John,

We’re halfway through September, and Congress only has until the end of the month to pass spending bills to avert a government shutdown. And meanwhile, the Trump administration is shutting down programs across the country by illegally withholding money from local communities.

Instead of working to fund critical programs, right-wing extremists in Congress are more than willing to let the Trump administration cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in funding.

It’s not enough to simply demand that Congress approve funding for human needs programs; they must ensure those funds are used in the way they were intended. So far, Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have cancelled or frozen more than $410 billion in funding for programs, including over $1 billion in substance use and mental health treatment, $250 million for school-based mental health grants (impacting over 200 programs in 30 states), $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, $1.7 billion from programs that help communities transition to clean energy, $311 million to develop preschool programs, and $70 million from legal services that help unaccompanied children.¹

The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse to allocate funds, and it must be used now to ensure adequate funding of our communities. Congress must include enforceable language in any final funding agreements that ensures a deal is truly a deal—so that the funding included in bipartisan spending bills passed by Congress reaches communities and people it is intended to serve.  

Send a message to Congress today. Demand they protect important programs in your community by including explicit language in government funding bills that ensures the Trump administration spends the funds allocated by Congress.

Donald Trump and OMB Director Russell Vought are holding up $410 billion in funding, violating federal law. According to the House Appropriations Ranking member, Rosa DeLauro:²

“While Republicans passed a bill to take away health care coverage from more than 15 million people, including seniors, and to cause a million kids to go hungry, President Trump and Russ Vought have been stealing resources promised to working Americans in every part of the country. They are cheating families all while giving big corporations and billionaires trillions of dollars in new tax breaks.

“As the courts and a key nonpartisan watchdog have repeatedly concluded, this administration’s disregard for our nation’s spending laws and Congress’ power of the purse has touched every corner of our country. Children in elementary schools have been denied resources they need to succeed, farmers and rural communities have been left to fend for themselves, and communities have been robbed of resources to keep people safe. President Trump and Russ Vought have stripped hope away from cancer patients and single-handedly decided to make the cost-of-living crisis even worse for working families.”

This is not how our legislative process is supposed to work. We must stand up to actions by this administration that are harming our communities.

Join us in calling on Congress to assert its power of the purse and make sure critical programs are funded now.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide
² NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide