by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent
New Haven scrambled Tuesday to discern how big of a hole President Trump just blew in the city budget, while the city’s federal lawmakers dialed up the outrage in D.C.
That was the reaction Tuesday to a memo that was sent out late Monday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday.
That two-page letter, written by OMB Acting Director Matthew Vaeth, states that, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 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, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
What does that mean?
Well, a lot of people don’t know. But they’re worried.
Mayor Justin Elicker told the Independent that all of the mayor’s office staff met Tuesday morning with City Hall coordinators, the city budget director, and corporation counsel to discuss the order’s potential impact.
As of 11 a.m., they still don’t know — but they’re hustling to find out.
“We receive millions of dollars of federal funding” to city public schools, through CDBG grants, to the Health Department, and so much more, Elicker said. Plus, there’s a lot of “pass-through money” from the feds that comes to the city through the state, and that the city passes along to nonprofits.
“Right now we’re trying to evaluate what kind of impact this is gonna have,” he said. He said his administration should have a better handle on the potential dollar and service impact later Tuesday.
“One particular concern for us is cash flow,” he said. “We receive regular reimbursements and payments from the federal government in grants.”
“It’s hard for me to say at the moment” exactly what the worst-case-scenario of this memo’s impact might be. “What we’re evaluating is, on the cash flow side, how quickly funding could potentially run out for” a whole host of city and city-supported programs.
New Haven’s current annual city budget adds up to nearly $680 million. It’s unclear right now how much of that budget would be impacted by Monday’s federal memo.
Meanwhile, the city’s federal delegation made clear just how harmful this Trump administration decision could be.
“The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country,” wrote New Haven’s U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who is the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, along with Appropriations Committee Vice Chair and Washington State U..S. Sen. Patty Murray, in a Monday night letter to Acting Director Vaeth. “We write today to urge you in the strongest possible terms to uphold the law and the Constitution and ensure all federal resources are delivered in accordance with the law.”
Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy sounded a similar refrain in press conference held Tuesday morning by a handful of top Senate Democrats.
“This is an attempt by Donald Trump to seize power,” Murphy said. “What President Trump is doing is seizing control of the federal budget and deciding by himself who gets money and who doesn’t.”
“This is what a king does,” Murphy continued. “This is not how a democracy works.’
He concluded by describing this OMB move, combined with such executive orders as the pardoning of the Jan. 6 rioters, as constituting the “greatest constitutional crisis of our lifetime.”
Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate Democrats’ leader, said in that same Tuesday press conference that “the blast radius of this terrible decision is virtually limitless, and its impact will be felt over and over again.”
This move could impact Head Start programs, cancer research, federal housing assistance, support for veterans, and, well, seemingly everything else the federal government funds.
“This is cruelty. This is lawlessness. This is a heist done on a national scale.”
In a separate email press release sent out Tuesday morning, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong also lambasted the Trump administration move.
“This is a full assault on Connecticut families– an unprecedented and blatantly lawless and unconstitutional attack on every corner and level of our government and economy,” Tong is quoted as saying. “Attorneys general across the country are preparing imminent legal action to protect our states. Connecticut and my team are front and center in this fight and will provide updates in real time to Connecticut as this unfolds. Today is not a day for politics– everyone irrespective of party should be standing with Connecticut against this devastating attack on our state.”
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