Democrats: 'Insane' Trump power grab on federal grants ‘blatantly disobeys the law’
Federal grants finance much of modern American life. If Team Trump simply stops the money from flowing, the consequences are difficult to measure.

The consequences of the Trump administration’s decision to halt almost all foreign aid continue to reverberate. The New York Times reported last week that the freeze is affecting international programs “aimed at alleviating hunger, disease and wartime suffering around the globe, as well as ones that help nations with economic development.”

It’s against this backdrop that the White House is apparently halting domestic grants, too. NBC News reported:

President Donald Trump has ordered a freeze to domestic and foreign federal aid in a sweeping effort to stop government funding for causes that don’t fit with his agenda. A memo sent out Monday night from Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the changes would go into effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET and relate to a string of executive orders Trump has signed since taking office last week.

The existence of the memo was first reported by Marisa Kabas, a New York-based journalist who published the document on Bluesky......

It is not a secret that Trump and his team, after running on an authoritarian-style campaign platform, want to wrestle control over the power of the purse, shifting authority from Congress to the White House, despite the framework of our constitutional system of government. It’s precisely why there’s been so much discussion of late about the Impoundment Control Act.

We’re now starting to see what those ambitions look like when pursued as a matter of government policy.,,,

What’s more, Schumer’s statement, referring to administration officials, added, “They say this is only temporary, but no one should believe that.”

As for the potential political impact, a Politico report noted that in the coming days, “we’re going to discover the full range of programs, projects and initiatives whose funds have suddenly been blocked. And given the sweeping scale of the order, it seems unlikely these will all be glowingly liberal, woke-tastic DEI projects in coastal America. This order is going to affect communities the length and breadth of the country.

“Be careful what you wish for, Mr. President.”