Donald Trump at his inauguration ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Trump administration’s move to freeze swaths of federal spending drew backlash Tuesday from Washington’s Democratic leaders, as the state faced the threat of either losing or experiencing delays with billions of dollars built into its budget.
State lawmakers and other officials said the situation further complicates this year’s already difficult budget-writing process, while Gov. Bob Ferguson predicted that the courts would determine President Donald Trump is overstepping his executive powers. Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, derided Trump’s action as “brazen and illegal.”
Later in the day, a federal judge in the District of Columbia agreed to temporarily block the freeze at least until Feb. 3. This came in response to a lawsuit by the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, and other groups.
Meanwhile, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced that the state joined 21 other states in a separate suit against the Trump administration over the attempted funding pause.
Much about the scope and consequences of the directive remained unclear Tuesday afternoon. But critics said it could stymie funding in a range of areas, from child care services to road construction to opioid addiction treatment programs.
“This chaos is already hurting people, causing confusion, and causing devastating delays. I mean where do we start here? There are a lot of urgent questions but precious few answers — and the answers keep changing,” Murray said earlier on Tuesday.
It’s commonly understood that Congress, not the president, holds “the power of the purse.” And Murray’s office emphasized that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, “makes plain that presidents cannot temporarily or permanently withhold enacted funding, and it established procedures the president can and must follow to propose delaying or rescinding funding.”
The drama began when a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget emerged Monday calling for a “temporary pause” on federal agency grants, loans and other financial assistance. The memo said it was not intended to apply to “assistance provided directly to individuals,” Social Security, or Medicare, which provides health care coverage for older Americans.
“This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities,” the memo said. “The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars,” it added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the pause would not apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, or welfare benefits. An additional memo from the White House said Medicaid payments would not be disrupted, though there were reports Tuesday that Medicaid portals were down in states across the country.
The Washington State Health Care Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of the state’s Medicaid portal. Medicaid is the government health insurance program for people with low incomes.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30 last year, federal funding accounted for about $27 billion, or roughly a third, of Washington’s state budget, according to the state’s Office of Financial Management. But it’s unlikely that full amount would be covered by the Trump administration memo. For instance, about $13 billion came in the form of Medicaid reimbursements.
“While it’s not clear exactly what is covered by the memo, it is safe to say that it would apply to billions of dollars in federal funding for Washington,” the office’s director, K.D. Chapman-See, said in an email.
State Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, who chairs the state Senate’s Ways and Means Committee, said the attempted funding pause added “another layer of uncertainty in the budgeting process, but one that we have virtually no control over.”
The state’s Office of Financial Management provided the following list of programs as examples of spending that the Trump administration directive could cut off.
All totals are approximate for the 2024 fiscal year, which ended last June 30.
The circumstances surrounding the federal memo remained fluid on Tuesday. It is not certain which programs it could ultimately affect or how much money it could chop from state budgets if it does hold up in court.
Washington state lawmakers entered this year’s session confronting a budget deficit estimated to be around $12 billion over four years.
“It is very alarming, and we have to wait and see what happens,” Robinson added. “If federal funding goes away, we do not have the ability to backfill those dollars.”
Chapman-See offered a similar take, saying that if the federal government holds back the threatened funding, it would “drastically worsen Washington’s budget shortfall.”
“Pausing or terminating federal funds would necessarily entail cuts — likely drastic cuts — to key services provided by state agencies on which Washington residents depend,” Chapman-See said.
Robinson flagged public schools, higher education, housing and domestic violence services as some of the areas where the state depends on federal funding.
Despite the White House press secretary’s statements, the state Office of Financial Management said that, based on its interpretation, the memo did appear to halt federal funding for food stamps, which amounted to more than $1.9 billion in Washington in the 2024 fiscal year.
The state office also flagged grants and other funding for special education, foster care, school lunches, and roads as money that seemed to be targeted as well.
While he was not familiar with the details of the memo, state House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, said Tuesday morning that “it underscores a point that House Republicans and Senate Republicans have been trying to make for years, which is that we have got to do a better job managing the state’s budget so that we’re not so dependent on changes in revenue.”
“Whether it’s, you know, growth slowing but still growing. Or changes in federal policy,” he said.
Ferguson, in an emailed statement, acknowledged that “presidents have significant powers and elections have consequences.” But he added “President Trump’s refusal or inability to advance his priorities in a lawful and constitutional manner is creating needless and cruel chaos.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to questions about whether any state agencies experienced turmoil on Tuesday because of the Trump administration’s maneuver.
The state’s Department of Commerce and the Department of Social and Health Services both said it was too early to know how the action by the Trump administration might affect operations.
“We’re sorting it all out,” said Penny Thomas, a Department of Commerce spokesperson.
Joel Ryan, executive director of the association in Washington that advocates for the Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance programs, said the Trump administration memo “led to complete chaos as several Head Start programs prepared to close their doors” and worried about making payroll.
The Office of Management and Budget later said Head Start programs, which provide early learning services and other supports to kids up to age 5, were not covered by the pause, according to Ryan.
“Even after that clarification, the payment portal remained down for several hours making federal funding inaccessible,” he said. “We also continue to be concerned about other grant programs that impact young children like the child care food program which Head Start programs rely upon to serve healthy meals and snacks to low-income children.”
This story was updated.
by Bill Lucia, Washington State Standard
January 28, 2025
by Bill Lucia, Washington State Standard
January 28, 2025
The Trump administration’s move to freeze swaths of federal spending drew backlash Tuesday from Washington’s Democratic leaders, as the state faced the threat of either losing or experiencing delays with billions of dollars built into its budget.
