MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin filed a lawsuit with 21 other states and Washington D.C. to fight the federal funding freeze, which a federal judge temporarily blocked on Tuesday. 

Freeze on hold

What they’re saying:

That funding freeze was supposed to go into effect Tuesday evening, Jan. 28. But a judge’s ruling puts a hold on that freeze – which means federal funds can go out. 

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“I think this is a very responsible measure. Again, the past four years, we’ve seen the Biden administration spend money like drunken sailors. It’s a big reason we’ve had inflation crisis in this country, and it’s incumbent upon this administration to make sure, again, that every penny is being accounted for honestly,” said Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary.

Federal money touches all of our lives – from roads to the people on them. From nursing homes and research of diseases at universities to the Head Start program for kids to Meals on Wheels for seniors. 

On Tuesday, the White House press secretary said the pause would not apply to payments to people – like food stamps, Medicare and social security. 

“If you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that,” Leavitt said. “However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. That is something that President Trump campaigned on.”

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The Education Department said it would not apply to people – like the 40 million getting federal student loans and 7 million with Pell grants. 

The Trump administration said the planned temporary freeze was to give it time to review funding for “DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.” It was set to go into effect at 4 p.m. central time. 

“It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs. It means no more funding for the green new scam that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies,” said Leavitt.

Wisconsin Democrats

Local perspective:

Gov. Tony Evers wrote President Trump a letter opposing the federal aid pause. The state estimates it’s set to receive $28 billion in federal funds in a two-year budget, and the governor said the pause could have disastrous effects. 

“These are dollars that has been debated. They’ve been debated. They’ve passed both the House and the Senate. This is the this is the responsibility. The power of the purse starts in the House of Representatives, of which I’m a member, and this is law,” said U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee).

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, for the city, it means tens of millions of dollars in the city’s budget is now on hold.

“I don’t know if Americans voted for not having the seniors not having access to Meals on Wheels,” he said. “I don’t know if Americans voted for not replacing lead service lines so that we have better public health and better public safety. I don’t know if Americans voted for potentially having a reduction in aid to community development block grant areas that helped to uplift neighborhoods that are hard hit.”