Trump is ‘lying to you’: Pritzker says funding freeze, website crash was no coincidence
Illinois leaders have accused Donald Trump’s administration of lying to the American people when it said funding for programs that pay for childcare and medical services for people living on low incomes would not be affected by its calls for a freeze and evaluation of federal financial assistance.
Trump’s administration said specifically that funding for Medicaid and Head Start programs would continue uninterrupted. But that was not the reality in Illinois on Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a press briefing.
The federal Office of Management and Budget ordered the funding freeze in a memo Monday, explaining that federal agencies would be required to evaluate whether the federal assistance aligned with the Republican president’s new policies on energy, immigration, diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and transgender rights. Initially, the Trump administration did not specify which programs would be affected except to say that Medicare and Social Security benefits were not impacted.
A follow-up memo said that any program that provides “direct benefits to Americans” would be excluded from the freeze — specifically, Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as well as funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance and “other similar programs.”
Nonprofits and other groups remained concerned about the potential impacts, and some of them have sued. A federal judge in the case has temporarily blocked the freeze from taking effect. It was slated to begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Pritzker said in a press briefing Tuesday afternoon that despite the Trump administration’s assurances, state agencies could not access funding for Medicaid and Head Start throughout the day Tuesday. That meant that $104 million in reimbursements for low-income Illinoisans’ medical services was unavailable, according to the governor. At least one Head Start program told the governor’s office Tuesday that if they couldn’t get paid by the end of the day, it might have to close their doors and lay off all of its staff, he said.
The White House said in response that the issues were the result of website outages. Pritzker said he doesn’t believe it was a coincidence.
“Donald Trump’s administration is lying to you,” Pritzker said. “The White House’s attempt to walk back what they did today does not match what we saw on the ground.
“... You think it’s an accident that the memo came out last night and then this morning, our state agencies like Medicaid could not access those systems? It’s not an accident,” he added. “The intention here is to disrupt. The intention here is to make cuts.”
Illinois also plans to file a lawsuit, along with 21 other states, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Tuesday, calling the freeze unconstitutional.
Raoul said the lawsuit will allege that the executive branch doesn’t have the authority to pause or impose “arbitrary and capricious” conditions on federal funding approved by Congress.
Beyond Medicaid and childcare programs, Raoul said the freeze could also impact funding for the following:
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program and other law enforcement funding through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program
Research at universities and labs
Support for agriculture operations, like inspections to make sure salmonella doesn’t contaminate eggs produced in Illinois
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 6:57 PM.
