Illinois Congressman Eric Sorensen canceled a visit to a Peoria-area health care provider Tuesday after the Trump administration ordered a federal freeze of grants, loans and assistance that could impact the health care industry.
Sorensen was going to tour Heartland Health Services and tout a $576,250 Health and Human Services grant he secured for health care but instead canceled the appearance as lawmakers and federal employees all over the country have scrambled for answers in wake of the move.
Adding to the chaos and uncertainty Tuesday was a move by a federal judge to temporarily halt the Trump order until Feb. 3.
Peoria-area health care providers are still evaluating what the freeze could mean for the nonprofit health care industry.
A spokesperson for OSF HealthCare told the Journal Star on Tuesday that the hospital was “still looking at the possible impact” of the freeze in federal dollars which the Trump administration issued in a two-page memo Monday night from the Office of Management and Budget.
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Carle Health told the Journal Star in a statement that like many other nonprofit organizations, it, too, will continue to monitor the changes in federal grants and loans.
“At this time, there are no changes to any of the care we provide in the community and the region,” a spokesperson for Carle Health said.
The two-page memo issued by the Trump administration Monday night sent organizations and federal employees scrambling for clarifications on exactly what programs would be impacted by the freeze.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration clarified that federal student loans and Pell grants would not be impacted.
What led to the federal spending freeze
The memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget Monday night attacked DEI and “woke gender ideology” as part of a move that sent government workers and organizations across the country scrambling for answers.
“In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be impacted by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo.
Illinois lawmakers react to Trump spending freeze
Sorensen said in a statement:
“The administration’s decision to freeze the delivery of essential services to families, businesses, and communities is incredibly irresponsible and hurtful to hard working families in our country. Our job as members of Congress – parties aside – is to find solutions for people. My sole focus is to work for the people in my district so they can live a good life, get their kids a good education, and make our communities more sustainable. Please be assured that our entire team is working to get answers. I will always fight to make sure the executive branch of the government does not overstep its bounds, impeding our neighbors’ ability to live a good life.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, that Trump’s actions “threatened millions of Illinoisans’ access to health care, food, and even fuel to heat their homes. I will stay vigilant in defense of IL because if you come for my people, you come through me.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is co-leading a group of 22 attorney generals from across the country that have sued the Trump administration in an effort to stop the federal funding freeze.
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“On January 20, our nation experienced a peaceful transition of power. But January 20 was an inauguration – not a coronation, and the U.S. Constitution is clear: Congress is granted the power to appropriate funding. The executive branch cannot unilaterally disregard appropriations passed by a separate branch of government,” Raoul said in a statment. “This freeze will have a devastating impact on the funding for our state’s most vulnerable residents. It also makes our residents, including our children, less safe. My office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has arrested more than 2,300 sexual predators since 2006. Our children and our state cannot afford for us to not fight this unlawful policy.”
The lawsuit argues the move by the Trump administration violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act because it imposes a “government-wide stop to spending without any regard for the laws and regulations that govern each source of federal funding. The attorneys general argue that the president cannot decide to unilaterally override laws governing federal spending, and that OMB’s policy unconstitutionally overrides Congress’s power to decide how federal funds are spent,” a statement from Raoul’s office said.
