Congresswoman King-Hinds gives update on Trump Administration’s grant freeze
WASHINGTON (January 29, 2025) — Today, U.S. Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds announced which federal grant assistance programs for the CNMI will be affected by the temporary freeze on federal financial assistance programs issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
“I know many in the CNMI have been worried after the OMB announced it was freezing federal assistance,” said Congresswoman King-Hinds. “I want to thank everyone for being patient while I sought answers to your questions as to what exactly was affected by the grant freeze. It has been my priority to find the answers to how this impacts our community.”
According to the OMB, financial assistance freeze will not affect any program that provides direct benefits to individuals such as:
- Social Security
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- Section 8 Housing
- Pell Grants and student aid
- Food stamps
- Aid to small businesses and farmers
The financial assistance freeze will affect those that come into conflict with President Trump’s previously signed executive orders, which are:
- Protecting the American People Against Invasion
- Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
- Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
- Unleashing American Energy
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
- Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
- Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
The administration is using the temporary pause to review programs and efficiently allocate funds to programs deemed in line with the President’s priorities. Although the OMB has not stated how long the process of re-examining programs and agencies will take, they are working quickly to determine which programs are inconsistent with the President’s Executive Orders. They say they could complete the process in as little as one day.
If there are questions, concerns, or if you are a recipient of federal assistance that has experienced disruptions to your program as a result of the freeze and need additional information, please call the district office at (670) 323-2467/8.