ACTION ALERT: When Trump Tried to Freeze Federal Funds, WaPo Saw Not Illegality But 'Determination'

[Judi Lynn]

January 29, 2025

Julie Hollar
ACTION ALERT: When Trump Tried to Freeze Federal Funds, WaPo Saw Not Illegality But ‘Determination’



New York: Trump’s Blatantly Illegal Funding Freeze Causes Nationwide Chaos
New York‘s headline (1/28/25) was accurate—but was it “riveting storytelling”?


When President Donald Trump ordered an unprecedented freeze on all federal grants and loans, a few news outlets responded with at least some degree of appropriate alarm and scrutiny.

“Trump’s Massive Power Grab,” read the headline for Politico‘s Playbook newsletter (1/28/25). “Trump’s Blatantly Illegal Funding Freeze Causes Nationwide Chaos,” announced the headline over a column by New York magazine’s Ed Kilgore (1/28/25).

The order, both sweeping and confusingly worded, called for a halt to disbursement of federal funds that Congress has already authorized. The memo required all such funding to be reviewed to make sure it aligns with Trump’s “policies and requirements,” including his barrage of executive orders. (After a federal judge temporarily blocked the order, the White House rescinded it.)

The memo specifically highlighted “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal.” But no funding was excluded from the freeze, aside from Social Security, Medicare and “assistance directly received by individuals.”

More:
https://fair.org/home/action-alert-when-trump-tried-to-freeze-federal-funds-wapo-saw-not-illegality-but-determination/

[Lulu KC]

1. What a great resource--thanks for posting

I just signed up for their email alerts and will write to the WaPo. I still have a few months with them before the last cancellation I did really happens.

(Speaking of which, I actually have SIX more months and every day they are already asking me to resubscribe. Absurd.)