State lawmakers and other officials said the situation further complicates this year’s already difficult budget-writing process, while Gov. Bob Ferguson predicted that the courts would determine President Donald Trump is overstepping his executive powers. Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, derided Trump’s action as “brazen and illegal.”
Later in the day, a federal judge in the District of Columbia agreed to temporarily block the freeze at least until Feb. 3. This came in response to a lawsuit by the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, and other groups.
Meanwhile, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced that the state joined 21 other states in a separate suit against the Trump administration over the attempted funding pause.
Much about the scope and consequences of the directive remained unclear Tuesday afternoon. But critics said it could stymie funding in a range of areas, from child care services to road construction to opioid addiction treatment programs.
“This chaos is already hurting people, causing confusion, and causing devastating delays. I mean where do we start here? There are a lot of urgent questions but precious few answers — and the answers keep changing,” Murray said earlier on Tuesday.
It’s commonly understood that Congress, not the president, holds “the power of the purse.” And Murray’s office emphasized that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, “makes plain that presidents cannot temporarily or permanently withhold enacted funding, and it established procedures the president can and must follow to propose delaying or rescinding funding.”
The drama began when a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget emerged Monday calling for a “temporary pause” on federal agency grants, loans and other financial assistance. The memo said it was not intended to apply to “assistance provided directly to individuals,” Social Security, or Medicare, which provides health care coverage for older Americans.
“This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities,” the memo said. “The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars,” it added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the pause would not apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, or welfare benefits. An additional memo from the White House said Medicaid payments would not be disrupted, though there were reports Tuesday that Medicaid portals were down in states across the country.
The Washington State Health Care Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the status of the state’s Medicaid portal. Medicaid is the government health insurance program for people with low incomes.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30 last year, federal funding accounted for about $27 billion, or roughly a third, of Washington’s state budget, according to the state’s Office of Financial Management. But it’s unlikely that full amount would be covered by the Trump administration memo. For instance, about $13 billion came in the form of Medicaid reimbursements.
“While it’s not clear exactly what is covered by the memo, it is safe to say that it would apply to billions of dollars in federal funding for Washington,” the office’s director, K.D. Chapman-See, said in an email.
State Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, who chairs the state Senate’s Ways and Means Committee, said the attempted funding pause added “another layer of uncertainty in the budgeting process, but one that we have virtually no control over.”
The state’s Office of Financial Management provided the following list of programs as examples of spending that the Trump administration directive could cut off.
All totals are approximate for the 2024 fiscal year, which ended last June 30.
The circumstances surrounding the federal memo remained fluid on Tuesday. It is not certain which programs it could ultimately affect or how much money it could chop from state budgets if it does hold up in court.
Washington state lawmakers entered this year’s session confronting a budget deficit estimated to be around $12 billion over four years.
“It is very alarming, and we have to wait and see what happens,” Robinson added. “If federal funding goes away, we do not have the ability to backfill those dollars.”
Chapman-See offered a similar take, saying that if the federal government holds back the threatened funding, it would “drastically worsen Washington’s budget shortfall.”
“Pausing or terminating federal funds would necessarily entail cuts — likely drastic cuts — to key services provided by state agencies on which Washington residents depend,” Chapman-See said.
Robinson flagged public schools, higher education, housing and domestic violence services as some of the areas where the state depends on federal funding.
Despite the White House press secretary’s statements, the state Office of Financial Management said that, based on its interpretation, the memo did appear to halt federal funding for food stamps, which amounted to more than $1.9 billion in Washington in the 2024 fiscal year.
The state office also flagged grants and other funding for special education, foster care, school lunches, and roads as money that seemed to be targeted as well.
While he was not familiar with the details of the memo, state House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, said Tuesday morning that “it underscores a point that House Republicans and Senate Republicans have been trying to make for years, which is that we have got to do a better job managing the state’s budget so that we’re not so dependent on changes in revenue.”
“Whether it’s, you know, growth slowing but still growing. Or changes in federal policy,” he said.
Ferguson, in an emailed statement, acknowledged that “presidents have significant powers and elections have consequences.” But he added “President Trump’s refusal or inability to advance his priorities in a lawful and constitutional manner is creating needless and cruel chaos.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to questions about whether any state agencies experienced turmoil on Tuesday because of the Trump administration’s maneuver.
The state’s Department of Commerce and the Department of Social and Health Services both said it was too early to know how the action by the Trump administration might affect operations.
“We’re sorting it all out,” said Penny Thomas, a Department of Commerce spokesperson.
Joel Ryan, executive director of the association in Washington that advocates for the Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance programs, said the Trump administration memo “led to complete chaos as several Head Start programs prepared to close their doors” and worried about making payroll.
The Office of Management and Budget later said Head Start programs, which provide early learning services and other supports to kids up to age 5, were not covered by the pause, according to Ryan.
“Even after that clarification, the payment portal remained down for several hours making federal funding inaccessible,” he said. “We also continue to be concerned about other grant programs that impact young children like the child care food program which Head Start programs rely upon to serve healthy meals and snacks to low-income children.”
This story was updated.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
Bill Lucia is the Standard’s editor-in-chief. He’s covered state and local policy and politics for a decade, nationwide for Government Executive’s Route Fifty and in Seattle for Crosscut.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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The Washington State Standard is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics. We seek to keep you informed about Washington’s most pressing issues, the decisions elected leaders are making, how they are spending tax dollars and who is influencing public policy.
We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. (See full republishing guidelines.)
© Washington State Standard, 2025
