WIDE-REACHING PROGRAMS
Federal grants and loans reach into virtually every corner of Americans’ lives, with trillions of dollars flowing into education, health care and anti-poverty programs, housing assistance, disaster relief, infrastructure and a host of other initiatives.
The memo said Tuesday’s freeze included any money intended “for foreign aid” and for “nongovernmental organizations”, among other categories. It directed 55 agencies to examine more than 2,600 individual grant programs.
The White House said the pause would not impact Social Security or Medicare payments to the elderly or “assistance provided directly to individuals”, such as some food aid and welfare programs for the poor.
In a second memo released on Tuesday, the White House said funds for Medicaid, farmers, small businesses, rental assistance and the Head Start preschool program would continue without interruption. But Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the reimbursement system for Head Start had been shut down in his state, preventing preschools from paying staff.
The status of other programs that could be affected, such as scientific research, highway construction and addiction recovery, was unclear.
The freeze followed the Republican president’s suspension of foreign aid, which began cutting off the supply of lifesaving medicines on Tuesday to countries around the world that depend on US development assistance.
DISPUTED EFFECTS
The White House memo did not appear to exempt disaster aid to areas like Los Angeles and western North Carolina that have been devastated by natural disasters. Trump pledged government support when he visited both places last week. At her first White House briefing since Trump took office on Jan 20, Leavitt would not say whether disaster aid would be frozen.
Agencies were trying to understand how to implement the new order.
The Justice Department will pause US$4 billion in funding for community-based programs, nonprofits, states and municipalities, according to a person familiar with the matter and a memo seen by Reuters. The affected programs include the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which receives more than US$30 million a year from the Justice Department. The federal government spent US$6.75 trillion in total last year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Trump’s Republican allies have been pushing for dramatic spending cuts, though he has promised to spare Social Security and Medicare, which make up roughly one-third of the budget. Another 11 per cent of the budget goes toward government interest payments, which cannot be touched without triggering a default that would rock the world economy.
DEMOCRATS CHALLENGE “LAWLESS” MOVE
Democrats immediately criticised the spending freeze as unlawful and dangerous. “This decision is lawless, destructive, cruel,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. “It’s American families that are going to suffer most.”
The US Constitution gives Congress control over spending matters, but Trump said during his campaign that he believes the president has the power to withhold money for programs he dislikes.
His nominee for White House budget director, Russell Vought, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, headed a think tank that has argued Congress cannot require a president to spend money.
Democrats sought to delay his nomination, but would need Republican support to succeed.
US Representative Tom Emmer, the No 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, said Trump was simply following through on his campaign promises.
“You need to understand he was elected to shake up the status quo. That is what he’s going to do,” Emmer told reporters at a Republican retreat in Miami.
At least one Republican centrist, US Representative Don Bacon, said he hoped the order would be short-lived after hearing from worried constituents, including a woman who runs an after-school program that depends on federal grant money.
“We don’t live in an autocracy. It’s divided government. We’ve got separation of powers,” he said.
