Opinion : Letter to the Editor: Power Grab

To The Editor,

The hapless Trump administration created chaos and uncertainly with the notification of a federal funding freeze for any organization that receives federal dollars. The administration was totally taken off guard when the news broke that people all over the country affected by this edict started to object. Either the administration is not aware the extent of the damage this would do or they don't care.

After President Richard Nixon took impoundment to an extreme and canceled billions of dollars in spending, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act, which says presidents can only use the impoundment power by submitting requests to Congress about funds they don't want to disburse; lawmakers then have to approve those requests within 45 days, otherwise the funds are released. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/01/28/can-trump-cancel-government-funds-through-impoundment-what-to-know-as-he-pauses-all-federal-assistance/

On Monday evening a memo went out from the Office of Management and Budget that all federal funding would be frozen as of 5:00 PM EST Tuesday, January 28th.

One of the reasons for issuing this memo was to root out Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion from any organization that receives federal funding. The dreaded DEI, according to the Trump administration, is the cause of all of our problems. But the true reason is an attempt by Trump to consolidate power to control the purse and to exclude Congress from doing their jobs as set forth in the Constitution.

"When I return to the White House, I will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court, and if necessary, get Congress to overturn it," Trump said in a 2023 policy announcement video. "We will overturn it." https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-omb-federal-grant-pause-history-impoundment-2025-1

Trump wants to be the arbiter of where and how much these vital programs receive in funding. This is one more example how Trump is turning our democracy into an authoritarian regime. Even though the Tuesday deadline has been cancelled, the federal funding freeze is still in play until it is decided by numerous lawsuits trying to stop the effort.

Some of the programs affected by this freeze includes to name a few;

Health care research Education programs-including student loans, Head Start, child care

Medicaid (even after a claim by the administration that Medicaid would not be affected, the website for Medicaid was down in all 50 states on Tuesday, purely coincidence?? The website is back up now.)

Disaster assistance

Meals on Wheels

LIHEAP

Federal Research Grants

Grants for Homeless Shelters

Funding for Veterans programs

HACAP

Americorps

I have personal knowledge of the importance for federal funding. As the director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, (RSVP) in Iowa City for 4 ½ years, I wrote grants for programs to be able to operate and to provide services for the elder community. The entire RSVP program was funded by federal grants. Programs included medical transportation, organization of volunteer programs for seniors who volunteered in schools, hospitals, libraries, and multiple of other programs. I also wrote grants for Meals and Wheels which receives a significant portion of federal funds to operate.

What can you do? Contact Representative Ashley Hinson at 202-225-2911, Senator Joni Ernst 202-224-3254, Senator Grassley, 202-224-3744 and ask them to do what they can to stop this power grab from Trump.

Rosemary Schwartz