How President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze could impact Virginians
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A federal judge put a temporary pause on President Donald Trump’s order to freeze some federal funds, but it could still impact Virginians. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan paused the freeze just minutes before it would go into effect Tuesday afternoon, but the pause will only last until Monday, Feb. 3. If the freeze goes back into effect, it could impact grants and loans for healthcare and education programs, non-profits and Hurricane Helene clean-up. These are all funded by taxpayer dollars. Nearly $47 million of federal funding to help southwest Virginians recovering from Hurricane Helene is now being questioned. A federally funded school readiness program for children called Head Start said they weren't able to access funds Tuesday. Over 10,000 children ages five and under across Virginia were enrolled in Head Start in 2023, but the federal funding freeze is leading some of its preschools to close starting Wednesday. The freeze could also impact highway projects funded by federal grants. President Trump said the freeze will give his administration time to review all federal financial assistance programs so that it’s consistent with his policies and requirements. Virginia state senator Mark Warner (D) said a review is a good idea, just not like this. “Many of these organizations don’t have the funds to continue to have this kind of pause. You want to do a review? That’s fine. I’m all for more efficiency, but this is all about chaos," Warner said. “I’m going to ask my Republican colleagues, you know, this is not just hitting blue states. It’s hitting red states as well. Are we gonna be willing to stand up for the constitutional prerogative against an executive that’s overreaching?” The Office of Management and Budget (OBM) said the Trump Administration is focused on looking into federal funding for foreign aid, DEI, woke gender ideology and nongovernmental organizations. "Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending 'wokeness' and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again," the OBM said in a two page memo on Monday. "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve." Social Security, Medicare, SNAP and Medicaid are not included in the freeze, but there was a disruption on the Medicaid portal on Tuesday. The White House said the disruption was due to an outage and that it’s back up and running.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A federal judge put a temporary pause on President Donald Trump’s order to freeze some federal funds, but it could still impact Virginians.
U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan paused the freeze just minutes before it would go into effect Tuesday afternoon, but the pause will only last until Monday, Feb. 3. If the freeze goes back into effect, it could impact grants and loans for healthcare and education programs, non-profits and Hurricane Helene clean-up. These are all funded by taxpayer dollars.
Nearly $47 million of federal funding to help southwest Virginians recovering from Hurricane Helene is now being questioned.
A federally funded school readiness program for children called Head Start said they weren't able to access funds Tuesday. Over 10,000 children ages five and under across Virginia were enrolled in Head Start in 2023, but the federal funding freeze is leading some of its preschools to close starting Wednesday.
The freeze could also impact highway projects funded by federal grants.
President Trump said the freeze will give his administration time to review all federal financial assistance programs so that it’s consistent with his policies and requirements.
Virginia state senator Mark Warner (D) said a review is a good idea, just not like this.
“Many of these organizations don’t have the funds to continue to have this kind of pause. You want to do a review? That’s fine. I’m all for more efficiency, but this is all about chaos," Warner said. “I’m going to ask my Republican colleagues, you know, this is not just hitting blue states. It’s hitting red states as well. Are we gonna be willing to stand up for the constitutional prerogative against an executive that’s overreaching?”
The Office of Management and Budget (OBM) said the Trump Administration is focused on looking into federal funding for foreign aid, DEI, woke gender ideology and nongovernmental organizations.
"Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending 'wokeness' and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again," the OBM said in a two page memo on Monday. "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve."
Social Security, Medicare, SNAP and Medicaid are not included in the freeze, but there was a disruption on the Medicaid portal on Tuesday. The White House said the disruption was due to an outage and that it’s back up and running.
