DENVER — Just hours before a federal judge temporarily blocked a federal funding freeze that could upend organizations and programs that rely on Washington for their financial lifelines, Democratic attorneys general in several states — including Colorado — announced a joint effort to block President Trump from moving forward with his plans.
In announcing he was joining the multi-state lawsuit, which included attorneys general from New York, California and Rhode Island, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said a freeze on federal funds, “takes the power of the purse away from Congress, violates the separation of powers, and is already causing massive harm in Colorado, undermining delivery of healthcare, education, and public safety."
The White House announced the pause in federal grants and loans was set to take effect at 3 p.m. MST, just one day after agencies were informed of the decision as the Trump administration begins an across-the-board review of its spending.
Officials said the decision was necessary to ensure all funding complies with Trump’s executive orders, which have already undone some of the work the Biden administration did on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts (DEI, for short), transgender rights and environmental justice.
Though officials said earlier Tuesday that federal assistance would not be affected for those on Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, student loans and scholarships, The Washington Post reported that more 20 states were reporting problems with the Medicaid payment system hours before the pause was set to take effect.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, later tweeted the administration was “aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” though she said no payments had been affected and were still being processed and sent.
The White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 28, 2025
We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent.
We expect the portal will be back online shortly.
Weiser, in his statement, said the freeze was “reckless and unprecedented,” mirroring statements made by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who added that the funding freeze was already hurting vital programs.
Her California counterpart, Rob Bonta, said he fears the move will affect money for wildfire recovery. And Peter Neronha in Rhode Island described the pause as “a ham-handed way to run a government,” according to The Associated Press.
The funding freeze could temporarily affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives.
“This indefinite pause in Congressionally appropriated federal funding hurts children and hardworking families, jeopardizes American jobs and businesses, harms hospitals and safety net health providers, threatens road and bridge repairs, and impacts countless other programs,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Tuesday.
He added that while he’s always open to ideas on how to make government more efficient, “chaotic actions like this do not make our country better off,” and added that his administration hoped that “this senseless action is reversed urgently before too much damage is done to people and businesses.”
A federal judge blocked the action Tuesday afternoon, minutes before it was set to go into effect. The administrative stay pauses the freeze until Monday.
Democrats and independent organizations described the pause to the AP as capricious and illegal because Congress had already authorized the money.
“The scope of this illegal action is unprecedented and could have devastating consequences across the country," Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the news agency. "For real people, we could see a screeching halt to resources for child care, cancer research, housing, police officers, opioid addiction treatment, rebuilding roads and bridges, and even disaster relief efforts.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, called it “more lawlessness and chaos in America.”
It's unclear from the White House memo how sweeping the pause will be.
National Politics
Why President Trump will need more than executive orders to implement his agenda
Matthew Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote that “each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their Federal financial assistance programs to identify programs, projects, and activities that may be implicated by any of the President’s executive orders."
He also wrote that the pause should be implemented “to the extent permissible under applicable law.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, which distributes billions of dollars, confirmed with the AP that it would implement the pause to “align federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through President Trump’s priorities.”
Washington is a hub of spending that flows to various departments, local governments, nonprofits and contractors, and the memo has left countless people who are dependent on that money wondering how they will be affected.
The pause is the latest example of how Trump is harnessing his power over the federal system to advance his conservative goals. Unlike during his first term, when Trump and many members of his inner circle were unfamiliar with Washington, this time he's reaching deep into the bureaucracy.
“They are pushing the president’s agenda from the bottom up," said Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor emeritus of public service at New York University.
He also said there are risks in Trump's approach, especially with so many voters reliant on Washington.
“You can’t just hassle, hassle, hassle," Light told the AP. "You’ve got to deliver.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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