US Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) and other House Democrats speak to reporters in in the Maryland State House about President Donald Trump’s plan to freeze trillions in federal grants. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
Maryland Democrats at the state and federal levels huddled Wednesday to figure out a response to a Trump administration proposal that threatened billions in federal aid to the state before apparently being reversed, all in the span of 48 hours.
“Chaos” was the word of the day.
“The chaos that is being created for messaging purposes by this administration to respond to the promises that the president made during the course of the campaign have been done, obviously, without significant thought, without significant planning, without significant notice, to those who would be affected,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), “not only in terms of those who administer programs, but those who are recipients of programs.”
Hoyer’s comments came after a meeting at the State House by a delegation of congressional Democrats with Gov. Wes Moore.
It followed the release of a two-page memo Monday from the Office of Management and Budget that ordered federal agencies to freeze federal payments for 90 days so the payments could be reviewed for evidence of “wokeness.” That pause was supposed to take effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, but a federal judge paused that effort Tuesday amid concerns that it undercut the constitutional spending authority granted to Congress, and the White House announced Wednesday that it was “rescinding” the memo on the freeze.
The freeze could have affected trillions in federal spending nationally — although no one seemed to be quite sure — and left the public with “great uncertainty, fear and anxiety,” Hoyer said.
Conflicting messaging from the various memos created confusion as to whether certain benefits such as food assistance or Medicaid would be impacted by the federal freeze – despite White House assurances that those programs would not be affected.
“We are not privy to any kind of secret clarifying memo to the clarifying memo that was just rescinded,” said Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd), after the State House meeting. “We have as much information as the general public has, which is not helpful when we are on the front lines, when we have our mayors and our county executives, the presidents of our community colleges and hospitals, Boys and Girls Clubs, domestic violence shelters, calling us for direction, all of whom receive significant federal funds to perform their function, to perform their duties as a public service.”
Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D-2nd) said it was still unclear Wednesday whether a nationwide outage to a site where states access federal funds for Medicaid payments was related to the pause or just coincidental. But he said that, “intentional or not,” the Medicaid outage was indicative of the chaos created by the inconsistent memos.
Maryland Department of Health officials said they regained access to the Medicaid portal Tuesday evening, after losing access that morning, but were “not certain the system is fully functional” as of Wednesday.
“The system is critical to ensuring timely reimbursement for health care provided to Medicaid patients,” Chase Cook, communications director for the health department, said in a statement. “We are continuing to test the site amid these conflicting directives from the federal government.”
An official with the Maryland Department of Human Services, confirmed that payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP, sometimes called food stamps — are currently working and residents currently have access to those benefits.
Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) said during the Board of Public Works meeting Wesdnesday morning that what is happening at the federal level should surprise no one since much of it was promised by President Donalt Trump during the campaign.
“This is where we are, and this is where we’re going to be, at least through the next four years,” Davis said, urging “everyone, just to remain calm.”
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“We should come to expect the unexpected. We should come to expect that things are going to just be chaotic from time to time, and it’s just something that we’ve got to navigate,” he said.
A spokesperson for Moore said the nine-day old Trump administration was sowing “chaos and contradictory guidance … adding to the confusion and fear that Marylanders are feeling right now.”
“A sustained, ideological federal funding freeze would threaten our economy, our jobs, our communities, and our people — from first responders to small businesses to seniors to middle-class families,” the spokesperson, Carter Elliott, said in a statement. “The White House needs to clearly articulate their commitment to spending money constitutionally appropriated by Congress.”
In Maryland, the freeze could mean billions in lost aid, but Elfreth said the mere threat was already “impacting every part of our districts, our state and this country…red and blue districts alike.”
“The confusion that was sown on Monday night by the original memo that is, frankly, nothing more than another shot at the culture war that the president denigrated over the course of the campaign, and yet is engaging in every single day that he has been president, sowed chaos and fear into many of our communities,” she said.
The state received more than $23 billion in federal grants in fiscal 2023, Comptroller Brooke Lierman said, citing the most recently available fiscal year audit.
“The decision by the Trump administration to attempt to freeze the disbursement of federal grants is deeply concerning because of potential impact on our residents, our communities, our businesses and nonprofits,” Lierman said at the Board of Public Works meeting. “And because of the chaotic nature of the announcement, the directives of the initial memo could have blocked funding for public safety grants, to law enforcement, disaster relief, to communities around the country.”
The federal funds also go toward transportation projects, substance abuse treatment, biomedical research, K-12 and higher education, work programs, small business loans, veterans and more.
“The list goes on and on,” Lierman said.
The comptroller warned that state officials should not assume that federal aid programs will exist in perpetuity.
“They may not,” she said.
– Reporter Danielle Brown contributed to this report.