Crews work to restore utilities and infrastructure damaged by Helene in Washington County, Virginia. On Tuesday, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democratic candidate for governor, said that President Donald Trump’s move to pause all federal aid is causing confusion for Virginians, “including those counting on assistance in the wake of Hurricane Helene.” (Nicholas Monteleone/ FEMA)
The Trump administration’s latest move to freeze payments on several federal programs has sparked alarm among Virginia Democrats, who are questioning how the halt might impact critical funding.
“I am concerned that yesterday we learned that the Trump administration is pausing federal grants,” state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, posted on X. “We have asked the Secretary of Finance in Virginia to inform us how this impacts our current budget and cash flow.” Lucas is chair of the Virginia Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.
And Abigail Spanberger, former U.S. Representative and a Democratic candidate for governor, also turned to X, saying that President Donald Trump’s “reckless move” to pause all federal aid is causing confusion for Virginians, “including those counting on assistance in the wake of Hurricane Helene.”
A two-page memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), released Tuesday, directs federal agencies to “identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders.”
A federal judge on Tuesday evening delayed the spending freeze until Feb. 3 in an emergency order.
The document highlights “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal,” as key areas under review.
“These cuts and political games hurt real people — their livelihoods, their health, and their futures,” House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said in a statement. “President Trump has betrayed the hardworking people of Virginia, leaving communities exposed, families vulnerable, and costs soaring.”
While a footnote of the order clarified that Medicare and Social Security would not be affected, the omission of Medicaid — a program critical to over 630,000 low-income Virginians and people with disabilities — left many Democrats uneasy.
Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax called potential Medicaid cuts “disturbing” in a recent interview with The Mercury. She expressed deep concern over the possibility of Medicaid landing on the federal chopping block.
However, for now, Medicaid appears to be spared from the freeze, according to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Youngkin assured Virginians that the pause does not extend to individual assistance or essential funding for disaster recovery, education, transportation, or healthcare. The White House also released a memo Tuesday afternoon clarifying that Medicaid benefits would continue.
Youngkin accused Democratic leaders of spreading misinformation and using “partisan stunts.” He called their claims “dangerous, fearmongering and completely wrong.”
A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, declined to comment by the time of this publication.
I would hate to see this body become a daily debate on what is going on in Washington
– Virginia state Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg
Debate erupted in the Virginia Senate Tuesday evening over the commonwealth’s response to Trump’s decision to freeze payments on federal programs. Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, argued that the issue demands attention, given how deeply Virginia’s state and the federal governments are “intertwined.”
Ebbin said that it would be “irresponsible” for lawmakers to not discuss the matter, emphasizing the potential ripple effects of federal decisions on the commonwealth.
Others, however, called for a sharper focus on state-specific concerns.
“It’s not our job right here in this session to affect what is going on in Washington,” said Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg. He urged his colleagues to keep their attention on issues directly impacting Virginians.
“I would hate to see this body become a daily debate on what is going on in Washington,” Peake added. “We have a job to do, we’ve got a month left to do it. That is what we need to focus on.”
Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, agreed with Peake’s call to focus on Virginians, but pointed out that issues like health care directly impact the well-being of families and employers across the commonwealth.
“We should be focusing on the bread and butter issues. We should be focusing on issues that help our families thrive and survive and, I submit to you, having health care insurance is one of those issues,” Favola said.
Republicans used the discussion to criticize policies like the Clean Economy Act and collective bargaining legislation, which they argued place unnecessary burdens on taxpayers.
“People just want to take home more of their hard-earned dollars,” said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. “I respectfully submit that we ought to be getting about our business, not spinning up the national hysteria over what’s going on across the river.”
While Virginia lawmakers debate the state’s response, legal questions about Trump’s authority to enact the freeze loom large in Washington. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse, and existing laws bar presidents from refusing to spend money that Congress has appropriated.
Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General declined to comment on the administration’s action but Democratic attorneys general are preparing to file a lawsuit, according to reporting from States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau.
The freeze threatens to disrupt critical programs across education, health, housing, health and transportation.
Federal grants, which make up the largest source of Virginia’s non-general fund revenue, support numerous state initiatives. According to a May 2024 report by the House Appropriations Committee, Virginia has over $45 billion in federal grants and contracts for the current biennium.
In K-12 education alone, the state received more than $1.5 billion in federal aid in fiscal year 2025, the Richmond Times reports. Additional federal funds include over $46 million for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, $275 million for semiconductor chip development, $3.9 million for pharmaceutical job growth, $380 million for the Port of Virginia, and $100 million for business expansion, according to data from Virginia’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
The timing of the freeze has also drawn criticism as Vice President J.D. Vance joined Youngkin just one day prior to the announcement to highlight Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Southwest Virginia.
Virginia’s U.S senators blasted the president’s “reckless” and “illegal” decision in a joint statement Tuesday, calling it a direct threat to economic growth and disaster recovery.
“In every corner of Virginia alone, there are enormous, game-changing economic developments projects happening right now that depend on federal spending appropriated by Congress,” they wrote, citing Hurricane Helene recovery, semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical jobs as examples.
“We call on the administration to immediately reverse course and allow the dollars Congress approved to continue reaching the places where it is so badly needed before millions of Americans are forced to pay the price for President Trump’s chaos,” they wrote.
Kaine and Warner also joined a broader push to exempt Veterans Affairs employees from a separate federal hiring freeze, warning that the move could “dramatically impair the ability of veterans across the country to get the care and benefits they desperately need.”
The hiring freeze could also delay critical services, including assistance for homeless veterans, burial services and operations of the Veterans Crisis Line.
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