North Texas officials brace for impact as federal judge temporarily blocks Trump's funding freeze order
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to "discuss the financial and operational impact to county programs" of an executive order issued by President Trump that freezes most federal spending.
The order would require all federal agencies to review their spending to ensure it aligns with the new Trump administration policy on issues like "DEI, woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal." The executive order does not give specifics on what these policies refer to. It was supposed to take effect at 4 p.m. Central. Moments before the news conference began, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's freeze on federal grants and loans until Monday.
"We have scrambled today to see what would be impacted: Parkland, schools," Jenkins said.
Jenkins said the county uses federal funding for 70 positions.
"Because of the walk back," said Jenkins, "there will not be those immediate impacts."
The current stay applies only to open programs that are federally funded. The issuance of new funding is not affected by the court action.
Social Security, SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid benefits are exempt from the funding freeze, but Medicaid portals went offline Tuesday.
Meals on Wheels Tarrant County released a statement Tuesday afternoon that it has received questions about whether services will be impacted; More than one-third of funding for Meals on Wheels comes from the federal government.
"As you can imagine, we're very concerned about this action and are awaiting more information. We've already reached out to some of our local officials asking for a clarification," the statement said.
Jenkins said he was already scheduled to be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to work on mental health partnerships. Now, he plans to ask more about the funding freeze program, if it ends up taking effect.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, weighed in on the funding freeze at her swearing-in ceremony.
"I don't believe that the president has this authority," said Crockett. "The president did say, as he campaigned, that he would be a dictator on day one. It sounds like he's going to continue to try his best to be a dictator."
The judge's temporary block came after Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia announced they were filing a lawsuit to stop the order from being implemented.