Mills, Pingree, King condemn federal funding freeze
Two members of Maine’s Congressional delegation and other Maine interests are condemning a federal funding freeze announced Tuesday by the Trump administration.
“This is an unprecedented and unlawful assault on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse, and a dangerous overreach that puts vital federal programs in limbo,” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in a news release. “Aside from Social Security and Medicare benefits, all other federal funding — from critical housing and food assistance to public safety and health care services — is essentially choked off by this illegal action.”
Pingree continued, “I understand the appeal of cutting government spending. But the impacts of an indiscriminate, across-the-board freeze like this will have profound consequences for millions of taxpayers.”
In a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said Trump’s proposal to halt all federal grant and loan disbursement is “unconstitutional.”
King said the “power of the purse” is included in Article 1 of the Constitution and declares that Congress — in particular the House of Representatives — is responsible for the role of federal appropriations.
“This is a profound constitutional issue,” King said.
In her budget speech Tuesday evening, Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, commented on the halt, which includes nearly all federal loans, grants, and other financial assistance.
“Like many of you, I have serious questions about the extent and scope of his decision; about the impact on Maine people, Maine industries, schools, small businesses, the elderly and our most vulnerable; and about his legal authority to issue such an edict,” Mills said.
Mills said her administration is evaluating the effects of the order.
Garrett Martin, president and CEO of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said the order “will disrupt education, health care and anti-poverty programs, housing assistance, disaster relief and many other critical supports.”
Jennifer Hutchins, executive director of the Maine Association of Nonprofits, said the organization’s partners at the National Council of Nonprofits, together with public health and small business leaders, have filed a motion for temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the White House Office of Management and Budget from pausing all federal agency grants and loans.
According to a memorandum issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, in Fiscal Year 2024, of the nearly $10 trillion that the federal government spent, more than $3 trillion was federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.
The memo says that Medicare or Social Security benefits would not be affected.
The temporary pause became effective on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. Agencies are required to submit to the Office of Management and Budget by Feb. 10 information on any programs, projects or activities subject to the pause.
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