Multiple news outlets reported Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s administration had backed off on an announced pause in federal funding, which had caused more than a day of jitters nationally and among Pittsburgh institutions. By Wednesday afternoon, the White House was indicating that while the Monday memo on the freeze had been rescinded, efforts to curb federal spending are not.
Local officials were plunged into anxiety Tuesday and Wednesday after the Trump administration announced a pause on federal grants and loans, potentially hindering trillions of dollars in federal spending nationally.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from withholding congressionally approved spending just minutes before the order was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday, allowing courts time to consider whether the move was legal.
City of Pittsburgh spokesperson Olga George said a funding freeze would have “the potential to significantly impact” many city programs.
“Federal funding plays a key role in supporting a wide range of city services, infrastructure projects and community development initiatives,” George said. “… We are working with our federal delegation to protect critical funding that our residents need. In the meantime, we will continue to actively monitor the situation.”
The White House’s acting budget chief wrote in a two-page memo dated Monday that the pause would be temporary, to allow federal agencies time to determine what spending could run afoul of Trump’s many recent executive orders. Many Democrats said Tuesday that halting spending already approved by Congress was unconstitutional.
Allegheny County sees ‘cruelty, chaos and suffering’
A spokesperson for Allegheny County’s government said Tuesday that the county was analyzing a freeze’s impact.
“While it is an evolving situation and a federal judge has ordered a stay until Monday, our initial estimate is that this freezes or potentially cuts at least $500 million in federal funding to the Allegheny County budget,” county spokesperson Abigail Gardner wrote in a statement.
Gardner continued that the freeze could slash “dollars for victims of violent crimes, sexual assault and domestic violence, and a bulletproof vest grant. It cuts public health programs for maternal and infant health, clean air, childhood lead programs and more. It cuts the economic development department,” and she called the potential human services effects “catastrophic.”
“These orders as directed so far are designed to maximize cruelty, chaos and suffering,” she continued.
The county’s grants budget for 2025 includes more than $542 million from the federal government, about one-third of all grant dollars flowing into the county coffers. About 44% of that money goes to human services, 25% to economic development and 15% to health, among other departments.
Gardner added that cuts would also effect “higher education institutions, private businesses, municipal governments, public authorities and the state.”
From higher ed to homeless children
Universities in the city were working to understand the potential impacts of the order on their operations. Carlow University issued a statement Wednesday to PublicSource saying administrators were reviewing how the order could affect faculty, staff and students, but emphasized that the university intends to uphold its mission in the face of potential changes.
“We remain committed to providing transformative educational opportunities that empower students to become compassionate, responsible leaders,” read the statement.
Private universities, like Carlow, obtain anywhere between 10-20% of their budgets from federal funds — smaller than public universities. But for smaller, less-wealthy institutions the ramifications of a freeze would be significant.
As the Trump administration changes America, we want to know how it’s affecting Pittsburghers
Smaller organizations — especially those working in spaces opposed by the Trump administration — expressed deep concerns.
The Homeless Children’s Education Fund announced in a press release Wednesday that as a result of the funding freeze, it “will be forced to access emergency funds to provide critical aid, but these resources are limited. Without swift action, children and families in crisis will face even greater hardship.”
SisTers PGH Executive Director Ciora Thomas posted on social media Tuesday that while the group purchased the physical location for Project T, a trans-led transitional housing program, five years ago, funding to keep the program afloat is from federal sources. “We have bills, we have siblings living there, and it takes funding to keep the space safe, functional and supportive,” wrote Thomas, founder of SisTers PGH.
Hospital systems mum on Medicaid stoppage
On Tuesday, states nationwide reported a disruption to Medicaid payments, potentially impacting a health care program that enrolls tens of millions of Americans. The White House said Medicaid would not be affected by the funding freeze order. By Wednesday, the Medicaid portal used by states was reportedly back online.
Representatives for Pittsburgh hospital groups UPMC and Highmark/AHN did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The memo stated that the freeze does not apply to “assistance provided directly to individuals,” and specifically names Medicare and Social Security as exempt.
Democrats call it illegal overreach
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, assailed the funding stoppage in a statement posted to social media, calling “extraordinary overreach.”
“We demand that the Trump Administration uphold the law and the Constitution and ensure all federal resources are delivered in accordance with the laws Congress passed,” Lee said.
Allegheny County’s other House representative, Aspinwall Democrat Chris Deluzio, said Tuesday afternoon that he would “fight to get this funding unfrozen.”
And Sen. John Fetterman, a Braddock Democrat who traveled to Florida to meet with Trump earlier this month and signaled a willingness to work with the president, said on X that his office has received calls from more than a dozen organizations that serve low-income families that have lost access to federal funds.
“These services, including Medicaid, are critical to our most vulnerable and I am calling on @POTUS to immediately restore access,” Fetterman wrote.
Republican Sen. Dave McCormick, who has promoted Trump’s agenda in his first weeks in Washington, did not issue any statements related to the funding freeze and his Washington office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He was interviewed on Fox Business at 4:20 p.m. but the funding freeze was not discussed.
Several states with Democratic attorneys general announced that they would sue to block the federal funding pause. A coalition of nonprofit organizations also moved in court against the pause, arguing that a stoppage of allocated federal funds had no legal basis.
If changes coming from Washington, D.C. are affecting your life, PublicSource would like to know about it.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information unavailable at the time of publication.
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
