Attorney General Andrea Campbell pledged “prompt action” to challenge a directive from President Donald Trump to pause federal loans and grants starting Tuesday, a decision the Dartmouth Democrat said could “hurt” Massachusetts residents.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office would also be taking “imminent legal action” to push back against the Republican president’s move, which he said was necessary to ensure dollars were spent in compliance with executive orders he has issued in the past week.
But Campbell said the lockout was a “reckless abuse of power.”
“Massachusetts residents rely on billions of dollars in federal funds daily for their health and child care, food, and the roads we drive on,” she said in a statement posted to social media. “This will hurt families. We’re exploring prompt action to stop it.”
James also described the funding freeze as “reckless and dangerous.”
“Programs in communities across the entire nation depend on this funding to support our families, and this action is only going to hurt them,” James, a Democrat, said in a social media post. “My office will be taking imminent legal action against this administration’s unconstitutional pause on federal funding. We won’t sit idly by while this administration harms our families.”
In a memo issued Monday, the acting director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, Matthew Vaeth, said the pause was scheduled to take effect Tuesday at 5 p.m., only a day after agencies were first informed of the decision.
The memorandum required “federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the president’s policies and requirements,” including the executive orders Trump has issued.
“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” the memo said.
Other Massachusetts Democrats excoriated the freeze.
Gov. Maura Healey said a pause on federal funding could mean “lost jobs, higher bills, cuts to schools and health care, and stalled progress on fixing roads and bridges.”
“In Massachusetts, we’re going to do everything we can to protect the workers, seniors, and families put at risk by this action,” she said in a statement posted to social media.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey said the decision was unconstitutional.
“Trump is unconstitutionally freezing federal funds that Congress sent our constituents & dismantling the democratic system. This isn’t business as usual — Congress needs to stop it. I will not support any Trump nominee who will do his illegal bidding. I urge my colleagues to join,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Senators must “not be business as usual” amid the pause.
“We do not consent to this lawless power grab,” she said on social media.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, a Springfield Democrat, said his office had already heard from local governments, school superintendents, and veterans organizations.
“Our message is clear: we hear you, we’re here for you, and we will not let this stand,” Neal wrote on social media. “Congress oversees the public purse, not the president.”
Any potential legal action from Campbell would come after she and attorneys general from other states sued the Trump administration over an executive order to end the guarantee of birthright citizenship.
This is a developing story…
Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.