Government and nonprofit officials in Ulster County and across the country spent Tuesday scrambling to understand the implications of the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to most federal aid. While a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the move late Tuesday, if it comes to pass, it could cause major disruptions to federal programs like food stamps and afterschool services that Kingston residents rely on every day.

The shutdown order came in the form of a memo from Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Matthew J. Vaeth entitled “Temporary Pause of Grant, Loan and Other Financial Assistance Programs.” The freeze on some $3 trillion in federal aid, Vaeth wrote, is intended to allow Trump appointees time to vet the spending and weed out grants and programs that do not align with the president’s agenda. Specifically mentioned are initiatives aimed at fostering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), supporting transgender identity and combatting climate change, along with foreign aid and support for nongovernmental organizations.

“The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” wrote Vaeth.

The memo gives agency heads until Feb. 10 to identify grants and programs that fit the mandate. In the meantime, a vast array of federal initiatives and services could remain frozen. The freeze does not cover programs the offer direct aid to recipients like Medicare and Social Security but the status of so-called “pass through” funds paid by the federal government but administered by states — like the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program and Medicaid — remains unclear.

In Kingston, where Mayor Steve Noble has made the pursuit of grants a pillar of his administration, officials were still working to determine what impact the funding freeze could have. Noble said that the most immediate effects could come through the U.S. Agency for Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program. The program which provides services to support Kingston’s low- and moderate-income residents, comes directly from HUD and is administered through the city’s Office of Community Development. A $100,000 allocation of CDBG funds supports a range of programs run by nonprofits like the Boys and Girls Club. Noble said nonprofits spend their own money to run the programs, then submit for reimbursement through Community Development. The reimbursements must be authorized by HUD and could be impacted by the spending freeze. Noble said Community Development staff has been in touch with their HUD counterparts trying to determine the implications of the freeze order.

“That could be a very immediate impact if the Boys and Girls Club submits for reimbursement and we have to tell them that federal government is putting you on hold and we don’t know how long that will last,” said Noble. “Meanwhile these groups have already paid staff; it could really put our nonprofits in a more difficult position than they’re already in with everything that’s been going on.”

Noble said that much of the city’s $66 million grant portfolio is in the form of “pass-through” funds that flow from the government to the state for street improvement projects and other infrastructure work. It is unclear how or if they will be impacted. One notable exception is a $22 million grant to support efforts to improve connections between neighborhoods and access to the waterfront in Downtown Kingston. Among the grant’s goals is to flood-proof roads and other infrastructure along the Hudson River and Rondout Creek to account for sea level rise caused by climate change.

“It would be a huge detriment to our community if by the stroke of a pen this money were removed from our city,” said Noble. “Because nobody wants their road to flood and being able to fix that road benefits everybody, whether they’re a Democrat or a Republican.”

The vast majority of federal money does not simply get deposited in the city’s coffers for use on a project. Instead, municipalities like Kingston allocate or bond for funding, then seek reimbursement in accordance with the terms of the grant. The system, Noble said, means that the federal government is contractually obligated to reimburse for money it has already allocated through grant programs. Noble predicted a wave of litigation if the Trump administration seeks to renege on obligations already in place.

“When you have signed grant contracts, there’s no Trump clause that says the federal government doesn’t have to pay you anymore because he got up on the wrong side of the bed,” said Noble.

Similarly, Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa downplayed the prospect of the county being left on the hook if the Trump administration attempts to renege on grants that have already been approved by Congress. The sheriff’s office administers about $5 million in grants, including one first awarded during the first Trump administration that pays for the groundbreaking and nationally recognized ORACLE anti-opiate program. Figueroa said he did not believe any of the office’s grant funded programs fell into the categories targeted in the OMB memo. He added that Trump had tried something similar in his first administration, targeting grants that had already been approved by Congress, only to be rebuffed by courts.

“I think it’s going to be an uphill battle for this administration, but it will freeze some money temporarily,” said Figueroa, who said he did not anticipate any immediate impact to his agency. “I just don’t see this as being anything other than a tactic to slow the release of money.”

For now, local officials say they’re still trying to get a handle on the meaning of a somewhat vaguely worded memo whose implications seem unclear even to its authors. By Tuesday afternoon, administration officials appeared to be backtracking from the sweeping tone of the freeze, saying it could be as a short as one day for programs that do not touch on the targeted categories and would not apply to federal student loan and grant programs, Head Start and aid to farmers and small businesses.

In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, County Executive Jen Metzger acknowledged the confusion and expressed serious concerns about potential local impacts. Metzger noted that Ulster County administers some $60 million in federally funded programs, projects and services, including ones involving emergency preparedness, child protective services, services for seniors and public transportation. Like Noble and Figueroa, Metzger anticipated the matter would end up before the courts.

“The memorandum gives no consideration to the impact of this freeze on real people, and I thank Attorney General [Letitia] James and the other states planning to file suit against the federal government on the constitutionality of this decision."