Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Urges Budget Committee to Delay OMB Nominee

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordered federal agencies to freeze all congressionally approved federal grants and loans, including disaster relief for Californians:

“Donald Trump is illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars for essential federal programs to support families recovering after catastrophic fires, law enforcement agencies we rely on to keep our communities safe, and children and families who depend on federal child care and nutrition programs. All in his effort to pay for his tax cuts for large corporations and billionaires, like the ones he surrounded himself with during his inauguration. This overreach is unconstitutional and hurts the thousands of Californians who have been devastated by the recent fires. When Congress approves federal funds for programs to help communities, they are not optional: they are legal mandates.

“Americans in every corner of the country will feel the impact of Donald Trump’s unlawful directives. I am calling on my Republican colleagues to not confirm Russell Vought to be OMB Director until Trump reverses this reckless order.”

The sweeping directives in the Trump Administration’s memorandum are set to go into effect at 5 p.m. ET this evening. If implemented as written, the directives could block funding for California and national priorities including:

• Disaster Relief: Public assistance and hazard mitigation grants from the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments and non-profits to help communities quickly respond to, recover from, and prepare for major disasters will be halted — right as so many Southern California communities are struggling amid the recent fires.

• Firefighting: Grants to support firefighters across the country will be halted. This includes grants that help states and localities purchase essential firefighting equipment.

• Public Safety: Grants for law enforcement and homeland security activities will cease to go out the door, undermining public safety in every state and territory.

• Infrastructure Projects: All federally-funded transportation projects — roads, bridges, public transit, and more — will be halted, including projects already under construction.

• Homelessness/Housing: In the midst of a homelessness and housing crisis, the Trump Administration is freezing housing and homelessness funding, which will exacerbate our housing crisis.

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that Senator Padilla significantly improved, as well as grants for mental health services, will be cut off.

• Nutrition Assistance: Millions of American citizens who rely on nutrition assistance programs like school lunch programs will be left hungry as funding is cut off and non-profits who provide additional assistance lose federal funding.

• Combating the Fentanyl Crisis: Funding for communities to address the substance use disorder crisis and combat the fentanyl crisis will be cut off.

• Emergency Preparedness: Critical preparedness and response capability funding used to prepare for disasters, public health emergencies, and chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear events will be frozen.

• Child Care: Child care programs across the country will not be able to access the funding they rely on to keep their doors open.

• K-12 Schools: Federal funding for K-12 schools will be halted. School districts may not be able to access key formula grant funding including Title I, IDEA, Impact Aid, and Career and Technical Education, which would pose tremendous financial burdens on schools in the middle of the school year.

• Biomedical Research: There will be immediate pauses on all funding for critical health research, including research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes, as well as clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center and all across the country — disrupting lifesaving and often time-sensitive research.

• Higher Education and Job Training: Millions of students relying on federal student loans and federal work study will have their plans to pursue postsecondary education and further their careers thrown into chaos as federal financial aid disbursements are paused.

• Health Services: Federal funding for community health centers that provide health care for over 30 million Americans will be immediately frozen, creating chaos for patients trying get their prescriptions, a regular checkup, and more.

• Small Businesses: The Small Business Administration will have to halt loans to small businesses — including those in disaster-ravaged California communities. 

• Veterans Care: Federal grants to help veterans in rural areas access health care and grants to help veterans get other critical services, including suicide prevention resources, transition assistance, and housing for homeless veterans, will be cut off.

• Tribes: Funding to tribes for basic government services like health care, public safety, programs, tribal schools, and food assistance will be halted.

• Preventing Violence Against Women: All Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants, as well as funding for victims assistance and state and local police, will be cut off.

• U.S. Competitiveness: Existing grants to support research for Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing will be halted and any new grant funding would be paused — undermining U.S. innovation and competitiveness with China and putting California jobs at risk.

• Energy Jobs: Grants for critical energy projects nationwide will be cut off — halting billions of dollars in investment nationwide and jeopardizing good-paying American jobs. The Department of Energy Loan Program Office will halt loans in 28 states, impacting hundreds of thousands of construction and operations jobs.

• Food Inspections: Some states will have to take on the full financial burden of ensuring the nation’s meat supply is safe if federal cooperative agreements for meat inspection are halted.

• Support for Servicemembers: Support for a host of Department of Defense financial assistance and grant programs supporting servicemembers and their families will be halted, including the Fisher House, Impact Aid, community noise mitigation, ROTC language training, STEM programs, and the USO.

• Military Readiness: Grants and other assistance appropriated to strengthen military effectiveness and defense capacity will be halted, including Defense Production Act support for the defense industrial base, basic research grants necessary to advance key technologies, and small business support to strengthen supply chains.

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