TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS

TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)] [Senate] [Pages S490-S493] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, in an overnight maneuver on Monday, President Trump unlawfully and unilaterally blockaded much of the Federal budget. Hitting ``send'' on a two-page memo, the Trump administration triggered a chaotic 24 hours that has thrown every town, county, Tribe, nonprofit, doctor's office, hospital, nursing home, school, and preschool in my State into disarray. From New Mexico's Roundhouse--our capitol--to the classroom, to the emergency room, there were a thousand questions and zero answers. Now the Trump administration has both withdrawn and not withdrawn this blockade. In so-called clarifications, President Trump has made things about as clear as mud, but here are three things that are crystal clear: First, President Trump's funding blockade was blatantly unconstitutional and illegal; secondly, it has caused real harm; and third, this was a test run where chaos was actually the point. If you are trying to follow the news and getting confused, it is not you. If you heard that President Trump blocked all Federal Medicaid reimbursements, you heard correctly. If you [[Page S491]] heard that the White House claimed Federal Medicaid reimbursements were exempt from the blockade, you also heard correctly. If you heard that despite being allegedly exempt, Medicaid reimbursement was still blocked, you heard correctly. Same story for Head Start, same goes for food assistance, or SNAP, and for school lunches, and that list goes on and on and on. Even today, after a Federal court ruled that the Trump administration had to pause the pause, I am still getting reports of organizations that cannot access Federal funding portals. In the midst of all of that, there are very real consequences. Let's just take Medicaid just for a start. Almost a quarter of my State's budget moves through the Medicaid portal--the one that was shut down yesterday. Eight billion dollars in Federal Medicaid funding comes to New Mexico every single year. Millions and millions of dollars' worth of Medicaid reimbursement happen on that portal in any given day. Seven out of ten nursing home residents, 55 percent of newborn births, more than 700,000 people in total in my State depend on Medicaid for their healthcare. Because a Medicaid blockade would impact over a third of New Mexico's population, it really impacts all of our healthcare providers, from small, rural clinics to our largest hospitals. Shutting that down is a big deal, but it wasn't just that. I heard from childcare and Head Start providers, rental assistance programs, Tribal governments, local law enforcement, fire departments, and nonprofit organizations that provide everything from support to our veterans to healthy meals for seniors and families. We need to call out Trump's brazen action for what it truly is. It is a power grab and a test to see just how much he can get away with. President Trump and his cronies are testing how far they can go to dismantle and dismember our democracy in service of his strongman impulses and his ideological agenda. Our message to him: The stove is hot, Mr. President. You should remember that. The Constitution and Federal law are clear on who controls the spending of our taxpayer dollars. The President cannot simply override or delay or rescind Congress's appropriations bills once they are signed into law--full stop. This has been upheld time and again by the Supreme Court, by the Justice Department, the Government Accountability Office, and it was codified into law in the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Under that law, the President cannot unilaterally stop the disbursement of Federal funds that Congress has appropriated and the President has signed into law. Sound familiar? A President unilaterally stopping the disbursement of Federal funds that Congress has appropriated? Yes. This is exactly what President Trump just tried. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I know how much work goes into writing and passing our bipartisan funding laws. I am here now talking on the Senate floor because I will fight like hell to stop this or any of Trump's brazen, illegal funding blockades, and I am not alone. I am joined by my colleagues here in the Senate on the Senate floor tonight, my colleagues in the New Mexico Federal delegation, my State's attorney general, and countless of my constituents. Now, let me read just a few letters that I received from New Mexicans over these last 2 days: Tamborah from Deming, who depends on Social Security disability benefits and Medicaid, was scared she would not be able to keep up with rent or basic necessities during the pause. Tamborah wrote to me: I will not be able to pay full price rent. My heart is filled with uncertainty. I am afraid for my neighbors with children. It has saddened my heart to see so many people including myself become unsure of the future. Caitlin from Taos wrote to my office expressing concern for her safety and security should DreamTree, a federally funded youth shelter in northern New Mexico, shutter its services due to Trump's pause. She wrote: Without DreamTree, I wouldn't have a roof over my head, which would cause a lot of worry and fear, being vulnerable to sexual assault, which happened to me in the past. DreamTree is not just a program: it's home, it's my safe space. Dolores from Albuquerque is fearful she won't be able to make ends meet if she loses her job because of the freeze. She wrote to me: Please help! I am a senior citizen trying to make ends meet. I am alone paying my own bills. I work in the Senior Community Service Employment Program and President Trump's administration is going to cut the funding. I won't be able to pay my bills. I am so afraid. Shelley from Albuquerque, a dietitian, nutritionist, is scared for the very lives of her patients who depend on Medicaid to survive. She wrote to me: Those I serve on the Developmental Disabilities Waiver are Medicaid recipients, and some rely 100 percent on the specialized formula for tube feeding. To reiterate, they get 100 percent of their nutrition from that formula, primarily through a tube in their stomach. If they do not have it, they will starve. Louis from Las Cruces is concerned that his grandson won't be able to support his family if President Trump's border eliminates NIH funding and consequently his grandson's job. Louis wrote to me: My grandson graduated with honors from [New Mexico State University]. He is the recipient of an NIH grant which has been suspended. He has a wife and child. I don't think the President understands his actions affect real people. Joan from Santa Fe has already lost money due to Trump's funding freeze. Joan wrote: I've just lost a $5,000 contract, and this order is going to have a negative ripple effect through the economy. Please protect federal workers from the Trump administration's purge and harassment. Mara from Albuquerque, who is a biomedical student at the University of New Mexico doing cancer research and is fearful of what this freeze means for her job and ability to do this important work, wrote: I am personally affected by this pause because of the NIH grants that sustain my lab and pay the salaries of my staff and students. These grants were applied for and awarded in good faith and they pay for extremely important cancer research. Melissa from Albuquerque is a Head Start childcare provider and has a son at Head Start. Melissa wrote to me: I am employed by Head Start. My son is a student at Head Start. I believe in what we do, I believe in the men and women I work with. These teachers change children's lives. I am so saddened and stressed. Can you please help? Andra from Albuquerque is a researcher at the University of New Mexico whose work is funded by the National Science Foundation. Andra wrote to me: I work at the University of New Mexico as part of a team entirely funded from the National Science Foundation. We have been notified that we may lose our funding. This will likely result in the loss of my job, along with those of my colleagues. Eytan, a Forest Stewards Guild member in New Mexico, is worried about how a Federal funding freeze could lead to more deadly and destructive wildfires across our State. Eytan wrote to me: This disruption puts New Mexico at significant risk for a catastrophic wildfire as we head into another high-risk fire season. Sienna from Taos is a behavioral healthcare provider concerned that the loss of Federal funding could prevent her from meeting the needs of toddlers and their families. Sienna wrote to me: This is a total assault on New Mexico's most vulnerable populations. Our programs assist families everyday and this funding is at risk. Halting federal grants will impact the early childhood programs serving low-income kids. These letters paint a painful picture of the chaos and uncertainty that President Trump's actions have created in my State alone. What do you say to those Americans, President Trump? How could you possibly defend taking their taxpayer dollars, the work of their elected leaders, the Constitution you swore to defend just a few days ago and pushing that all aside? What funding exactly was thrown aside with it? Let me read you a list of funding impacted in just New Mexico, even as we still do not know which programs are or are not on the chopping block. I will start with the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program. If you have one in your State, you probably know it as an [[Page S492]] HIDTA program. This program includes 17 counties that are coordinating on drug intelligence, interdiction, investigation, and prosecution efforts to reduce the impact of illicit drugs. These are the folks coordinating to