Gov. JB Pritzker spoke shortly after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deadline for federal departments to stop spending on financial assistance programs. The governor revealed that they were only made aware of this decision less than 24 hours prior.
Despite the White House’s quick move to halt the distribution of billions in federal grants and loans, a federal judge intervened and temporarily prevented the freeze from being implemented.
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The sudden freeze on funding has caused uncertainty and bewilderment among numerous organizations that heavily rely on federal support for their operations, as well as the millions of Americans who benefit from these organizations.
The agencies are ordered to comply and cease spending on any programs they believe conflicts with Trump’s recent executive orders on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, foreign aid, and climate spending, among others.
The Trump administration claims federal dollars that go directly to individuals, like Medicare, will not be impacted.
“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration. Individual assistance that includes, I’m not naming everything that’s included, but just to give you a few examples, social security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Despite those assurances from Leavitt, Pritzker says the Medicare system was down on Tuesday in Illinois and other states across the country. Pritzker said that is not a coincidence, and that what Trump is trying to do is illegal.
“I believe it is my duty to report to you the truth of what actually happened today in Illinois. Donald Trump’s administration is lying to you. The White House’s attempt to walk back what they did today does not match what we saw on the ground. They assured us that Medicaid would not be affected. That was a lie. Our state agencies were unable to access the Medicaid system until an hour ago, preventing payments for services,” Pritzker said.
And organizations were apparently impacted too.
Federal judge Judge Loren L. AliKhan temporarily blocked the administration’s push for a federal funding freeze on Tuesday.
John Pellar, the president and CEO of AIDS Foundation Chicago, says the mission of the organization is twofold – to end the HIV epidemic and to end homelessness.
Both issues disproportionally affect people of color.
“We know that when people living with HIV are unstably housed. They can’t take medications to manage their HIV disease,” Pellar said.
According to Pellar, 80% of their funding comes from the federal government. But Pellar said, to the organization’s alarm, they could not access those funds on Tuesday.
“We went to check the portal that we access to download federal grants. Kind of like going to your bank, and all of a sudden, it said, ‘blocked,'” Pellar said.
Congressman Mike Quigley, D-Illinois, says the president does not the authority to disrupt such funding.
“These are funds that have been authorized, appropriated and signed into law,” Quigley said.
Quigley, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transit and Housing, says money that was committed, like the $2 billion for the CTA Red Line expansion, cannot be suspended.
“The day after the election, I called Governor Pritzker and Dorval Carter and said, you’ve got to get this deal signed right away,” Quigley said.
Earlier Tuesday, the potential impact a grant freeze could have on Chicago prompted strong words from Mayor Brandon Johnson.
“Here’s what I do know: The federal government has responsibility to ensure that every single resident across this country receives ample amount of investments to ensure vibrancy as well as the ability to pursue happiness under our Constitution,” Johnson said.
As for the temporary stay issued by a federal judge, a hearing on the issue is set for Monday.
The judge noted that the rollout of Trump’s new policy has been chaotic.
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