As pandemonium descended Tuesday after the Trump administration directed a freeze on federal funding , the chaos drove home a salient point: The federal government does a lot for you.
The administration targeted 2,623 federal programs for review in circulated instructions , ordering agencies to "temporarily pause all activities related to…all Federal financial assistance." Funding for programs that provide health insurance, childcare, food assistance, housing aid, and much, much more remained uncertain.
Disrupting the federal government plumbing is a delicate process that, if done crudely, could hit vital lifelines for the American people. You simply can't turn off the water — even temporarily.
"The government is involved in things that people don't feel all the time, a lot of things we take for granted like safe drinking water," said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress. "Except when it fails miserably."
Few federal programs seemed exempt from the directive that came from the Office of Management and Budget. More than 50 agencies were tasked with conducting reviews during the freeze to make sure their programs complied with the president's executive orders.
The ones that sparked the most outrage were programs that help America's most vulnerable with funding deadlines looming over the next few days, such as Section 8 housing assistance, Medicaid, and the Head Start reimbursement program that gives low-income families money for their children's education.
They were also some of the payment systems that went down on Tuesday.
"That could have truly harmed people — if you take away people's nutrition, healthcare, housing, education — things people depend on," Kogan said.
What may still be in the crosshairs: under-the-radar supports that millions of Americans rely on but may not recognize on a daily basis.
There are loans for farm storage, grants to ensure safe drinking water, funding to implement pool and spa safety laws, money for suicide prevention for veterans, and grants for AmeriCorps programs. The beneficiaries of this funding run the gamut: farmers, Native tribes, seniors, people with disabilities, those living in rural areas, children, veterans, and victims of mass violence and acts of terror.
There's even a grant to Florida to reimburse citrus producers for the costs associated with recovering from the 2017 hurricane destruction.
What's the federal government good for? Seems like a lot.
“Our phones have been ringing off the hook all morning, wondering what it means, how long it's going to last," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters on Tuesday following the freeze. "Everything from a small dam project, small hydro project down in the Angoon area, to people concerned about everything from housing to water infrastructure projects.”
In fact, more than a third of state revenue comes from Uncle Sam, according to Pew Research Center , even more in states that supported President Trump. On average, 40.5% of red-state revenue came from the federal government.
"Those federal monies in general can be used for healthcare, transportation, environmental issues, public safety issues, veterans, just to name a few of the things that are funded primarily by these federal dollars," Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said Tuesday to press. "So if the federal government pulls back on a big chunk of the funding that they send to states, that impacts roughly a third of our overall spending."
On Wednesday afternoon, the Trump administration rescinded the memo that touched off the funding firestorm, but the White House press secretary reiterated that the freeze itself had not been retracted.
Still, the systems that went dark Tuesday are back on after a judge granted the restraining order halting the pause — a relief to Kogan.
"The longer it goes on, the more deadlines are missed, the more funding streams dry up, the more things fall apart," Kogan said.
And for many of us, we probably wouldn't know what we'd miss until it was gone.
@JannaHerron .
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