Voters of the six-county Southern Alleghenies region, as part of the national electorate who opted to return Donald Trump to the White House, were supportive of his promise to cut the size of the federal government.

Trump has found many “candidates” for the proverbial chopping block — some right, some questionable, some that many Americans believe are blatantly incorrect.

Courts already are busy with the task of making rulings, in response to legal challenges to certain administration actions.

Yes, the new administration is engaged in an aggressive process that it seems is far from completion, and many more court challenges appear inevitable.

This is a contentious time for America; when the unrest will end, if ever over the next four years, is impossible to predict, at least at this early time of the second Trump presidency.

Even in Congress itself, there are lawmakers of both parties who are opposed, publicly or privately, to the current path of developments, while other lawmakers remain committed totally to the president’s agenda.

On the issue of cutbacks and eliminations, it is easy for lawmakers and the general citizenry to approve of such actions when they are targeting someone else. However, when they “hit home” they are not so palatable and, in many instances, serve as a wake-up call about other actions happening around them that, up to that time, had not been noticed.

The Southern Alleghenies region, particularly Blair and Cambria counties, might be on the verge of experiencing such a hit-home moment. It is a development that will test the strength of congressional representation, as well as representatives serving other districts that, in the same way, stand to be affected in what many people will judge as an unwanted way.

Over the course of recent years, the Mirror has, in this space, supported expansion of a travel asset that for too long has been anemic in terms of its service potential. Specifically, the Mirror has emphasized the importance of having a second Amtrak Harrisburg-to-Pittsburgh train providing service not only to Pennsylvania’s capital city and Pittsburgh, but also to Altoona and Johnstown and other major locales in between.

In the Mirror’s Dec. 16-17, 2023, edition, for example, the following was written:

“If additional passenger-train service would become available, boasting a convenient time schedule, more and more people would choose to “ditch” their personal vehicle and avoid the hassles associated with traveling to, and parking in, the Steel City and this state’s capital city.”

But now, as a front-page article in the Mirror’s Feb. 20 edition reported, that proposed second train is in danger of being “derailed” because it is one of some major discretionary projects that could be in question because federal money has yet to be obligated.

A Feb. 25 Mirror article reported that the Trump administration has freed up billions of dollars in federal aid, but that article did not specifically indicate that discretionary money, including for the second Harrisburg-to-Pittsburgh train, is part of that action.

Thus, uneasiness continues to be justified.

It is important, then, for constituents of U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-Blair, to urge him to use the power of his votes in the closely divided House of Representatives to convince the Trump administration of the second train’s importance and that the train deserves the federal money in question.

The Mirror remains committed to its official position on the issue.