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The White House said direct payments to individuals would continue...

The White House said direct payments to individuals would continue while it assesses grants to a wide range of organizations. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost

WASHINGTON — Long Island nonprofits, social service groups and other recipients of federal funds responded with alarm and confusion Tuesday to a Trump administration memo that sought to impose a freeze on targeted federally funded programs.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday halted the memo’s orders until Feb. 3, moments before it was to take effect at 5 p.m., to consider its complicated ramifications.

The memo issued Monday night by the Office of Management and Budget put a "temporary pause" on federal grants and loans to align spending with President Donald Trump’s priorities and to eliminate "Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal" policies.

Democrats blasted the order, which they said appeared to freeze the trillions of dollars the government spends on programs, as "illegal and cruel." Nassau and Suffolk county health agencies and nonprofits scrambled to understand the order and whether it applied to them.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

  • Long Island nonprofits, social service groups and other recipients of federal funds responded with alarm and confusion Tuesday to a Trump administration memo that sought to impose a freeze on targeted federally funded programs.
  • The memo issued Monday night by the Office of Management and Budget put a "temporary pause" on federal grants and loans to align spending with President Donald Trump’s priorities and to eliminate "Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal" policies.
  • U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., halted the memo’s orders until Feb. 3, moments before it was to take effect at 5 p.m., to consider its complicated ramifications.

"There’s fear for our communities with the uncertainty, just in terms of what the impact could mean," said Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of CN Guidance & Counseling Services in Hicksville, which relies on federal funds to provide mental health and substance use services.

Rationale

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her first daily news briefing, fielded a barrage of questions about the OMB order and tried to downplay its potential impact.

"If you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that, however, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Leavitt said.

Guidance sent midday Tuesday to lawmakers said Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and other direct benefits to individuals as well as funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance and similar programs would be exempt from the freeze.

The order requires agencies with funds paused by the OMB to submit detailed information about projects or activities it funds for racial or gender equity, transgender issues or "green new deal" environmentalism.

"A pause could be as short as a day," it said, adding that OMB officials have "already approved many programs to continue even before the pause has gone into effect."

But some funding could be held up for two weeks or possibly longer — the memo gave federal departments and agencies until Feb. 10 to send the OMB detailed information about funding for programs or groups that do not fit the "president's priorities." The memo does not specify how long the OMB can take to review the materials.

Alarmed reaction

Republicans remained quiet or backed Trump.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said in a statement that he and Trump made campaign commitments to pause funding for some foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations and initiatives like DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), gender ideology and the Green New Deal while protecting Social Security and Medicare.

"Should the courts block the President’s actions and instead require Congress to step in, I will work closely with him and my colleagues to achieve a balanced budget, strengthen national security, improve affordability, and ensure that Long Island gets its fair share," LaLota said.

Democrats went on the attack.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said, "We should wait and see how this unfolds because this is their first salvo, of course." And she asked, "But what is really behind this? I mean, is everything through the lens of what’s a Marxist policy, when they put that language in there?"

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "Last night, President Trump plunged the country into chaos. Without a shred of warning, the Trump administration announced a halt to virtually all federal funds across the country."

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) said in a news release that she has asked the Trump administration to issue guidelines to exempt from the freeze funding for law enforcement, first responders, counterterrorism and public safety.

And Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said he heard from several nonprofits worried about their federal funds, including the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset and the Levittown Community Action Coalition, which works on fentanyl and heroin reduction.

Confusion

Jeffrey Reynolds, CEO of Family and Children's Association of Long Island, a Garden City nonprofit offering substance abuse and mental health treatment, said social service agencies were "thrown into a whirlwind" by the OMB memo.

"We don’t happen to run programs that we think are viewed as controversial in the eyes of the administration, but any kind of pause while they try to sort that out — what they don’t want to fund — potentially puts us and the people who rely on our services in a lousy position," Reynolds told Newsday in a phone interview.

"There’s no nonprofit out there that has a giant treasure chest full of cash to fill the gaps while the government figures out what it wants to do," he said.

With Keshia Clukey

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