The White House is pausing federal grants and loans starting on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s administration begins an across-the-board ideological review of its spending.
Democratic Senators are describing panicked calls coming overnight from communities back home afraid of what will happen to programs for children, seniors, public works and disease research as the Trump administration pauses federal funding for review.
“This is no way to govern,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said at a news conference at the Capitol.
Congress has the power of the purse but the administration’s action is seen as a direct challenge to that authority, all but courting legal action with drawn-out lawsuits.
“This is a profound constitutional issue,” said Sen. Angus King, the independent from Maine.
“What happened last night is he most direct assault on the authority of Congress. I believe, in the history of the United States,” King said.
About the freeze
What it said: Text of the order
- What does the funding freeze mean? The funding freeze could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.
Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, made her debut in the briefing room on Tuesday, saying that podcasters and social media influencers could apply to participate in future briefings.
But during her White House press briefing, she was much less clear about what will happen to those who get indirect aid — through their states, other organizations or many other ways.
And while Leavitt said beneficiaries of programs like Social Security and Medicare would not be affected, she did not say Medicaid wouldn’t be affected.
Pressed on Medicaid payments being cut off to individuals, Leavitt said “I’ll check back on that.”
The White House subsequently said Medicaid wouldn’t be affected.
An Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman says the pause will “align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through President Trump’s priorities.”
The agency is temporarily pausing all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of EPA federal financial assistance, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said Tuesday.
The EPA controls billions of dollars in grants and other spending, including through the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as programs intended to ensure safe drinking water and other goals. The money goes to state and local governments as well as tribes and nonprofit groups.
“EPA is continuing to work with OMB as they review processes, policies and programs, as required by the memorandum,” Vaseliou said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, will ask a Manhattan federal court to issue a temporary retraining order halting the Republican administration’s action, which is set to halt federal grants and funding streams.“My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding,” James said in a social media post. “We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families.
”On Monday, she knocked the freeze as “reckless and dangerous” and a threat to families that rely on those funds.James has been a fierce critic of Trump and his policies. She sued his first administration dozens of times, challenging policies on the environment, immigration, education, health care and other issues. She also fought Trump on his plans to include a question about immigration status on the Census, winning in the U.S. Supreme Court.
She also sued him over his practices as a businessman, winning a civil fraud judgment against him, his company and top executives last year that has soared to more than $500 million with interest. Trump is appealing.
In a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday, Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the Trump administration’s federal assistance freeze as “ripping off hardworking Americans.”
“The Republican Rip Off will raise the cost of living for the working class, while hurting children, seniors, veterans, first responders, houses of worship and everyday Americans in need,” the New York lawmaker wrote. He added that Democrats will hold an emergency caucus meeting Wednesday to discuss a “comprehensive three-pronged counteroffensive.”
“The lack of clarity and uncertainty right now is creating chaos for local Meals on Wheels providers not knowing whether they’re going to be reimbursed for meals served today, tomorrow, who knows how long this could go on,” spokeswoman Jenny Young wrote in an email. “Which unfortunately means seniors may panic not knowing where their next meals will come from.”
The main funding for Meals on Wheels, which feeds more than 2 million seniors annually, and other senior nutrition programs is a grant distributed by the federal Administration on Aging to state governments that then send the money to individual providers.
“We need clarity now,” Young added.
Spokespeople for South Carolina, Maine and Washington’s agencies said they’re still trying to determine how the federal document will affect them, including their funding.Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement that she was “deeply concerned” by the directive, which she added is “causing entirely needless chaos and confusion across Maine and the nation that will turn into real and serious harm if it continues.”