House Democrats plan 'three-pronged counteroffensive' against Trump's assistance freeze

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York called an emergency meeting among House Democrats to iron out a strategy to fight back against President Trump’s temporary freeze of federal grants and assistance.

He set the meeting for Wednesday and told his Democratic colleagues that the freeze was a “Republican rip-off” that would hurt children, seniors, veterans, first responders, houses of worship and “everyday Americans in need.”

“Republicans are ripping off hardworking Americans by stealing taxpayer dollars, grants and financial assistance as part of their corrupt scheme to pay off billionaire donors and wealthy corporations,” Mr. Jeffries wrote to fellow Democrats.

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo late Monday that ordered a temporary pause on all “activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” except for Social Security and Medicare disbursements or assistance provided directly to individuals.

“Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing Administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens, unleashing American energy and manufacturing, ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again,” the memo said.

The pause, which took effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, caused lawmakers to sound the alarm about a wide variety of programs it could affect and the possible harm it could cause.

Democrats plan to hash out a “three-pronged counteroffensive” during the Wednesday meeting that focuses on spending, litigation and communications strategies. Democrats on the House Appropriations and Oversight committees, along with members of the Democrats’ policy and communication team, are set to make presentations at the meeting.

A likely area where Democrats will look to leverage their weight on the issue is the upcoming March 14 deadline to fund the government, where Congress will have to either kick the federal funding can down the road again or coalesce on a plan to finally put the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations cycle to rest.

Meanwhile, OMB has circulated guidance among lawmakers about the agency’s temporary freeze on funding, noting that “any payment required by law to be paid will be paid without interruption or delay.”

Some of the delays could be as short as a day, the guidance read, and the budget office has already worked with several agencies to prevent any lapse in cash flow.

The guidance pointed out that the freeze was explicitly tailored to funding affected by Mr. Trump’s deluge of executive orders, which included “ending DEI, the green new deal and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.”