Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined 21 other states and the District of Columbia in filing a federal lawsuit to challenge the funding freeze.
Pritzker’s office said state agencies began having trouble accessing federal funding web portals and disbursement systems Tuesday morning.
Budget Director Annette Guzman said an analysis of all federal grant funding received by the city last year, as well as future appropriations enacted by Congress, showed that roughly $4 billion hangs in the balance.
Providers at community health centers throughout Illinois said lost immediate access to millions of dollars in federal grant funding and feared other public dollars were at stake.
One is federal grant dollars Sianghio receives directly from the federal government.
President Donald Trump ordered a temporary freeze on federal grants, loans, and other funding assistance Tuesday, throwing government leaders from City Hall to Springfield and Washington into disarray while a new White House administration looks to eliminate “wokeness” from federal spending.
Leaders of universities, nonprofits, and other organizations that depend on federal funding were still considering the possible effects of possible funding cuts, even though a federal judge’s order put a halt to the spending freeze for at least the first part of next week.
Despite the initial impression that Medicaid reimbursements to the state were in jeopardy, the system was restored later that day following what the Trump White House attributed to a technical issue. Medicaid is the health insurance program that distributes costs between the federal and state governments, and it is used by over 3 million lower-income Illinoisans.
However, in a hastily assembled press conference on Tuesday, Governor JB Pritzker rekindled his long-running feud with Trump by accusing his administration of lying and declaring the president’s actions unlawful.
The administration of Donald Trump is deceiving you. What we witnessed on the ground does not align with the White House’s attempt to undo what they did today. They guaranteed there would be no impact on Medicaid. “That was untrue,” Pritzker declared. “,”. It’s not a coincidence. The goal is to cause disruption. Cutting is the goal here, and it will have an impact on people throughout our state. “.”.
Trump’s acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Matthew Vaeth, wrote a memo late Monday about freezing potentially trillions of dollars in federal funding. Vaeth stated that the administration was assessing funding with the goal of “ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government.”. “.”.
“The use of Federal resources to promote green new deal social engineering, transgenderism, and Marxist equity is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” Vaeth stated, adding that agencies would need to finish thorough analyses.
Vaeth wrote: “In the interim, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, to the extent permitted by applicable law.”.
To contest the funding freeze, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a federal lawsuit alongside 21 other states and the District of Columbia. The lawsuit was submitted just before the freeze, which was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m., was blocked by a federal judge in Washington. M.
Raoul declared on Tuesday that the public’s safety, prosperity, and quality of life would all suffer greatly as a result of this unconstitutional funding halt. He listed several initiatives that might be impacted, such as the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, law enforcement initiatives, veterans’ support groups, Head Start and childcare programs, university research, assistance for farmers, and infrastructure investments.
Congress is authorized to appropriate the funds. “The appropriations passed by a separate and equal house of government cannot be unilaterally disregarded by the executive branch,” Raoul stated.
According to Pritzker’s office, state agencies started experiencing issues Tuesday morning with accessing federal funding web portals and disbursement systems. Although it did temporarily stop service payments, the Democratic governor claimed that state agencies could access the Medicaid system by mid-afternoon.
The administration wants us to think that these were merely random website outages, Pritzker said. “This morning, along with all 50 states across the country, we discovered that our ability to access critical federal funding had been cut off,” Pritzker said. “Neither Donald Trump nor his administration have merited a favorable opinion. Either they are seriously incompetent, or they are lying to us. When the federal government is staffed with Project 2025 contributors who lack government experience and believe that the laws do not apply to them, this is what occurs. “.”.
Chicago’s impact.
Trump’s power to temporarily halt congressionally appropriated funding has been questioned by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
During a press conference at City Hall, Johnson stated, “These are unprecedented attempts to defund infrastructure projects or child care.”. “The executive office has no jurisdiction over this matter at all. “.”.
“U,” Johnson said. A. Sens. Democrats from Illinois, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, gave him their word that “they will not stop fighting for the people of Chicago.”.
The legislative branch requires these appropriations. They are laws. As a democracy and law-abiding nation, we value having leaders who are genuinely dedicated to following the law,” the mayor stated.
