‘Pure chaos’ as Trump’s freeze order is blocked and local officials scramble to continue vital services

On Tuesday, minutes before President Donald Trump's order to freeze federal funding was set to take effect, a federal judge blocked it temporarily.  

The Trump Administration required government agencies to temporarily pause all activities related to the obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance and other relevant agency activities that may be affected by his executive orders, including financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, so-called woke ideology and the green new deal. 

The announcement made Monday night by the Office of Management and Budget caused panic across the nation. The memo addressed to all heads of executive departments and agencies indicated the freeze was necessary because taxpayers' dollars were being wasted to advance “Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies.”

Before the funding freeze blockage was announced, U.S. Congressman Robert Garcia joined Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and local community leaders to demand answers from the Trump administration and an immediate reverse of the “harmful action.”

“This is unlawful, it’s unconstitutional and we have every intention of fighting back,” said Congressman Garcia during a press conference outside the Long Beach Day Nursery.  

Critical programs affected

Garcia said the funding freeze would affect vital programs such as school lunches, education funding, rental assistance, housing grants, clean water funding and many others, as well as pause federal support for first responders and veteran programs. 

The White House stated that programs that directly benefit Americans wouldn’t be affected, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website stated on their main page that there could be payment delays due to executive orders regarding potentially unallowable grant payments. 

Garcia said Trump’s actions are “drastic, confusing and chaotic” and happened for no reason. 

“Right now, as we speak, the Medicaid portal for low-income and poor kids and families is shut down in all 50 states, yet they're saying that Medicaid is going to continue working today,” said Garcia. “Delays in funding can mean layoffs, closures, and critical service disruptions. This is pure chaos by President Donald Trump.”

Long Beach Mayor Richardson said this is an unprecedented move that makes it difficult for cities and local municipalities to deliver important services to the residents. For example, he said Tuesday morning, when the Long Beach city team tried to draw funds for their federally funded homeless services, they noticed they had been removed from the system without previous notice.

“It seems it was designed to create maximum chaos by delivering this [message] in the middle of the night with no warning or heads up for our city leaders,” said Richarson. “You can’t push a pause button on our work to support our unhoused, our most vulnerable neighbors.”

As for now, Richardson said they continue to monitor the situation and will work with federal partners to try to find clarity and get answers. 

Jennifer Harper, executive director of Long Beach Day Nursery, said that federal funding for organizations like hers is not a waste of taxpayer dollars. On the contrary, early childhood education programs are vital investments for the future of the nation. 

“Our organization has been providing high-quality early care and education for children of working parents for 113 years,” she said. 

Harper also indicated that research consistently demonstrates the enduring benefits of high-quality early childhood education, including improved academic performance, lower crime rates, higher rates of career success, reduced special education needs and higher median income, and as adults they are potentially more successful contributors to society. 

“Federal grant funding is not an expense. It’s an investment in our children, our families, and the future of our nation,” she said. 

The federal judge’s blockage lasts until Monday afternoon. The directive was challenged in court by multiple nonprofits receiving federal funding, the State of California and 22 other states.