Trump is straining the capacity of the federal government to meet its obligations to Tribal Nations and communities. This began even before the ongoing shutdown, with the administration’s persistent attacks on funding and eligibility requirements for basic needs programs. Two years ago, we wrote about how the enduring effects of colonialism and state-sanctioned violence produce disproportionate burdens of poverty for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) families and children. Recent poverty statistics released by the Census Bureau for 2024 show that these families and children continue to remain disproportionately vulnerable to material shortcomings. This persistent experience with economic insecurity has also left AIAN families and children exposed to hunger and with limited access to health insurance and care.

The relentless attack of the Trump-Vance administration on basic needs programs, access to data, and economic equity will harm the well-being of Native families and children even more. This is evident when we examine the impact of the administration’s cuts to vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The ongoing government shutdown threatens to further exacerbate the gaps in the provision of quality services that Native communities rely on for their health and nutritional needs.

Poverty continues to disadvantage AIAN children and their families

More than 1 in 6 (16.6%) AIAN children continued to live under the poverty line last year. This figure has remained statistically unchanged since 2022 (see Figure A) and is much higher than it was in 2021 when fewer than 1 in 10 AIAN children wrestled with poverty. The big difference in the numbers from 2021 and 2022 was due to pandemic relief efforts like the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC), which helped thousands of AIAN families with children meet their basic needs and avoid material shortcomings. But these gains for AIAN families and children were short lived. By 2022, AIAN child poverty rates climbed again, more than doubling after the expiration of the expanded social safety programs.

The situation of these economically vulnerable families and children has not changed since then and is only likely to deteriorate further with the historic cuts to basic needs programs (like Medicaid and SNAP) that the Trump-Vance administration passed this year. These cuts will disproportionately harm economically vulnerable families of color, such as AIAN families who are more likely than their peers to have a parent or child with a disability and who are still recovering from the impact of the last two recessions.

Figure A Native families are more likely to suffer food insecurity than their peers

Early this year, we wrote about the rising threat of food insecurity for families of color. The persistent experience of AIAN families with poverty leaves them disproportionately affected by these concerns surrounding their ability to meet the nutritional needs of their household. Between 2016 and 2021, for example, AIAN households recorded a much higher prevalence of food insecurity relative to other groups (see Figure B). During this period, nearly 1 in 4 (23.3%) AIAN families struggled with food insecurity, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 (8%) white households.

Figure B

The situation of AIAN parents is even worse. During the six-year period referenced, more than 1 in 4 AIAN households with children under 18 (27.8%) and families with children under 6 (27.4%) did not feel secure in their ability to provide their families with an adequate and balanced diet. Irrespective of the characteristics of the household, AIAN families are significantly more likely than all families to struggle with food insecurity.

This disadvantage will likely compound in the years ahead as the Trump-Vance administration cuts funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), further restricts eligibility for programs like SNAP, and limits public access to crucial data about hunger. This year, for example, Trump’s USDA canceled the country’s leading survey that helps us understand the magnitude and severity of hunger and food insecurity in the U.S., on the grounds that it was “redundant” and “politicized.”

Lack of access to health insurance leaves Native communities disproportionately vulnerable to an early death

The well-being of Native communities is also threatened by lack of access to health insurance. Relative to peers, AIAN individuals suffer the highest uninsured rate in the U.S. Nearly 1 in 5 (18.9%) AIAN individuals (amounting to more than half a million people) lacked access to health insurance last year (see Figure C). While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped reduce the uninsured rate for AIAN individuals (nearly 3 in 10 AIAN individuals lacked health insurance in 2010), disparities in access have persisted over the years. Compared with their non-Hispanic white peers, AIAN people have been more than twice as likely to lack access to health insurance in just the last decade. These inequities also translate into disparities in life expectancy. AIAN men and women, for example, record a lower life expectancy at birth than their peers. Trump’s attacks on public health agencies, their personnel, research infrastructure, and programs for the needy threaten to exacerbate these disparities for years to come. 

Figure C The Trump-Vance administration has weakened the agencies and programs that help the U.S. meet its obligations to Native communities

In less than a year, the Trump-Vance administration has weakened every aspect of the U.S. social safety net that helps AIAN families and children escape poverty, hunger, and disease. Trump began his second term by cutting staffing and funding for public health agencies and programs. By April 2025, the administration had reduced the Department of Health and Humans Service by more than 20%. Trump’s attack on equity also targeted workplace safety regulations and the broader research infrastructure for public health that works to identify and address the structural barriers that yield and widen racial and ethnic disparities in health. 

To top this off, Trump’s most significant legislative achievement this year delivered historic cuts to health programs (like Medicaid and CHIP) that are estimated to strip 10 million people of their health insurance coverage by 2034. More than 1 million AIAN individuals rely on Medicaid and CHIP. While AIAN individuals will be exempt from the new Medicaid work requirements, public health experts have warned that cuts to the program can widen gaps in tribal health services and disparities that already exist due to chronic federal underfunding of AIAN communities.

Trump’s major legislative achievement this year also weakened SNAP, the country’s most important nutritional assistance program. In FY 2023, more than 500,000 AIAN households relied on SNAP to meet their nutritional needs and avoid deeper economic insecurity. Trump’s reconciliation legislation from this summer is estimated to impact the benefits of millions of SNAP recipients. While pre-existing work requirements exemptions partially mitigate the harmful impact of Trump’s law on AIAN individuals, the phasing out of culturally relevant initiatives (such as SNAP-Ed) and cuts to the broader program weaken an important vehicle through which the U.S. delivers its obligations to Native communities.

In addition, beginning on November 1 of this year, the Trump-Vance administration has been denying access to SNAP benefits to millions of people due to the administration’s unwillingness to use SNAP’s contingency reserve funds during the government shutdown. In doing so, the administration is removing a critical safety net for Native American tribes and for over 1 in 5 Native American households more broadly.

States with some of the largest Native American populations are also states with higher overall population shares participating in SNAP. Oklahoma and New Mexico have some of the highest Native populations and more than 16% of their population receive SNAP benefits. Native Americans living in Oklahoma, on reservations, and other designated areas may be able to continue to receive food assistance through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). However, that program may face constraints due to additional demand and is not accessible for many Native people who do not live near federally recognized tribes that participate in FDPIR.

With every step this year, the administration has weakened the capacity of the federal government to meet the needs of Native communities. And families and children are being hurt in the process because they are disproportionately vulnerable to costly disparities in poverty, food insecurity, and health care access.