I thought this day would never come. Trump has paused all federal grant programs pending a review of their consistency with the policies set out in his Executive Orders.
The check is not in the mail, New Green Scamsters. President Trump freezes all federal payments for waste, fraud and abuse. pic.twitter.com/08Xe2KNX8M
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) January 28, 2025
It’s a long overdue measure that is, unfortunately, absolutely necessary because the federal government not only wastes billions or even trillions of dollars funding shady NGOs and consultants, but these NGOs often use this money in ways that harm America. The border crisis was largely funded through federal grants to NGOs that trafficked illegal aliens to the US border, and NGOs within the United States used federal funds to disperse those aliens around the country and provide services to them.
In case you’ve been curious about what USAID was up to during the Biden administration: pic.twitter.com/4bcRRybdVs
— Nick Ballas (@NicholasBallas) January 28, 2025
Federal monies were also dispersed to all sorts of alphabet programs, DEI advocates, CRT, and God knows what else. Which is the point.
The Biden admin issued $850,000 in federal grants to a left-wing organization’s “LGBTQI+ family support program,” which some have characterized as promoting gender ideology for the children of military families. pic.twitter.com/j25kUZV1xG
— Patrick Casey (@restoreorderusa) January 28, 2025
Over half a million to support “behavioral health for the transgender community in Hawaii.”
Thanks, Biden. pic.twitter.com/4l1aBQpEZl
— Patrick Casey (@restoreorderusa) January 28, 2025
Not to mention that these grants, indirectly, fund the radical activist groups that have been undermining our culture and our politics, and are often landing places for political operatives in between campaigns. Democrats have been brilliant about using the taxpayers’ money to subsidize their campaign organizations, and to use well-paid spots for political operatives they want to reward.
Over $600,000 to UC Irvine to “influence” social media networks to try to get black and “Latinx” (really hate this word btw) people to accept vaccines. pic.twitter.com/Z9ShsVWB1l
— Patrick Casey (@restoreorderusa) January 28, 2025
Chances are that most people you see on TV as “experts” are, at least indirectly, on the federal payroll through grants. Those lefties who work at nonprofits are often being paid through your tax dollars. The NGO industry is one of the largest employers in the country, usually funding causes you find appalling.
Half a million for natural resource management…in Honduras. pic.twitter.com/mgLdpoLMjX
— Patrick Casey (@restoreorderusa) January 28, 2025
You will hear all sorts of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth about how this freeze will devastate America, and no doubt some good programs will be temporarily harmed by the freeze. But this is the only way to root out a cancer that is eating the budget, harming our society, and costing us trillions.
In a two-page document, Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, instructs federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.” The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, also calls for each agency to perform a “comprehensive analysis” to ensure its grant and loan programs are consistent with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which aimed to ban federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and limit clean energy spending, among other measures.
The memo, which goes into effect Tuesday, states its orders should not be “construed” to affect Social Security or Medicare recipients, and also says the federal financial assistance put on hold “does not include assistance provided directly to individuals.”
But the document says programs affected are “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
Even before taking effect, the broad directive from the White House sent shock waves through Washington and across the country, as organizations dependent on the federal government struggled to understand its impact.
Trump and his aides have long vowed to halt spending on some programs reviled by the right, such as DEI and foreign aid, but the order appears to go far beyond those priorities to affect programs that serve tens of millions of Americans.
NGOs are the preferred way that leftists get the government to fund things that would be difficult or impossible to do through the normal budget process. The censorship complex was largely funded through grants both here and abroad, getting around First Amendment protections by exporting the worst of the dirty work to “nonprofits” that essentially act as government agents.
Donald Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, said the language in the memo is confusing, making its specific effects unclear. There will be widespread panic, Kettl said, as state and local governments as well as the people most reliant on federal-funded grants scramble to figure out if and when their cash flow will stop.
“In two pages, we’ve got what amounts to 60 years of tradition and policies that are thrown up in the air,” said Kettl, who has consulted for multiple government agencies. “For those suffering most, the uncertainty will be immense.”
No doubt there will be some chaos, but that is the necessary result of a determination to root out the worst abuses. The bureaucrats bury their ideological projects in these grant programs, and if Trump wants to stop the bleeding, he needs to wield an axe, not a scalpel.
Donald Trump freezes all federal grants effective 5pm tonight.
Think he doesn’t have this power? You’re wrong.
Article 2. Section 1: “The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” It is not vested in “seasoned bureaucrats who have experience in… pic.twitter.com/VHv1d1RSce
— Jim Pfaff (@jimpfaff) January 28, 2025
Back when I was involved in Minnesota politics, I argued to my Republican friends that they needed to dismantle the NGO-government alliance, and nobody wanted to take on the Herculean task.
Trump is, and it is beautiful.
NEW: Nonprofits have filed an emergency suit to stop Trump’s blanket freeze of federal aid programs, setting up a key legal fight amid Trump’s blitz of executive actions.
Judge Cobb, a Biden appointee, gets the case: pic.twitter.com/YD9Toux5s3
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 28, 2025
I suspect that many of the grants will get a stamp of approval pretty quickly, while others will get the axe just as quickly. Grants to individuals will not be frozen, and Medicaid is excluded.
Dems are preparing for action after a bombshell White House order halted tens of billions of dollars in federal grants and loans to organizations across America – effective today ➡️ pic.twitter.com/KcVlhPTz5J
— POLITICO (@politico) January 28, 2025
Democrats are apoplectic, as they should be. This strikes at the heart of their political party and their grift.
“They say this is only temporary, but no one should believe that,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement. “Donald Trump must direct his Administration to reverse course immediately and the taxpayers’ money should be distributed to the people. Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law.”
On the latter point, I can confidently predict Schumer is wrong. Nobody wrote a law giving grants to “adopt a holistic, adaptive water management vision that centers the vision of black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.” Bureaucrats did that.
Chaos, in this case, will lead to a lot of good. It’s about time.
