by Doug Hardy CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT – The Trump administration created budgetary chaos in Connecticut and across the nation Tuesday with a memo announcing its intention to pause all federal grants at 5 p.m. so that all spending could be assessed under a litmus test from the president targeting his culture-war concerns.
The two-page letter from Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said 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.”
However, minutes before that freeze was to begin at 5 p.m., US District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the freeze, at least temporarily, in response to a lawsuit from a group of agencies led by the National Council of Nonprofits.
The plaintiffs alleged that federal grants and funding are the lifeblood of operations and programs for many nonprofits for which even a short pause in funding could deprive people and communities of life-saving services.
They argued that the Trump administration’s action was “arbitrary and capricious, violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and exceeded OMB’s statutory authority.”
Plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order barring the OMB from taking any steps to implement, apply, or enforce the memo.
The judge upheld the request and ordered the parties back to court at 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 3.
Democrats responded all afternoon Tuesday, arguing that the president does not have the authority to suspend congressionally approved appropriations, among other things. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont called a news conference for 4 p.m. to discuss how to keep government and social service agencies running without federal funding.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong holds up a copy of the Trump administration’s memo freezing funding on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the state Capitol in Hartford. Credit: Jamil Ragland / CTNewsJunkie
Attorney General William Tong announced that the state had joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general suing to stop the implementation of Trump’s OMB memo, arguing that it puts an indefinite pause on the majority of federal assistance to states, immediately jeopardizing critical state programs that provide health and childcare services to families in need, support public schools, combat hate crimes and violence against women, provide life-saving disaster relief to states, and more.
“This is a full assault on Connecticut families – an unprecedented and blatantly lawless attack on every corner and level of our government and economy. Connecticut is locked arm in arm with states across the nation seeking an immediate restraining order to protect critical services that each and every one of us rely on every day,” Tong said in a statement. “Today is not a day for politics – everyone irrespective of party should be standing against this devastating attack on Connecticut.”
That was the tenor of most of the comments during the news conference as well as in news releases all day.
But not all of them. House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, described the Democrats’ reaction to the memo was “theatrics” in an emailed statement.
“It’s no surprise that Connecticut Democrats, showcasing their penchant for theatrics over substance, are raising alarm over President Trump’s common-sense efforts to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely and align with his executive actions,” they wrote. “After all, these are the same individuals who believe taxpayers should foot the bill for placing tampons in boys’ bathrooms in our schools. Let’s be clear: the President’s federal funding pause is far from the doomsday scenario Democrats are peddling. Their claims are nothing more than an attempt to gaslight Connecticut residents. If Attorney General Tong and other Democrat leaders invested half as much effort into lowering costs for electric ratepayers as they do defending criminal illegal aliens and librarians promoting sexualized content in schools, Connecticut families would be far better off.”
However, Tong pointed out that the memo will put Americans in danger by depriving law enforcement of much-needed resources, including those that support initiatives to combat hate crimes and violence against women, support community policing, and provide services to victims of crimes.
Gian-Carl Casa, president & CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance – the state’s largest association of nonprofit service providers, emphasized the reality that his members provide critical services.
“Connecticut’s nonprofits partner with the state and federal governments to provide vital safety net services and they have already been stretched thin by more than a decade of underfunding,” Casa said. “We don’t know yet exactly what impact the Trump administration’s order will have, but it has the potential to be devastating for men, for women, for children and families.”
He continued: “Federal funding supports homeless and domestic violence shelters, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and programs for people with developmental disabilities. Taking away federal funding will cut a hole in the already-frayed safety net, through which tens of thousands of people who depend on nonprofit programs here will fall. To implement this kind of order without regard for the impact on living, breathing people is beyond comprehension.”