DORAL, Florida — House Republicans huddled at a retreat in Florida defended President Donald Trump’s decision to pause federal funding temporarily, setting off confusion and outrage among opponents throughout Washington.
GOP lawmakers gathering near sunny Miami brushed off concerns about widespread impacts on their constituents after the White House Office of Management and Budget paused grants and loans in a memo Monday night. While they acknowledged uncertainty about the scope of certain programs, lawmakers largely praised the move as another example of “promises made, promises kept.”
“I’m actually excited about it,” GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) said from the House GOP conference retreat. “Thank God, President Trump actually is keeping his promise for some fiscal responsibility and is going to pause, not stop, but pause to make sure that the hard-earned taxpayer dollars is actually going to do exactly what the taxpayer thinks it’s going to do. So, I think it’s brilliant.”
McClain and several others said the pause in aid, which has caused panic and chaos in several districts over the fate of Medicaid and other important social programs, is a “long time coming.”
“I mean, you had the Biden administration throwing gold bars off the Titanic,” McClain told reporters.
The decision to pause aid caused many Democrats and even some Republicans to wonder whether Trump had the authority to take this action.
Less than 24 hours after the pause was announced, several nonprofit organizations and Democratic attorneys general filed lawsuits in federal court, asking a judge to stop the administration’s decision. Minutes before the memo was set to go into effect at 5 p.m., a federal judge blocked the freeze, leaving the situation in limbo.
Meanwhile, several states have reported that Medicaid and Head Start portals are turned off despite assurances by the Trump administration that Medicaid payments, along with individual disbursements to Medicare and Social Security beneficiaries, would not be paused.
“We’ve been on the phone with multiple agencies/orgs,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) said. “They’ve been completely cut off. We’re talking housing, public safety, healthcare services, etc. If kept permanently, this would drastically impact Central Florida.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt faced numerous questions on the subject, with a secondary memo clarifying the reach of the budget order and listing exceptions to Trump’s directive.
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It does not appear that Trump gave the GOP conference advanced notice of his plans or specific guidance that could be passed on to confused constituents ringing congressional offices — the first of many fires Republicans will likely have to put out during the Trump administration.
The news dropped late Monday night after Republicans wrapped up the first night of their three-day conference at Trump National Doral, with over 160 lawmakers meeting to discuss a blueprint for reconciliation.
Some lawmakers and their offices were caught off guard by Trump’s decision. Many offices told the Washington Examiner that they have received numerous phone calls about the aid freeze, not knowing what to tell constituents.
Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner he knew about it on Monday due to a conversation he had with James Blair, one of Trump’s senior advisers. But Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), who serves as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told reporters he heard about the plan on Tuesday morning.
“I hope it’s short-lived,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told reporters, noting he disagrees with the decision. “There’s no reason for the disruption. … I’m not a lawyer, but it [the funding] was appropriated, so I don’t see how they can just stop it.”
Bacon, who represents a swing district, noted that there is no “immediate” fallout, but “long term,” several necessary programs may get shut down.
But, the Nebraska congressman added of Trump: “I just think he likes a little disruption. We’re getting it but, again, this should be short term.”
The argument over impoundment, which is a practice used by the president declining to spend money appropriated by Congress, dates back to the administration of former President Richard Nixon.
Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act, which dictates presidents can only use the impoundment power if they submit requests to Congress about funds they don’t want to disburse. Then, lawmakers have 45 days to approve the requests, otherwise, the funds are being released.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), chairman of the Main Street Caucus, does not believe this decision falls under impoundment.
“It’s just an opportunity to say, stop, is this consistent with, number one, wishes of Congress, and, number two, the views of this administration,” Johnson told reporters, noting he thinks several programs will get the “green light” over the next few days and programs most impactful to people will likely not take too much of an overhaul hit.
While some GOP lawmakers are still working to figure out just how far this memo extends, many are asking people to temper their outrage and think objectively.
“I think people get too concerned, news consumers get too concerned, about what’s the score of the game in the first inning? I always try to ask, what is going to be the score of the game in the ninth inning?” Johnson said.
“On day one, I understand there’s concern. By day five, this will be one of the most popular things Donald Trump has done,” Johnson added.
Still, Democrats are coalescing around a single message to the public: Trump is on track to cut hundreds of vital programs helping families in need across the country, arguing it is a breach of presidential power.
The House Democratic caucus is set to hold an “emergency meeting” on Wednesday at 1 p.m. to develop a three-pronged “counteroffensive” to the aid freeze. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) wrote a letter to the White House on Monday outlining their “extreme alarm” for Trump’s decisions, arguing the scope of the memo is “breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country.”
But House Republicans do not see it that way. Several said this is not unlike the dozens of executive orders he’s signed since Inauguration Day that the GOP will try to codify into law.
“President Trump is our head coach,” McClain said, noting that she doesn’t think the budget memo is “overstepping” the powers of Congress. “He’s going to do a lot of executive orders, right, but then he’ll come back to Congress, of which he’s already done, and try to codify those executive orders into law to make them permanent.”
“So anybody who gives you the impression that he’s going rogue or he’s working on his own — he’s told the American people, he’s told Congress what he’s doing,” the chairwoman added.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) told the Washington Examiner people should understand that “we’re not going to have hungry children going without food” but the president can and should review programs receiving billions of dollars “that, two years ago, didn’t even exist.”
“We need to check on those things,” Carter said. “There needs to be a check and balance system in there. And I applaud the president. He’s a CEO type. He understands that you got to have fiscal responsibility.”
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Carter argued that no one should be shocked by Trump’s decision.
“For a member of Congress to say they were surprised by this, you know, I think that’s ridiculous,” Carter said. “We all know there was money going out the door in [Biden’s] administration. They were just getting out as quickly as they could, and that’s why [Trump] put a pause on that.”
