Suozzi Releases “March Madness Budget Cuts” Brackets
March 17, 2025
Glen Cove, NY— On the heels of yesterday’s NCAA Selection Sunday for its yearly March Madness basketball tournament, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY) released his own version of March Madness: “March Madness Budget Cuts.”
With this bracket, Suozzi hopes to draw attention to the dangers of these cuts and the recklessness with which they continue to be made.
“The most exciting part of the college basketball season starts today, but there is a different kind of ‘March Madness’ happening in Washington,” said Suozzi. “While sports fans are focused on filling out their brackets, Republicans are focused on passing reckless budget cuts for essential services, healthcare, the environment, and education.
Suozzi’s March Madness-style bracket features sixteen of the more disastrous budget cuts proposed by DOGE and the Republican’s budget reconciliation bill. These cuts will go head-to-head to determine which one deserves the title of worst budget cut ever.
The printable bracket can be found on Suozzi’s website, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Those who wish to participate can vote on Suozzi’s X. Round winners will be announced daily.
In the top left quadrant, the ‘Healthcare’ matchups are $880 Billion Cuts in Medicaid versus $4 billion in cuts to the National Institute of Health by DOGE, that will stall cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other critical research and $140 billion in cuts for hospital funding versus big cuts to the USDA’s efforts to fight the avian flu.
In the bottom left quadrant, the ‘Public Service’ matchups feature cutting staff in charge of nuclear stockpile oversight versus laying off 80,000 employees in the Veterans’ Administration, and $230 billion worth of cuts to food banks versus defunding the police by instituting $600 million in cuts to programs that support public safety, including COPS grants, which are specifically used to support local police organizations.
In the top right quadrant, tax-related matchups are the Republican failure to bring back the SALT tax deduction in any capacity versus laying off half of the IRS, and tax cuts for the super wealthy versus the elimination of the childcare tax credit.
In the bottom right quadrant, ‘Environment’ matchups are $330 billion in cuts to clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act versus $1.4 billion in cuts from the Army Corps funding for flood mitigation and hurricane protection projects. The second matchup is cutting 65% of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget, for clean air and water programs, versus shutting down the National Weather Service’s hub for tracking and predicting severe weather.
Participants can choose the worst of the worst in each matchup and continue until they crown the most disastrous budget cut of all. From cancer research to Medicaid, public safety to the EPA, no sector is safe—expect some shocking upsets along the way as even the most unlikely cuts rise to the top.
“Not only are cuts to Medicaid, Veterans Healthcare, and clean air and water programs incredibly harmful, but Mike Johnson’s willingness to cede the power of the purse, which the Constitution gives to Congress, to the Executive Branch in this process is downright alarming,” Suozzi said.
“There is one problem with these brackets,” Suozzi concluded. “In Washington’s game, there are NO winners, except for billionaires and the super-rich who are getting more tax breaks.”
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Contact:
Betsy Davidson (NY)
Julia Prager-Hessel (DC)