Federal funds go to a wide array of local programs and projects, including work inside the Ilwaco harbor.

PACIFIC COUNTY — Developments in Washington, D.C. reverberated through our county thousands of miles away last week after the new administration sought to freeze trillions of dollars in federal funding that supports the work of nonprofits, community organizations and local municipalities and agencies.

In a Jan. 27 internal memo, the White House budget office instructed federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” and perform a “comprehensive analysis” to ensure grant and loan programs are aligned with President Donald Trump’s ideology.

The fallout and backpedaling in the days following the directive sparked confusion across the country, including in Pacific County, about whether funding that supports local programs and projects were at risk of being halted or axed. Indeed, multiple local officials told the Observer they’d been informed in the immediate aftermath of the White House memo that programs or projects that had previously been approved were now at risk of being put on hold.

Confusion reigns

Chaos ensued following the initial memo, and many states on Jan. 28 reported hourslong issues when trying to access funds under Medicaid through an online portal — even as the White House claimed it and programs like Medicare and Social Security would not be affected by the order. Some preschool centers reported troubles in securing reimbursements from the Head Start program, while federal health and education officials confirmed they had to halt work that resulted in stalling money for some after-school programs and the Special Olympics.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a follow-up memo on Jan. 28 after widespread reports of funds being halted across the U.S., saying it only sought to align spending with Trump’s recent executive orders targeting foreign aid and funding for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

On the same day, nearly two dozen state attorneys general, including Washington AG Nick Brown, filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the funding freeze. A separate lawsuit, filed by the left-leaning Democracy Forward group on behalf of a coalition of nonprofits, businesses and public health backers, won a reprieve after a federal judge temporarily blocked the spending restrictions from going into effect until at least Feb. 3 to allow time for that case to proceed.

Then, on Jan. 29, the White House budget office rescinded its order freezing federal grants and loans. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that while the initial memo had been rescinded to comply with the judge’s order, the Trump administration would continue its push to block spending it opposes.

While Congress holds the power to control government spending, Trump and his nominee to lead the OMB, Russell Vought, have argued that the executive branch should have the ability to cancel federal spending without congressional approval. Vought has said that the administration will challenge the constitutionality of a 50-year-old budget law, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which limits presidential authority to cancel spending.

Local impact

On the peninsula, a Long Beach official said on Jan. 28 that one of the city’s infrastructure projects had been indefinitely delayed as a result of the OMB directive.

The city’s deputy administrator, Ariel Smith, said a $250,000 storm project along 2nd Street NE from Pacific Avenue to Oregon Avenue had been put on pause. The project was in response to the bomb cyclone that struck Washington in December, which had been declared a disaster by the Biden administration and made federal funding available to aid in the recovery.

Long Beach heard of the funding delay for the project from the Washington Emergency Management Division, which receives funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to then distribute to counties, cities and tribes.

Smith, on Jan. 28, said that the project was in the early engineering phase and was considered to be on pause until further notice. On Jan. 30, Smith shared an update EMD sent out that day to the city and other federal grant recipients that said the OMB’s rescission of its directive meant “the potential impacts of that previous memo are no longer applicable, and we are back to our previous operational posture until further notice.”

Gracie Minks, director of the Pacific County Health and Human Services Department (PCHHS), said Jan. 29 that a nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at addressing local youth suicide had been halted due to the federal directive. According to an email notice from the Justice Department, the county was informed it would be unable to request a funding drawdown after 2 p.m. on Jan. 28.

The $975,000 grant was announced in early December through the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, to help fund PCHHS efforts to complete a comprehensive youth suicide prevention project that is specifically aimed at addressing high rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among local students in grades 8-12. Pacific County has the 11th-highest suicide rate out of Washington’s 39 counties.

The project would serve each of the county’s five school districts — all of the districts submitted a letter in support of the project — and deliver a suite of suicide awareness and prevention training to students, school staff and parents, as well as establish a unified and systematic trauma response protocol.

According to Minks, PCHHS had not yet received a contract to begin work and will still plan on hiring for the position supporting the project and begin its implementation.

Other notes

Officials with other local agencies and organizations said they were closely following the latest developments surrounding the OMB’s orders.

Tina Hayes, the new manager at the Port of Ilwaco, noted Jan. 29 that the ongoing, multi-million dollar project to repair a key bulkhead at the port is being supported by funds from the U.S. Maritime Administration. The bulkhead protects operations at Safe Coast Seafood — currently the only commercial processor at the port — from flooding during storms and events like king tides.

Hayes said she had reached out to the federal agency in regard to whether the project would be affected by the freeze.

Claire Bruncke, executive director of the Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center, said Jan. 28 that she had been in meetings all morning about the OMB’s directive. DJHCC receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education that supports efforts like its no-cost, after-school programming.

“Right now, all our current federal funding runs through the state and then to us,” she said, “so for the current moment those funds have already been allocated and we’re OK — but the future of all those funds remains very uncertain.”

Merry-Ann Keane, CEO of Ocean Beach Hospital and its clinics, said that while the federal freeze does not apply to Medicare or Medicaid at the moment, “we continue to monitor the federal changes closely so we can respond accordingly.”

Keane said OBH was watching these developments in collaboration with the Washington State Hospital Association and American Hospital Association, which are providing real-time information and guidance to its members.

“We are happy to know that all grant funding remains available during this time, pending litigation,” she added.