WPSR Statement on Federal Budget Bill: A Direct Threat to Washington's Health
Health professionals warn of severe consequences as Congress prioritizes tax cuts over community wellbeing
SEATTLE, WA — Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility condemns the passage of the federal budget bill, which will inflict significant harm on the health and safety of Washington communities. This legislation represents a direct assault on programs that protect public health, address economic inequities, and treat existential threats to human survival. Congress has made a deliberate choice to prioritize tax breaks for the wealthy over the health and wellbeing of working families. The consequences of these decisions will be measured in preventable illness, increased suffering, and lost lives. As health professionals, we will continue to work to ensure that our patients and communities are protected, despite the impacts that this bill will have on each of WPSR's main areas of work: climate, economic inequity, and nuclear weapons abolition.
Climate and Health: Rollback of Life-Saving Protections: The budget bill's gutting of climate and environmental health programs will directly worsen air quality across Washington state. These cuts come at a time when our communities are already struggling with wildfire smoke, diesel pollution from transportation corridors, and extreme heat events that disproportionately harm children, elderly residents, and frontline communities. The elimination of clean energy investments and environmental monitoring programs means Washington families will face dirtier air and more climate-driven health emergencies. For communities already bearing the greatest pollution burden, these cuts represent a betrayal of our most basic public health responsibilities.
Economic Inequity and Health: HR. 1 provides tax breaks that will increase economic inequity with the majority of tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest Americans. At the same time the bill makes massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs forcing families to choose between healthcare, housing, and food. Washingtonians across the state depend on these programs to stay healthy and recover from illness. When people lose access to preventive care, chronic disease management, and nutrition support, the costs simply shift to emergency departments and result in worse health outcomes. These cuts will deepen health disparities and force our healthcare system to treat preventable conditions that could have been addressed through adequate social support.
Nuclear Weapons: Congress continues to fund a trillion-dollar nuclear weapons modernization program that makes our communities less safe, while watching the clock run out on the NewStart Treaty, which maintains strict limits on the number of deployed warheads between the US and Russia. Instead of working to save our last remaining arms control treaty, Congress has chosen to fund the Golden Dome, a $175 billion destabilizing program with no technical feasability. NewStart expires in February of 2026.
While our military budget has now exceeded $1 trillion annually for the first time in history, there has been one victory. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has been renewed and extended to some communities who have never been covered. How this will interact with cuts to Medicaid and the closure of rural hospitals remains to be seen.
"These cuts to essential health and environmental programs will directly cause entirely preventable illness and suffering. We will continue to speak out against policies that treat human health and human lives as expendable," said Dr. Ken Lans, Board President of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.
The Path Forward
While federal leadership has abandoned its responsibility to protect public health, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility will continue our work at the state and local levels, helping provide a model for what works. Recent victories in our state legislature demonstrate that when health professionals and communities organize together, we can advance policies that prioritize health equity, climate action, and peace.
The challenges ahead are daunting, but they are not insurmountable. Now more than ever, we need the collective power of health professionals and concerned community members working together to protect the health and wellbeing of all Washington residents.
"In this moment of federal abandonment, our work becomes more critical than ever," said Max Savishinsky, WPSR's Executive Director. "We've seen what's possible when health professionals and communities come together—from our recent state legislative victories to our growing coalition work. The path forward requires all of us working together to build the healthy, just, and peaceful world our communities deserve."
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility is a health professional-led advocacy organization working to create a healthy, just, peaceful, and sustainable world. For over 40 years, WPSR has taken on the gravest threats to human health and survival: nuclear weapons, economic inequity, and the climate crisis.
