In response to news that the Trump administration was freezing funding, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler issued the following statement:
The Trump administration’s move to freeze federal funding is unprecedented and illegal and will immediately harm working families across this country. The Office of Management and Budget’s memo indicates that essential programs will stop operating as soon as 5 p.m. Tuesday, including food assistance for people living in poverty; shelter for homeless veterans; health care for babies and nursing homes for seniors with Medicaid; Head Start preschool programs for children; rent assistance and support for low-income families to heat their homes; fire response and disaster relief for people who have lost everything; and state workplace safety programs for workers on the job. The administration’s move also pauses funding for infrastructure and manufacturing projects, throwing tens of thousands of good union jobs into jeopardy.
This is about our livelihoods, our families and our communities, all of which are at risk with this freeze. It’s also about our money—those programs are funded by taxpayers and appropriated by our elected representatives in Congress. The Constitution prohibits the president from blocking that money, no matter what a bunch of out-of-touch billionaire CEOs and the authors of Project 2025 may think. We urge President Trump and his administration to reverse this decision immediately, before the very working people he claims to care about are hurt the most.
Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018