White House defends spending freeze as Democrats spotlight pain points
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her first news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Jan. 28 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Trump administration's temporary pause on some federal spending as Democrats sounded the alarm about programs like Medicaid going dark.
The big picture: The freeze, which a federal judge halted Tuesday, would not effect programs like Social Security, Medicare, and welfare benefits, Leavitt said.
- Leavitt told reporters the pause was to ensure "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken."
- However, that left nonprofits and organizations that rely on federal funds like Meals on Wheels scrambling to assess the freeze's impact.
Catch up quick: An Office of Management and Budget memo, sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies gave them until Feb. 10 to submit details on programs, projects or activities subject to the indefinite pause.
- It also instructed agencies to assign a senior political appointee to oversee each federal financial assistance program and ensure it "conforms to Administration priorities."
- Federal Pell Grants and direct student loans will not be impacted by the freeze, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, told Axios in a statement.
Yes, but: While the administrations said assistance "received directly by individuals" is in the clear, Democrats pounced to highlight the various programs affected by the freeze.
- Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) highlighted concerns from a domestic violence center that serves multiple counties, writing on X that "they may have to close their doors" without federal funding.
- Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) posted that several agencies in his region had been "completely cut off."
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote that his staff confirmed Medicaid portals were down in all 50 states amid the freeze. Leavitt later posted that the White House was aware of the portal outage and that no payments had been affected.
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the 18,000 people who rely on housing vouchers "currently do not know how their rent will be paid next month, and workers across various federally funded programs risk losing their pay."
Friction point: Trump's freeze appears to conflict with the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that directs presidents to release all funds appropriated by Congress.
- Leavitt argued the freeze was "certainly within the confines of the law."
- While the law does allow presidents to delay funding under some circumstances, it doesn't allow freezing funds to decide if programs are "consistent with the president's policies," said Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan professor and former General Counsel to the OMB.
What's next: Bobby Kogan, the senior director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress who served in the Biden OMB, said to think of the freeze like a government shutdown: "It's bad immediately, and the longer it goes on, the worse it gets."
Go deeper: Democrats prepare for war with Trump over funding freeze
