On Jan. 28, at 5:00 pm (EST), President Donald Trump moved to freeze all federally funded grants and loans. The decision would have huge impacts across the United States as Trump’s administration decides who they will fund based on alignment with the President’s personal values.
This isn’t something we should be surprised by. During his campaign, Trump threatened to withhold funding and use it as leverage to get federal programs to adhere to his whims. This included rhetoric around halting funding to schools that teach slavery or other topics that go against his right-wing ideology. Now Trump is back in office, he is moving forward with his threats.
The federal freeze notice came in a vaguely worded memo from the Office of Management and Budget. It stated, “This memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements.” The memo has left many scrambling as it appears to stop all federal funding, which would cause huge disruptions and put thousands, if not millions, of Americans in danger.
Through the above, it would seem that Trump’s administration wants to sift through to weed out any agencies that are funding things they disagree with. A few of these sectors are mentioned, such as “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the
green new deal.” So basically, screw the planet, screw people of color, screw transgender and non-binary groups, and screw any country that needs help.
What can be done?
In response to the memo, Democrats have jumped on the fact that Trump’s actions aren’t even legal. According to experts, federal spending is decided by Congress, not by the President. “The basic idea is the power of the purse is given by Article I to Congress,” Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University Law School, told ABC News. “If Congress says you’re spending that much money on the federal programs, that’s how much is being spent. The president cannot stop it even temporarily.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a news briefing, described the move as “a dagger in the heart of average American families in red states and blue states, in cities, in suburbs, in rural areas. It is just outrageous.” He continued to add that the decision is “lawless, dangerous, destructive, cruel. It’s illegal. It’s unconstitutional.” Those who fear what the repercussions of this federal freeze could be are now begging for Democrats and standing officials to do something to halt the madness.
This X user is asking for Republicans to stand up to their Commander in Chief.
Others are pointing out how vital federal aid is for familes.
Intervention has already begun
Within hours of the federal freeze beginning, a U.S. federal judge in the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon temporarily blocked the order. Judge Loren AliKhan has ordered the pause on the federal freeze until 5:00 PM (EST) next Monday. This came in response to a large number of organizations of grant recipients filing a lawsuit against the freeze. They state that Trump’s freeze is stopping federal funding that has already been approved, which is against the law.
However, the damage has already been done. States have already reported issues with accessing funds through Medicaid, a program that provides healthcare coverage for about 80 million of the poorest of Americans, including millions of children. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, tweeted, “Multiple states locked out of Medicaid portal. This is a Trump shutdown, except this time it’s unlawful.” The White House responded, claiming the issue was down to an outage.
Published: Jan 28, 2025 09:48 pm