UPDATE: On Jan. 28, 2025, a federal judge also temporarily blocked Trump’s federal funding freeze until Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. After a stern outcry from the American people, on Jan. 29, 2025, the White House rescinded it’s harmful effort to freeze federal funding. This cruel and ill-planned attempt sparked chaos and confusion across the country as communities navigated the possibility of losing critical support for basic services like health care, housing, food, and education.  

WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump Administration announced a plan to freeze virtually all federal funding for basic services, which harms communities across the entire country and increases costs for Americans. This reckless action blocks funding to pay teachers, support first responders, sustain lifesaving medical research, and more. According to federal data from last month, at least $675 million in outstanding grant funding for California’s 15^th District alone could be withheld, and billions of dollars are at risk for future programs.  

Much of this funding was already awarded to communities, and President Trump’s directives to the Office of Management and Budget vastly oversteps his constitutional bounds by blatantly disregarding the fact that Congress has the power of the purse, not the President.  

“The Trump Administration’s decision to freeze congressionally-approved federal funding is dangerously cruel and incredibly disruptive to communities relying on support for critical services and necessary infrastructure improvements. This freeze will have direct, negative consequences for programs in California’s 15^th District, such as for early childhood education programs and community colleges, affordable housing developments and low-income rental assistance, and support for advancements in life sciences,” Rep. Mullin said. “Much of this is funding was already awarded to cities and grant recipients, and the Trump Administration’s reneging on these federal commitments is a lawless embarrassment. This is a reckless decision that will ultimately hurt hardworking Americans and increase costs for communities across the country.” 

Additionally, it will disrupt popular projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Communities across the country are depending on this essential funding to build new roads and bridges, expand broadband access, strengthen infrastructure against natural disasters, and much more. Neither the vaguely worded executive order nor a follow-up memorandum from Trump’s Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Matthew Vaeth and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett clarify which projects, programs, and activities are frozen.  

In response to the initial halt of funding for projects in the IRA and BIL, Rep. Mullin joined 153 House Democrats in sending a letter to the Office of Management and Budget urging the Trump Administration to disclose a full list of the frozen initiatives impacted. Rep. Mullin will also be joining his Democratic House colleagues in determining appropriate actions they can take to defend against this Presidential overreach.  

The full text of the letter can be found here.