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After President Donald Trump moved to freeze all federal financial assistance, setting of a storm of confusion and panic Tuesday, local low-income housing providers are left wondering if they will be able to make upcoming payments.
A memorandum released by the federal Office of Management and Budget, also known by the acronym OMB, on Monday directs all federal departments and agencies to temporarily freeze all federal “financial assistance programs and supporting activities.” The order excludes all assistance received directly by individuals like Medicaid payments, the Trump administration clarified yesterday according to the Wall Street Journal, but many observers say the move remains highly unconstitutional.
The pause in funding was scheduled to go into effect Wednesday at 5 p.m., but a federal judge blocked the order from going into effect. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan ordered a short-term halt to the funding pause that is scheduled to last through Monday but could be extended.
“The court’s decision gives advocates and congressional champions more time to oppose this extreme order, which could prevent states and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and low-income families from receiving the critical resources needed to address our nation’s most pressing affordable housing and homelessness challenges,” National Low Income Housing Coalition interim President and CEO Renee Willis said in a statement.
Homebuyers could also be effected. In a statement emailed to reporters, a DownPaymentResource.com spokesperson said that if the freeze is enforced, funding for roughly one-third of the nation’s 2,466 homebuyer assistance programs could see funding cut or eliminated. Federal funding via the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME program is used for 469 programs, while another 265 rely on federal community development blcok grant funding, the spokesperson said.
And, according to the Connecticut Mirror, housing providers around Connecticut are concerned that affordable housing subsidies could be affected by the freeze. Several providers said the Trump administration’s statement that direct assistance payments wouldn’t be affected was too vague to be sure they wouldn’t be hit.
The Trump administration rescinded the funding freeze shortly after lunchtime Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.
