HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The fate of more than 780 local employees whose positions are covered by some $27.1 million in federally funded programs are now in the hands of Guam Delegate James Moylan.
That was the message from legislative Committee on Finance and Government Operations Chair Sen. Chris Duenas in a press release Tuesday.
Duenas and Sen. Jesse Lujan had sent “urgent” requests to Leon Guerrero administration officials Saturday to provide Moylan’s office with data on local programs funded by the federal government.
“I was asked to step in after Congressman Moylan’s office raised concerns that some agencies weren’t responding to their requests. It turns out this information was incorrect,” Duenas said.
“The data is now with Congressman Moylan’s office, and we trust they will use it to advocate strongly in Washington,” he said.
Duenas was referring to current efforts by congressional Republicans to carve out fiscal year 2026 federal budget spending priorities to pass President Trump’s so-called “big beautiful bill.”
According to a May 2 letter from the White House to U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, “The President is proposing base nondefense discretionary budget authority of $163 billion, 22.6 percent-below current-year spending, while still protecting funding for homeland security, veterans, seniors, law enforcement and infrastructure.”
Duenas, Lujan and other local officials are wary of the potential cuts to federally funded programs on Guam.
“The government of Guam cannot shoulder this level of personnel with local moneys. The federal government needs to step up and Congressman Moylan is our only voice in that room,” Duenas said.
According to the governor’s communications director, Krystal Paco-San Agustin, “All agencies are working on contingency plans if they have employees that will be affected.”
“In most cases, these are program-specific grants with defined timelines, so employees are aware from the beginning that their employment is for a limited term and specific program,” Paco-San Agustin said.
However, she said everyone is encouraged to apply for open, competitive opportunities.
“Where appropriate, employees are moved to other funding sources,” Paco-San Agustin said.
Stephanie Flores, administrator of the Guam State Clearinghouse, which oversees federal financial assistance, sent a memorandum to Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio referencing the White House letter to Collins.
Flores said she transmitted a copy of the letter to cabinet members on May 3 “with the instruction to please reach out to our federal partners to determine what programs, if any, will be impacted.”
She included in the memo a listing of all agencies that have reported that they have federally funded employees and how many they have.
“So far, the impacts to federally funded employees have been minimal because they have been able to be absorbed by other grants or have been moved to locally funded positions,” Flores wrote.
Of particular note in the listing was the Department of Public Health and Social Services, which has 386 employees, or 77%, that are fully or partially federally funded.
Rounding out the top five, the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center has 86 federally funded employees, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency has 63, the Guam Department of Labor has 60 and the Department of Agriculture has 40.