Mary Richardson-Lowry, Corporation Counsel, stated that she was currently examining the potential effects of the freeze on the city’s $17.1 billion budget as well as “any existing projects and initiatives.”. “”.
Even a brief freeze could have enormous consequences. About $4 billion is at risk, according to Budget Director Annette Guzman’s analysis of all federal grant money the city received last year and upcoming appropriations passed by Congress.
“Based on the letter that was released, we don’t know what Congress might do, and we don’t know the full implications of what OMB’s actions will mean,” Guzman stated. Based on statements made by the Trump administration both before and after they took office, there are differing degrees of what we believe could occur. “”.
It will take us a while to examine the letter. We’ll have more to say later, but for now, we’re working on that,” she said.
Johnson cautioned delegate agencies and city workers against pressing the panic button just yet.
“As I’ve discussed with our senators, I just want to emphasize that we’re not totally sure if he’s operating within the parameters of his authority,” the mayor stated.
Thus, the question of what this so-called pause means is a valid one. The question of whether the executive branch can revoke a law that has been specified in terms of appropriations has never been answered. “”.
Duckworth made reference to the drastic cuts contained in the so-called Project 2025 agenda prior to last year’s presidential election when he stated in a separate press briefing that the Trump administration was “executing on the plan that they basically printed and distributed to everybody before the election.”.
Bottom line: He is breaking the law. Therefore, I don’t think Congress needs to enact any new legislation because the laws have already been passed. He is currently breaking the law, so they just have to be done,” Duckworth stated.
In addition to being unconstitutional, Durbin said the freeze was “above all else, inhumane.”. “”.
The statement read, “Every American depends on federal funding — from disaster relief, medical research funding, small business loans, public safety, Head Start and child care programs, veterans care, nutrition assistance, food inspections, and so much more.”. “America won’t be great if we deny our families vital funding. “”.
Officials from the Chicago Transit Authority stated that they would hold the Trump administration to the legally binding commitment they have already obtained for federal funding for the Red Line extension project.
A CTA spokesperson stated that they were “examining the most recent executive order as it relates to future federal funds for CTA beyond funding grant agreements already in place” and that they did not interpret any recent activity as having any bearing on the federal government’s commitment to fund this crucial transit project. “.”.
cuts to health care, violence prevention, and research.
Researchers at the University of Chicago were already being told to limit any work that depends on Washington funds, while officials in the Chicago area struggled with the potential implications of the federal funding freeze.
Provost Katherine Baicker of the University of Chicago warned faculty members not to “buy new supplies or equipment, start new experiments, embark on funded travel, etc.” in a memo. “.”.
I don’t make this request lightly. The research enterprise is central to the mission of our university and plays a significant role in the day-to-day activities of our staff, students, faculty, and researchers. I am also aware that this is not enough direction and that you, like me, must have a lot of questions,” Baicker wrote.
“I wish I had more information to share right now, but we’ll stay in contact as we find out more. Nevertheless, we must act for the time being under the presumption that federal funding may not be available for grant expenses incurred after today while this memorandum is in force. “”.
Concerns about federal funding being cut off for violence prevention initiatives were also raised by community activists.
We have to take a stance against the fascism that is encroaching on our nation. And we have to get it done right away,” said South Side pastor Rev. Pfleger Michael.
Community health center providers in Illinois reported that they were unable to immediately access millions of dollars in federal grant funding and were concerned that other public funds might be at risk.
Alyssa Sianghio, CEO of PCC Community Wellness Center, which operates clinics on the West Side and in the surrounding suburbs, described the immediate effects in Illinois as “chaos, confusion, and fear.”.
According to her, two financial buckets are on hold. One is the money Sianghio gets straight from the federal government in the form of grants. This amounts to about $8 million annually for PCC, which has an annual budget of about $50 million.
Up to 25% of our monthly budget occasionally comes from grant funds specifically, Sianghio stated. When we consider everything we’re doing to help 50,000 people, it begs the question of how long we can continue if 25% of our funding is abruptly stopped. “”.
