Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC2) condemned the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all federal grants and loans as “unconstitutional” and dangerous to vulnerable North Carolinians. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar)
North Carolina officials and advocates denounced President Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze trillions of dollars in federal aid in a news conference Friday, warning of widespread harm to families, older adults, and children, as well as the economy at-large.
“With a stroke of a pen, President Trump’s administration froze federal funding for a range of programs that North Carolinians rely on every single day,” said Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC2). “He intentionally tried to hurt our most vulnerable friends and neighbors.”
A directive from the Office of Management and Budget Monday sparked widespread panic and confusion as it ordered a freeze on all federal grants and loans with just a day’s notice — potentially implicating more than $30 billion to North Carolina. State healthcare officials around the country raised alarms as they were locked out of Medicaid reimbursement portals early Tuesday, though access was eventually restored.
Ross condemned the measure as “unconstitutional,” speaking Friday outside the State Capitol building, and said no president has the authority to unilaterally rescind funding passed by Congress. “It is wrong to withhold North Carolina tax dollars from the people of North Carolina,” she said.
The status of the freeze hangs in limbo, with the Trump administration downplaying its scope and rescinding the OMB memo Wednesday, a day after a D.C. federal judge issued a restraining order barring the government from halting all funding before the freeze was set to go into effect. Despite this, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the administration is not revoking the suspension of funding itself.
“Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction,” Leavitt wrote in a post on X. “The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
A federal judge in Rhode Island — who cited Leavitt’s comments as undermining the administration’s position — is also expected to soon grant a restraining order in a separate request from 23 attorneys general, including North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson.
Jackson said he joined the lawsuit to prevent “widespread and immediate damage across our state,” citing potential delays to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in the western part of the state, impairment to law enforcement capabilities, and harm to children, families, and veterans.
“My office has been hearing from a lot of people who are worried about what this means for their health care, their children, domestic violence and child abuse survivors, and education,” Jackson said. “Even the rollback of this order was confusing — we still don’t really know what their intention is.”
He added that the judge in Rhode Island, who heard the states’ case Wednesday afternoon, agreed the order is “so serious that it cannot be allowed to go into effect.” Jackson said he anticipates a restraining order “shortly” that will allow the attorneys general to litigate the case in the federal courts. “When our government violates the Constitution, we will take them to court,” he said.
Additional speakers highlighted different aspects of education, healthcare, and other services to North Carolinians that could be imperiled by a freeze on grants and loans. Wake County Commissioner Don Mial, a Democrat, noted that the county receives more than $130 million in federal funding each year — money that helps fund the operations of county government, nutritional programs for women and children, Medicaid services, and public housing among other vital services.
Chris Heagerty, chair of the Wake County Board of Education, said he was disturbed by the Trump administration’s characterization of their tactics as “shock and awe” — noting that term originated from a Gulf War bombing campaign intended for “creating panic, confusion, and chaos to demoralize the enemy.”
“Folks, these are our schools, these are our kids, and these are not sacrifices that should be made to sow chaos and confusion and panic,” Heagerty said.
Beyond state and local government, the work of many nonprofits is heavily dependent on federal funding. Lisa Poteat, the interim executive director of The Arc of North Carolina — a nonprofit that helps support North Carolinian with intellectual and developmental disabilities — said their services rely on Medicaid funding to a large degree. If that funding dries up, it will impact not only those who rely on their services, but also the workers who provide those services.
“People have been scared the last week or so thinking, ‘Are my services going away? What will I do? Who’s going to help me?’” Poteat said. “This was a broad, sweeping, and destructive move, and it has implications that [federal officials] don’t understand.”
What funds would ultimately be affected is unclear. While Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC14) posted that the White House assured him relief to western North Carolina would be unaffected, a list of programs circulated by the OMB Monday including a slew of disaster aid initiatives, implicating Federal Emergency Management Agency grants.
“I don’t believe anything that Donald Trump says in terms of any assurance,” Ross said when asked about that pledge. “He has lied before and he will lie again.”