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A Trump administration order freezing federal grants could have sweeping effects on schools, child care providers, education research, and more if it goes into effect.
But experts say the order is illegal, and a group of Democratic attorneys general already have announced their intention to sue to block it. A federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze late Tuesday.
There is widespread confusion about the impact of the freeze. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that the freeze will not affect Title I and IDEA, large formula grants that provide billions to high-poverty schools and for special education services. Nor will it affect financial aid for college students.
Federal grants fund everything from charter school start-up costs to teacher training to emergency response. The school superintendents association said in a blog post that the school lunch program, which depends on ongoing payments, could be affected.
A memo signed Monday by the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget orders a temporary pause on all grants, loans, and federal assistance, other than spending that goes to individuals, such as Social Security checks. The pause is necessary, Matthew Vaeth wrote, to ensure that money does not go to programs that aren’t aligned with the priorities and values of President Donald Trump.
“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” the memo states.
Education organizations, Democratic leaders, and others condemned the move, which speaks to the wide-ranging changes the Trump administration is seeking to impose on the federal government.
“Virtually any organization, school, state, police office, county, town or community depends on federal grant money to run its day-to-day operations, and are all now in danger,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a press conference Tuesday. “The blast radius of this terrible decision is virtually limitless.”
The order violates federal law that dictates when and how a president can decide not to spend money, said Rachel Perera, a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.
“It’s a brazen power grab,” she said. “There is no possible justification because the president doesn’t have the authority to impound funds authorized by Congress.”
The memo said the pause goes into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Agencies must submit detailed information about affected programs to the Office of Management and Budget by Feb. 10. The memo also describes a new oversight process in which political appointees will have more control over grant spending.
This process will ensure money doesn’t go to programs that are found to violate other executive orders seeking to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and legal recognition of transgender people, the memo says. It’s not clear how broadly those mandates might be interpreted or whether they will withstand separate legal challenges.
The memo was first reported Monday by independent journalist Marisa Kabas and confirmed by multiple other news outlets.
The funding pause described in the memo “only applies to discretionary grants at the Department of Education,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communication Strategy Madison Biedermann said in a written statement. “These will be reviewed by Department leadership for alignment with Trump Administration priorities. The temporary pause does not impact Title I, IDEA, or other formula grants, nor does it apply to Federal Pell Grants and Direct Loans under Title IV, HEA. The Department is working with OMB to identify other programs that are not covered by the memo.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Head Start, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the federal school lunch program, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
An on-the-ground Idaho representative says Head Start funds will not be impacted
By EdNews Staff
Head Start programs will not be impacted by the freeze, according to a memo from President Donald Trump’s office of management and budget.
Megan Woller, executive director of the Idaho Head Start Association, shared the memo with EdNews. Woller is in Washington, D.C., and said that Tuesday morning, Head Start grantees could not access funds.
Stakeholders began speaking out, including members of Congress and representatives from the National Head Start Association, Woller said. Then the memo came out, clarifying that Head Start funds would continue.
“They changed their tune because people spoke,” she said.
Head Start is a “comprehensive ‘whole child,’ family-focused preschool program designed to help low-income and at-risk 3 and 4 year old children and their families succeed in school and life,” according to the IHSA website. Head Start programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program administers grant funding and oversight to about 1,700 public and private nonprofit and for-profit agencies that offer Head Start services in local communities.
Head Start helps low-income families and children in a number of ways, from helping parents earn their GED diplomas or certificates to helping a child get a vision screening to providing early childhood education, Woller said, adding that the freeze could have threatened all those programs.
Head Start’s offerings are “extremely critical” to helping prepare students for kindergarten, she said.
Head Start in Idaho, by the numbers:
- 13: Number of Head Start grantees statewide, including one school district (Pocatello/Chubbuck)
- $43,518,261: Federal dollars that went to Idaho for Head Start in fiscal year 2024
- 3,217: the number of funded Head Start slots in the 2023-2024 school year / the number of children served in 2023-2024
- 25%: The percentage of Idaho children who are eligible for Head Start based on family income
Source: 2024 Idaho Head Start Association annual report
Critchfield: ‘Questions remain’
State superintendent Debbie Critchfield confirmed the freeze doesn’t affect several federal education programs, such as Title I, programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Pell grants for college students.
Critchfield said she received details Tuesday morning from the U.S. Department of Education. “This clarification is helpful and appreciated but questions remain,” Critchfield said in a memo to district superintendents and charter school administrators. “We will continue to work to gain additional clarity and pass it along to you as we receive it.”
Idaho Reports reported on Critchfield’s memo earlier Tuesday.
University of Idaho president addresses lawmakers
University of Idaho President C. Scott Green downplayed the freeze Tuesday, based on past history.
“Honestly, this happens with every administration,” Green told the House Education Committee.
New administrations have stopped federal payments; the first Trump White House did the same thing in 2017, Green said. The freezes tend to be short-lived, and a chance to look at federally funded programs.
Green conceded that U of I staff is worried about the news, and he acknowledged that a freeze could affect time-sensitive grants.
Carly Flandro and Kevin Richert contributed to this report.
The National Head Start Association on Tuesday said child care providers, who already operate on tight budgets, cannot draw down funds. SchoolHouse Connections, which helps schools support homeless students, said McKinney-Vento Act funding likely is not affected, but many programs that serve homeless youth and vulnerable families cannot draw down funds.
State education departments said they are working to understand the potential impacts.
Perera said the order amounts to impoundment. But that’s a legal process that requires notification to Congress, which hasn’t happened in this case. Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act in 1974 to address overreaches by the Nixon administration that were eventually found to be unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Trump administration officials do not believe their order qualifies as impoundment and therefore they do not have to notify Congress.
This is a developing story.
Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at [email protected].
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
