Mr. President, I rise today because, over the last 2 days, I have been hearing from officials and organizations throughout Rhode Island that have been concerned about losing access to essential Federal funding. In fact, Rhode Island officials told my office that, for several hours yesterday, they could not access the Federal portal that allows them to draw down funding from the Medicaid Program. Other agencies and organizations have reported that they, too, were locked out of funding portals for critical grant programs. And why is this? Well, Monday night, the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, issued a memorandum instructing Federal Agencies to freeze funding that had been authorized and appropriated by Congress until it can be determined that the program comports with President Trump's ideological views, as judged by the White House. Just a little over an hour ago, OMB rescinded this memo. But then the White House Press Secretary has tweeted that the freeze is still in effect. This illustrates the uncertainty and the lack of calculation that went into this process.…
Share & report
More from Jack Reed
President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine are fighting for their very lives and existence.
Mr. President, I believe that Americans are ready and willing to answer the call to serve and come together to meet the challenges that we face at the local, national, and international level. We just need to create the conditions to…
I am also concerned about the Trump administration's dubious creation of ``National Defense Areas'' along the southern border in the last several weeks. These National Defense Areas, first designated in New Mexico and later expanded into…
I have always advocated for efficiency at the Department of Defense, but tough personnel decisions should be based on facts and analysis, not arbitrary percentages.





