ORIGINAL: Berrien County, Michigan – The Michigan Attorney General issued a statement in response to Michigan families’ concerns after President Donald Trump suspended all federal grant and loan funds on Tuesday morning.
A White House memo freezing federal funds to critical programs was distributed across the country, with reports of immediate effects in the state of Michigan.
“I am aware of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget memo, which was issued last night, and my department is already learning about services impacted across the state, including Medicaid and Head Start. “We are receiving reports of critical impacts to significant programs that millions of Michiganders rely on every day for vital services,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
“We understand and share your immediate and dire concerns. My team is working hard today to determine what these orders mean and the scope of their immediate consequences, as well as to request an immediate legal remedy to restore Congress-provided funding, compel this administration to follow the law, and put an end to this absurd and unprecedented attack on these programs. I plan to file a lawsuit today to protect these programs and restore these critical services.
The United States Office of Management and Budget stated that the freeze will not affect SNAP, student loans, Medicaid, small business funds, Pell grants, or rental assistance.
The White House has confirmed that the Medicaid web portal is experiencing outages, after states reported difficulties accessing the site in the aftermath of the federal government’s abrupt freeze.
“The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a Twitter post. “We can confirm that no payments have been affected; they are still being processed and sent. We anticipate that the portal will be back online shortly.”
During her first press briefing earlier Tuesday, Leavitt defended the freeze, claiming it was only a temporary pause that would have no impact on direct individual assistance that Americans rely on.
Indiana Governor Mike Braun expressed support for President Trump’s funding freeze.
“I applaud President Trump’s decision to pause government spending, which fulfills his campaign promise to rein in an out-of-control government. “This level of fiscal discipline is exactly the type of leadership we need in Washington, D.C., and it is consistent with the values of Hoosiers and the American people who elected him,” Braun said.
“We are releasing guidance to Indiana government agencies on compliance and next steps. I am confident that we will continue to provide needed services to Hoosiers in an efficient manner, doing more with less.
