Here's what we know – and don't know – about Trump's federal funding freeze in Georgia
Published in Political News
ATLANTA — A federal judge temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s order freezing trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. But not before the sprawling plan had unleashed a wave of confusion — and some panic — among public and private organizations that rely on the money to fund programs aimed at everything from Meals on Wheels to solar power to cancer research.
Here’s what we know about what the pause in funding could mean in Georgia.
How much does Georgia receive in federal grants and loans? An analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that tens of billions of dollars flows from federal coffers into Georgia.
Among the ongoing grants in the state are billions of dollars for broadband service to those without access; help for public health agencies to respond to infectious diseases; and money to improve teaching in high-poverty schools, expand child health assistance to uninsured, low-income children and provide special education to children with disabilities.
What programs are untouched? Social Security benefits, Medicare and food stamps are exempted from the freeze, according to a memo from the Office of Management and Budget.
“To individuals at home who receive direct assistance from the federal government, you will not be impacted by this federal freeze,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at news briefing.
What about Medicaid? Head Start? Perhaps the most confusion on Tuesday surrounded Medicaid, the massive federal health program which assists the poor and disabled.
While the White House said Medicaid would not be impacted, other officials insisted that online Medicaid portals which officials use to disburse funds were down in all 50 states.
Later in the day, Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, confirmed that the Medicaid’s online portal had experienced an outage but said no payments had been affected.
“We expect the portal will be back online shortly,” she said.
The same outage reportedly locked users out of the Head Start payment portal, fueling concerns that their funding was jeopardy. Officials with the early education program said late in the day that access to the federal money had been restored and that they had been told by the Office of Management and Budget that they were not on the list of those impacted by Trump’s review.
Roughly 23,000 low-income kids in Georgia participate in Head Start.
The Carter Center: Founded by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based center works to eradicate disease, mediate conflict and monitor elections around the globe.
There were concerns that Trump’s decision to temporarily halt foreign assistance could cripple the center’s work. But CEO Paige Alexander said federal funding makes up less than 10% of the center’s overall budget, meaning their programs are not as severely affected as some other nonprofit organizations.
Alexander said the decision to halt foreign assistance “will have catastrophic consequences at home and abroad and will do the opposite of keeping America safe and prosperous.”
When will we know more? The White House could provide more details in the coming days to clarify what funding is in jeopardy. Trump has said he wants to vet the spending to ensure it aligns with his agenda, in particular an executive order purging government-led diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued a stay to “preserve the status quo” until Monday when she has scheduled a court hearing to weigh the issues. The swift legal challenge had been brought by nonprofit groups that receive federal money.
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