Trump’s federal funding freeze order spurs panic and pushback in WA

A Trump administration order to pause federal grants and loans generated panic and pushback in Washington state as officials grappled with how far the directive goes, and what it could mean for universities, state and city agencies, schools and nonprofits.

While a judge temporarily blocked the sweeping order from going into effect Tuesday, it still looms large for cancer and other scientific research, help for domestic violence survivors, low-income housing and an array of other services.

Washington joined 21 other states in a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging the directive, arguing it breaks federal law by freezing spending already authorized by Congress and sent to recipients.

Trump administration officials asserted the temporary pause is necessary to ensure all federally funded programs comply with the president’s recent executive orders targeting diversity and equity programs, transgender rights and environmental initiatives.

“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,” wrote Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a memo announcing the pause.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown rejected that argument in a statement announcing the state’s participation in Tuesday’s lawsuit.

“The White House justifies this damaging move with culture war alarmism, but in reality they’re robbing governments and service providers of funds that keep people safe and serve urgent needs in all of our communities,” Brown said.

The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Rhode Island, asks the court to declare the order unconstitutional or unlawful and stop it from taking effect.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray joined other Democrats Tuesday in slamming the pause directive as a “brazen and illegal move” that would have devastating consequences.

In a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday morning and in an interview later in the day, Murray said her office has been flooded with desperate calls since news of the order emerged Monday night.

“Our staff is being inundated in every part of this state, from every kind of background,” Murray said in the interview, citing concerns from the University of Washington, Washington State University, Head Start programs and many others.

“The American people did not vote for this kind of senseless chaos,” she added at the news conference.

A federal judge in Washington D.C. issued an order Tuesday temporarily blocking the funding pause minutes before it was set to go into effect at 2 p.m. Pacific Time. The administrative stay issued by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan lasts until Monday and applies only to existing programs, The Associated Press reported.

That reprieve left people and institutions across Washington state still scrambling to figure out what programs could still face an imminent shut-off of federal dollars.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the City of Seattle Office of Housing advised housing providers that were federal grant recipients to draw funds from the online payment system before 2 p.m., the time the city was informed the temporary pause in payments was scheduled to begin.

The email, sent by Seattle Office of Housing Deputy Director Andrea Akita, said all city departments that were recipients of federal awards had received the same advice to “please immediately draw down eligible disbursements” as soon as possible since recipients nationwide were doing the same.

The uncertainty caused “complete chaos” for area Head Start programs, as several prepared to “close their doors” on Wednesday and worried they wouldn’t make payroll, said Joel Ryan, executive director of the state’s Head Start association.

“To put it simply I was furious, and our members left bewildered,” Ryan said in an email.

After an outcry, OMB issued a clarification that Head Start would not be included in the freeze, Ryan said. But he said what amounted to a half-day shutdown was “irresponsible, illegal and created unnecessary chaos.” He said he’s still concerned about other grant programs that Head Start relies on, including ones that pay for healthy meals and snacks.

It also sparked uncertainty for a variety of Department of Health programs — addressing issues from childhood vaccination to nutrition for women and infants — as well as long-term cancer and HIV research projects.

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center receives about $400 million in annual federal revenue. That equates to about $1.1 million per day “that we would lose if we continued to spend during a federal pause or freeze and we were not reimbursed for those expenses,” the center said in a statement.

“I’m going to have a very hard time knowing what is paused and what is not,” said Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association, which receives two federal grants related to opioid addiction prevention, and maternal and child health.

Sauer said hospitals and health systems had yet to receive specific federal guidance about what the funding freeze entails.

Some states, including Oregon and Connecticut, reported disruptions accessing portals for their Medicaid programs Tuesday, though the White House budget office said the pause should not affect Medicaid payments. Washington’s Apple Health program remained uninterrupted Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the Health Care Authority.

Judy Chen, executive director of Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence said in an interview a federal funding freeze could shutter domestic violence shelters already struggling amid ongoing reductions in funding for crime victims.

“That’s what I wish lawmakers were focused on,” Chen said. “People just want to know that people who are being hurt can get help so that the whole community can be safe — and I don’t think that’s partisan.”

The Low Income Housing Institute, one of the largest homelessness and housing nonprofits in the state, said it had more than 300 units of affordable and permanent supportive housing currently in development that would be impacted by a freeze on federal grants.

A document circulated by Murray’s office to Democratic Senate caucus members said the order, “if implemented broadly as written” could temporarily block hundreds of billions of dollars in approved federal funding.

That could include grants to police agencies, road and bridge projects, money to address the fentanyl crisis, medical research, food-safety inspections, veterans’ services and Head Start, the document said.

The news conference with Murray and other Senate Democratic leaders had originally been planned to protest Trump’s pardons of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, fueled by his lies about the 2020 election. A resolution supported by Murray seeks to condemn the pardons for those found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers.

But in a measure of the rapid-fire Trump actions early in his second term — an effort his advisers have said is intended to “flood the zone” and keep critics off balance — Murray and Democrats pivoted to the latest conflagration, talking instead about the spending freeze.

Murray called on Republicans to stand up against the Trump order and block the confirmation of Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Murray grilled Vought at a recent Senate confirmation hearing as he repeatedly declined to say he and the Trump administration will follow long-established law prohibiting the president from unilaterally withholding funding approved by Congress.

“They have made it very clear they do not care what the law is,” Murray said in the interview Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, accused Trump in a statement of “trying to create a one-man government shutdown by illegally halting taxpayer dollars that support American families in order to advance his far-right agenda.”

But U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, defended the action in a statement, saying the pause “is in line with the need to rein in out-of-control spending and reduce the impacts of inflation.”

Newhouse said it was important to remember the pause is intended to be temporary and doesn’t impact individual assistance to people, such as Social Security and Medicare.

Vaeth’s memo said every agency receiving federal funds must conduct “a comprehensive analysis” to identify any programs that might be affected by Trump’s executive orders. In the interim, “to the extent permissible under applicable law” agencies were ordered “to temporarily pause” all federally funded activities.

The memo gave agencies a deadline of Feb. 10 to submit detailed information to OMB on “any programs, projects or activities subject to this pause.”

Seattle Times staff reporters Greg Kim, Lauren Girgis and Claire Withycombe contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.