On Jan. 27, a memo was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directing federal agencies to pause all federal financial assistance pending review by the Trump administration to ensure compliance with “the law and the president’s priorities.”
While notably including an exception for “assistance provided directly to individuals,” such as Social Security benefits, the order froze federal funding for any “activities that may be implicated by” President Trump’s wave of executive orders, “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal.”
The “vaguely worded” two-page memo incited panic across the government as public officials, schools and nonprofit organizations found themselves facing potentially disastrous consequences without any information on how the pause would actually affect their programs.
It was unclear about what federal aid — which could include up to $3 trillion worth of government spending — was actually paused by the order. White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt said that the freeze was not a “blanket pause” and that agencies could “make a case… to keep their funding.”
In Colorado and around the country, programs dependent upon federal aid like Head Start, Meals on Wheels, veterans’ suicide prevention and affordable housing preservation were all paused, but the consequences weren’t just domestic.
With the pause on foreign aid, programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) were paused too. Nearly 20 million lives are dependent upon PEPFAR, which has been distributing HIV drugs internationally for more than twenty years.
Though a waiver was later given for HIV drug distribution as part of PEPFAR, its status remains in jeopardy.
The pause was scheduled to begin on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m., one day after agencies were notified by OMB, but a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the memo. The order was later amended to include any attempt to freeze federal funding.
The Trump Administration, however, has continued to pursue spending cuts as part of its broader initiative to increase government efficiency by cutting “at least $2 trillion” from the federal budget.
Last Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s cuts to medical research after 22 state attorneys general, including Colorado’s, sued to stop them.
On Thursday, another judge found that the administration had not obeyed the order to unfreeze federal aid, with $570 million in Colorado alone not disbursed to grantees.
It comes amid a slew of other court challenges and reforms. Over 60 lawsuits have now been filed against the administration since President Trump’s inauguration. Last week, nearly 10,000 federal workers were let go, in addition to the 75,000 that will leave voluntarily next fall.
Among those fired were 300 National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers under the Department of Energy. According to a source from CNN, President Trump’s officials “didn’t seem to realize NNSA oversees the nuclear stockpile.”
Though the administration has since tried to rehire them, they’ve struggled to contact their former employees, who have lost access to their federal email accounts.
The $2 trillion figure, backtracked last month by Elon Musk, who co-heads the new Department of Government Efficiency, represents nearly 30% of government spending. The problem is that 30% has to come from somewhere.
The federal budget is divided into mandatory spending, discretionary spending and interest payments on the national debt, which can’t be reduced without putting the government in default.
Mandatory spending on programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is required by law, so they are automatically funded annually without congressional approval.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to allocate discretionary spending to fund — or defund — initiatives in areas like defense, education and transportation.
While a president traditionally proposes a budget supporting their agenda to Congress, only Congress approves government spending. Once the funds are authorized, the executive branch is responsible for actually disbursing them.
A president withholding or delaying federal funds authorized by Congress is called impoundment, and if a court decides President Trump’s executive orders undermine Congressional authority, it could provoke a constitutional crisis over the separation of powers.
Additionally, if the Trump Administration doesn’t abide by or enforce the court system’s rulings, there aren’t many alternatives for those challenging their initiatives.
With uncertainty looming and unanswered questions about the fate of trillions of dollars, the future of American democracy hangs in the balance.
