FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 14, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
nicole@focalpointstrategygroup.com
Trump Administration Attempts to Reallocate Funding Approved by Congress
Will Congressional Republicans Stand By As Trump Rips Funding From Their Constituents?
Washington, D.C. — After Donald Trump issued an executive order to halt all federal grants and loan disbursements, he faced strong backlash from both the public and the federal courts. Despite this, Trump has persistently attempted to overstep Congress’s authority in the allocation of federal funds.
The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the “power of the purse,” entrusting it with the responsibility to determine how taxpayer dollars are spent. Trump, however, has shown a disregard for this constitutional principle, asserting that his will supersedes that of the American people. His ongoing power grabs and dismissal of judicial rulings have had tangible consequences for everyday Americans, from farmers and healthcare researchers to citizens facing higher energy costs.
Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans have largely remained passive, allowing Trump to prioritize his own agenda over the needs of their constituents.
Here’s the latest on the impacts of Trump’s federal funding freeze:
Trump’s Funding Freeze Revokes Housing Vouchers from Americans
- Atlanta Civic Circle: “Although it’s still entangled in a federal court battle, the specter of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze threatens to upend housing stability for thousands of Atlantans. ‘More than 18,000 residents who rely on [federal] housing vouchers currently do not know how their rent will be paid next month, and workers across various federally funded programs risk losing their pay,’ Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement on Jan. 28, the day the funding freeze was initially set to take effect.”
Trump’s Funding Freeze Is Hurting Research Universities, Health Care Programs, and Children’s Health Care Research
- Newsweek: “Following an order by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to freeze grants and loans, some of the community health centers in Virginia have been forced to close their branches. ‘The National Association of Community Health Centers continues to actively monitor and respond to reports of Community Health Centers experiencing delays in drawing down grant funds,’ Amy Simmons Farber, the associate vice president of communications and public relations, told Newsweek. ‘Our ongoing engagement with bipartisan Congressional leaders and the Trump administration focuses on maintaining stable funding for the Health Center Program, which provides essential care to 32.5 million Americans.’”
- Louisiana Illuminator: “The Trump administration has proposed reducing the indirect costs covered through NIH grants from as much as 53% down to 15% for Louisiana universities, meaning they would be scrambling to fill holes totaling tens of millions of dollars or be forced to reduce their research staffs. […] ‘NIH funding drives that progress. America must lead. Louisiana must compete. Lives depend on it,’ Tate continued.”
- Talk Business & Politics: “The Trump administration’s announced cuts to research funding could cost two of Arkansas’ major health care centers millions of dollars, but state elected officials say they support the president’s actions to search for savings in the federal government. Arkansas Children’s is the recipient of approximately $20.3 million in NIH funding, roughly 40% of the children’s health system research arm. It also supports 210 pediatric researchers conducting work in the areas of lymphatic malformations, cystic fibrosis, food allergy, respiratory infections, childhood obesity, child development, and pediatric translational research.”
- Missouri Independent: “By far the biggest recipient of NIH grants was Washington University in St. Louis, which received 1,192 grants totaling $732 million, followed by the 162 grants worth almost $70 million to the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus. […] The change in indirect funding ‘would mean significant annual reductions in funding for our vital NIH-sponsored research that saves lives, creates jobs, enhances national security and improves quality of life for people in every part of our state and across the nation,’ Ave said.”
Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Halted Reimbursements for Farmers
- Wisconsin Public Radio: “Executive Director Joe Tomandl said their five-year contract with USDA requires them to front the cost of completing the project and submit an invoice for reimbursement the following month. Since the president’s order halting the funding, he hasn’t been able to submit invoices and isn’t sure whether the funding they’ve been promised will be released. ‘We have not been instructed to stop work or anything like that,’ Tomandl said. ‘Reports and everything are still due. They’re being accepted, but we’re just not getting reimbursed.’”
- Business Insider: “Some of that funding has impacted grants and loans from the Department of Agriculture for environmental improvements, with farmers saying they haven’t received the money they were previously guaranteed. That’s even after Trump’s initial move to halt all federal grants was rescinded.”
Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Delayed Access to Funding for Head Start Programs
- Colorado Newsline: “Carolyn Romero, a spokesperson for the CDEC, said intermittent issues have arisen in the online system to access funding, causing some programs to face delays or difficulties getting money. She said there isn’t a clear pattern to which programs are affected. Head Start programs around the country are experiencing problems accessing funds.”
Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Placed Energy Projects on Pause, Americans Out of Work, and Raised Energy Costs.
- Anchorage Daily News: “Hundreds of millions of dollars for new energy projects across Alaska are on hold after an executive order from President Donald Trump froze spending tied to two major Biden-era bills, according to project representatives in the state. The freeze is also putting some people out of work, including dozens in Northwest Alaska where several projects designed to lower the high cost of rural energy have been delayed, they say.”
- Houston Chronicle: “More than $400 million in federal funding for Texas-based organizations to implement clean energy programs remains frozen, jeopardizing efforts to expand access to rooftop solar panels and battery storage systems in disadvantaged communities across the state.”
- Tennessee Lookout: “Funding for a $156 million Tennessee program meant to lower energy costs for low-income families through solar panel installation is on hold under President Donald Trump’s freeze of Biden-era clean energy initiatives.”
- Judd Legum: “About 250 customers of Huntsville Utilities, the public utility company in Huntsville, Alabama, received a letter informing them that their account ‘has been debited $100.’ The surcharge occurred because one of Trump’s executive orders froze a grant that assists low-income residents with their energy bills.”
- MyNorthwest: “At a virtual press conference Thursday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) highlighted how she believes President Trump’s funding freeze is putting energy jobs at risk in Washington and across the country.”
Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Halted Reimbursements and Prevention Efforts for Disaster Relief
- ProPublica: “In one case, the freeze to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding, combined with orders limiting travel by some federal employees, forced the National Park Service to cancel a massive prescribed burn scheduled for January and February in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, ProPublica has confirmed. Prescribed burns help prevent catastrophic wildfires by clearing vegetation that serves as fuel, and the meticulously planned 151,434-acre Florida fire — to cover more than six times the land area of nearby Miami — was also meant to protect a Native American reservation and improve ecological biodiversity.”
- Portsmouth Herald: “The town has yet to be paid back $200,000 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs made after coastal storms last year and in late 2023, according to Town Manager Kendra Amaral. In addition, the town has not received $375,022 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for improvements made at Emery Field.”