax cuts

Congress passed a permanent extension of the 2017 tax cuts with some additional changes, including temporarily boosting the amount that taxpayers can deduct in certain state and local taxes paid from their federal taxes. Under this extension, the top 5 percent of Vermont taxpayers—those with incomes above about $320,000—are expected to reap $440 million in savings annually. These tax cuts are expected to save Vermont’s top 1 percent of taxpayers an average of $60,000, more than 500 times the cut for the bottom fifth. Congress also increased the maximum Child Tax Credit. However, the structure of the credit will leave an estimated 19 million low-income children out of receiving the full credit because their parents earn too little. Furthermore, the bill denies the credit to children with a social security number if both parents do not also have one, disqualifying an estimated 2 million children nationally.

Impacts of final bill:

Immigration enforcement

The reconciliation bill directs $140 billion in new funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Both ICE and CBP enforce customs and immigration law, typically with ICE working in the country’s interior and CBP working at the borders. ICE manages immigration detention and deportations, while CBP conducts inspections to detect and prevent unauthorized entry into the country of people or goods.

ICE received nearly $75 billion in supplemental funding, including $45 billion for constructing and expanding detention centers and nearly $30 billion for hiring 10,000 new employees—a boost of 50 percent compared to current staffing levels. This one-time funding is in addition to annual funds passed through the appropriations process; in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, Congress appropriated over $10 billion in base funding for ICE. While this base amount could change in future years, it has historically increased over time. These combined investments are expected to double immigration detention capacity from more than 50,000 beds to over 100,000, including through the construction of new family detention facilities and “mega-facilities”.

As of the end of August, over 60,000 people were being held by ICE in detention centers, roughly 70 percent of whom have no prior criminal conviction.

In addition to new spending for ICE, the bill provides nearly $65 billion in supplemental funding for CBP. This includes $12 billion for agents and detention and over $6 billion for border surveillance technology. It also provides $47 billion for additional infrastructure along the southern border, including new stretches of wall, other barriers and lights. While some border infrastructure has already been built at a cost of over $20 million per mile, most of it is not contiguous, and long stretches of the border have no barrier at all. Like supplemental ICE funding, the supplemental CBP funding is on top of its annual appropriations funding, which is $23 billion in FY 2025. CBP has long been the biggest federal law enforcement agency by funding and staff size; these new allocations will likely catapult ICE to second place, surpassing the FBI.

Impacts of final bill:

Actions by the President

The Trump administration has implemented many changes to federal agencies, funding, and regulations. Some of these are by executive order, while others are through agency policy. These actions continue to evolve as many are being challenged in court, and some are being reversed by the administration itself. The information below provides a high-level overview of some of these actions and potential impacts in Vermont. However, impacts will continue to change depending on lawsuits and federal actions.

Federal funding freezes

The administration proposed pausing federal funding under 2,600 different programs. While federal funding freezes are being challenged in court, the impacts of these freezes are already being felt in Vermont and could be astronomical. Federal funding accounts for roughly one third of the state’s budget, or more than $3 billion. Certain nonprofits and state agencies have already lost funding due to freezes, including funding for food assistance, vaccine access, the humanities, and climate and flood resiliency. Social Security payments make up the bulk of funding to individuals—more than $3.6 billion in FY24.

More on the impacts of federal funding freezes in Vermont:

Mass-layoffs of federal workers

The administration has fired tens of thousands of federal employees, with plans to fire at least a hundred thousand more. While lower courts ordered a temporary pause on layoffs within several agencies, the Supreme Court ruled on July 8 that firings may continue while legal challenges to the layoffs progress. This decision leaves many of Vermont’s roughly 5,000 federal employees uncertain about how much longer they will have a job.

Note: These numbers should be taken as estimates rather than an exact count. There are some differences in timing and methodology resulting in discrepancies in the reported federal employees in the state. 

More on the impacts of layoffs of federal employees in Vermont:

Immigration

The federal administration has taken several actions that impact the quality of life for both documented and undocumented immigrants in Vermont. This includes unlawful deportations, barring immigrants from accessing public benefits, and temporarily revoking student visas. The administration has also provided the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented access to confidential Medicaid and IRS tax information, and has requested data from states on all SNAP applicants and recipients in the last five years. The Vermont Agency of Human Services shared SNAP participant data with the federal administration the week of July 28th.

These actions impact immigrants, the communities in which they live, state employers and the economy, and much more. Many of these actions are being challenged in court. This includes a lawsuit brought by the Vermont attorney general, along with 19 other attorneys general, over the illegal use of Medicaid data.

More on the impacts of executive actions related to immigration in Vermont:

For help with immigration issues in Vermont, contact: 

To learn more about your rights, visit: 

Pre-K-12 education

The administration has proposed dismantling the Department of Education. In addition to other impacts, this would mean less money for Vermont’s schools and its students and employees, impacting more than 100,000 Vermonters.

More on the impacts of executive actions related to education in Vermont: