Federal Funding Paused? | SoloPod

you talking about what's going on. So we are on YouTube Live, and I want to talk to you all about this memo that came from Matthew J. Vase, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. Everyone is knowing is aware of this right now by the federal funding freeze, and let me tell you was not frozen your tax payments. They are still expecting your tax payer dollars to fund these initiatives. And I want to go into just briefly what this funding freeze is calling for.

And first we make sure my laptop is plugged in so I don't lose y'all along the way. Here's the thing. We should talk about what Donald Trump actually has the power to do and the power that Donald Trump is going to test during his presidency. We will talk about what is at stake with this potential funding freeze, what is being asked of different agency heads, cabinet secretaries and officials, etc. And we'll talk about the potential violation of the law. If there is time, we will get to a few

other executive orders which also may be of importance. I'm telling our producer Lolo, I forgot to call her, so she should just make sure that she that she texts me just again there's anything she wants to flag. So I first want to just mention that we will be doing these lives pretty regularly, at least every Tuesday, so you will hear from us on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for sure. We're working through a Wednesday and Friday option as well. Now this is the memo. Okay, this is

the memo we're looking at. This is from the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget Control, Management and Budget. Here's what you all need to know there is broad sweeping authority that omb. That's what Office of Management Budget has in this memo. The acting director, because Donald Trump's nominee has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, the person who will be confirmed by the Senate most likely is a man named Russ Vaut and

he is a prior ob director. And it is very, very chilling. And let me tell you why. You know that podcast we did on what is Project twenty twenty five, and you know how a lot of folks were blowing off this whole idea of Project twenty twenty five. Well, the thing is real and it was sworn in on Martin Luther King day, and he is controlled by many parts. This is Stephen Miller's White House. Donald Trump is not running this thing. His deputy chief of Staff for policy is.

And you remember how Donald Trump tried to distance himself from Project twenty twenty five and he even put out his own thing, the Agenda forty seven. Right, Well, let me tell you something. Project twenty twenty five is coming to fruition every single day. Russell Veout, who wrote the chapter about O ANDB and Project twenty twenty five, is who Donald Trump is seeking to confirm for O ANDB. Now, this is what I want to tell you that he says on page twenty, so you guys can fact check me, okay.

On page twenty in Project twenty twenty five, they quote Russell Balt as saying O and B should establish a reputation as the keeper of Commander's intent. Yet O and B is dominated by career employees who often try to overrule political appointees serving in the various executive departments. Empowering political appointees across the administration is crucial to a president's success. Now what does that have to do with this federal funding freeze today? Well, this is putting the power back

into the hands of Donald Trump's political appointees. So this is how this memo starts. Because a lot of you are reading the articles, but you aren't necessarily seeing what is in the actual document. So it's a short document. I'm not going to read the whole things, but there's a couple of points I want to share with you.

It starts with the American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar They go on to say that the federal government spends nearly ten trillion dollars, or the spent nearly ten trillion dollars in fiscal year twenty twenty four, and more than three trillion of that was for federal financial

assistance such as grants and loans. They go on to kind of demonstrate why the loan money, why the grant money that has been spent in this three trillion dollar number, should be reviewed. This is what they say that I think is important for you all to know. Financial assistance should be dedicated to advancing administration priorities, focusing taxpayer dollars to advance a stronger and safer America, eliminating the financial burden of inflation for citizens. I think we generally agree

with that, unleashing American energy and manufacturing. Let's talk about what they mean by unleash. There's an executive order for that, by the way, ending wokeness. We don't even say that no more, but ending wokeness and the weaponization of government. You know what they mean by that, Read between the lines. Also read the executive orders that support that language. Promoting

efficiency in government. That's that DOGE entity that elon Musk is running and making America healthy again, which is where they hope to put RFK junior. So this is the thing. They go on to say, the use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity. Now, striving for equity, equality injustice is a Marxist concept. 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 who

we serve. They say, now, y'all, they have mastered weaponizing our language against us. The Green New Deal is to preserve the planet for folks who look like me and you a little longer. The Green New Deal is about ensuring that Flint has clean drinking water. They talk about transgenderism, we're talking about making sure that all humans have access to resources and the ability to survive, regardless of whatever

identity you claim. And then Marxist equity again, we're talking about the policies that began to really take root and take hold after George Floyd was murdered on camera for nine minutes and thirty seconds, many of us thought, for the first time in our black lives, our brown lives, or indigenous lives, or whatever lives, maybe your white lives do that things were going to finally shift, that we

were going to finally see justice served. And little do we know that it was a marketing ploy on behalf of many companies, including Target, that is now trying to dial back where George Floyd was killed. Imagine that, and entities that, including those in the federal government, weren't going to push this for too long. And now they're trying to blame our focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion for why Democrats lost the election, because you know, justice should

not be served for the least of these. And here's what I take real issue with with this particular executive memo. The people who will be hurt the most are the most vulnerable amongst us. They are the people who benefited greatly from a Trump check, right from that stimulus payment, from a STiMi. They are the folks who thought that they would get a second chance in this administration because

that check meant so much. I understand it. But now some of the things that you rely on every single day to keep your lights on are now in harm's way. So what they say in the next part of this memo is that each agency must complete a comprehensive analysis of all of their federal financial assistance programs. They're requiring a temporary pause on all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistants this assistance. That means

they're not cutting no checks right now. It's a temporary pause that was effective as of yesterday at five pm. I'm sorry today, and it is in effect until February tenth. So there may be things that you're waiting on. Maybe you were approved for a federal grant. Maybe you were approved for an SBA loan. Depending under depending on the criteria of that grant a loan, you could be in harm's way. So that is what I want to flag for you, Lolo, text me if there are any questions

that come up along the way. Now, the other thing that I think is highly dangerous is it says in the paragraph this is the second page, This is the paragraph right above the bottom. It says that OMB may grant exceptions allowing federal agencies to issue new awards or take other actions on a case by case basis. What does that mean. That means that it is solely up to their discretion. That means that it is a super

subjective standard. And the folks who rely on agency funding because they are one of a few, because they are a woman owned business or a minority owned business, or doing work that would impact black maternal health or some of the things. Some of my most important work that I'm the most proud of on Capitol Hill was helping to advance centers of excellence at HBCUs when I worked for the wonderful Congressman Thompson on the Homeland Security Committee.

That funding is now all at risk. Right, there are centers of excellence in all types of industry and spaces and different interests. All of that is at risk. A lot of folks have been saying, we were just talking on our pre production call before we started about whether or not Snap benefits those EBT cards that folks used to buy food at the stores and to keep groceries, you know, in their homes, whether or not school lunches for kids would be impacted, whether or now affordable housing

would be impacted. Well, here's the thing. This memo is super vague, talking about Marxist equity and green New deals, social engineering policies and all of that with intention, and some of you may be saying, well, how is this even legal? Right, Like, the executive branch doesn't necessarily get to govern? Is what is funded? Because the United States House and the Congress. Why is this the other It is the United States House Congress large has the obligation

of controlling the purse strings. Let's go to why you all are saying that. In Article one, Section nine, clause seven, called the Appropriation's Clause in the Constitution States impertinent part, no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. Now, this is about governing what is contained in the United States Treasury.

Nothing can be paid out of the treasury, according to the Supreme Court. Then let's see if they hold it now nothing, no money can be paid out of the treasury unless it has been appropriated by an Act of Congress. Now, Donald Trump's administration is arguing something very interesting here. They are arguing that there may be a limitation on what can be spent, that is Congress's role, but that they can cut like there ain't no tomorrow under a doctrine

that they call impoundment. So this means that they have control over cuts, but they don't have control of the spin of the purse strings. That is very, very dangerous, and it sounds like Donald Trump's administration is gonna go hard to try to push this doctrine all the way

to a court battle to the Supreme Court. Now, this Supreme Court, the same one that decided that Donald Trump could not be civilly or criminally liable as a president, that he had civil and criminal immunity, sides with them on They can cut whatever they want as the executive branch, but they can't spin whatever they want. Y'all, we in danger. And that's what we really need to understand. This is

a very very serious memo. This current acting O and B director is pushing to broaden its authority and to ensure that the only people that can make these decisions about a federal spind are Donald Trump's political appointees. And here's what I think is scariest about this. You guys, none of this is surprising if you read Project twenty five. We have got to stay informed, y'all. We can't. We can't keep getting caught on our heels about what's to come.

Because people are not informed. We have to be informed. Yes, it is a nine hundred and twenty two page document. Yes it is imperative that you read it. Yes, you need to know that many of the people who Donald Trump has put in critical roles, including Stephen Miller, which again I would argue is running the White House. From the immigration ice raids to all of the attacks on DEI, all of that is Steven Miller's brainchild. That's not Donald

Trump's thoughts. That is Steven Miller, and he had to have them back in the White House because there's no ability for Donald Trump to think this way without Steven Miller. He basically has seeded his entire presidency to Steven Miller. That is a very dangerous thing. If you look up who Steven Miller is, you'll understand why. So there is

the other piece of this. You will also note that when you thumb through Project twenty five and you see who wrote these pieces, you're going to recognize some of the names. I challenge you all to take Project twenty twenty five, the document, just the table of contents and who wrote each chapter and compare those names to who Donald Trump has nominated for positions in his cabinet and has put into the White House to work for him.

You all will see a surprising number of similarities. And if you can see those similarities, you can go into those chapters and see that the executive orders and actions that have come out of this administration so far are no surprise at all. So those are the kinds of things that we need to be paying attention to right now. If you all don't have questions about Project twenty twenty five and this federal funding freeze, then I'll go on to another executive order. Okay, Lolo sent me. This does

this freeze impact state level programs? Well, everything in every single agencies under review from the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, USAID because they talked about global a global spend as well, the State Department, which oversees USAID, the Department of Commerce. Y'all remember the Minority Business Development Agency was challenged on its merits just last year with

a Department of Treasury. Every single governmental agency SBA for those of you who have Small Business Administration loans that you may have just qualified for at risk. The Department of Transportation we have. You guys know, if you go into your airports at home, you're seeing a lot of construction. It is annoying, but we'll all be happy when it's done. There are these projects, these highways that are being built.

Any dB disadvantaged business enterprise that is working on those projects, that's all under review now right depending on the grants and the loans that have been let. So everything is on the chopping block because of this very vague memo, and we need to be mindful of that. That is what is at stake. Somebody asked how this can be legal. I kind of just went through that. Hopefully what I've I've said makes sense. I will go through a little more.

Just to backtrack a little bit on OMB. Some of you all might be like, I didn't get here in time. What is O and B. It's the Office of Management and Budget. Its responsibility is to prepare every year presidents introduce a budget. So you guys will see if for those of you who work on the hill, you see those huge binders. When I worked on the hill, we used to divide up the sections and be responsible for a section and analyze the sections of the various sections

of the president's budget. Well, they send this huge document over by agency, line by line, how much money they're going to fund the federal government. The onb direct is responsible for pulling that physical year budget together and dispersing it to the Hill for approval through the appropriations process.

They also oversee the implementation of the president's priorities across the executive branch, and most of the times what we say, what we've said on the Hill is you can tell what the president's priorities are based on how they choose to fund the federal government after we received the budget the Hill. Congress, the House is responsible for passing appropriations measures that has to be signed off or also passed

in the Senate. Sometimes they don't agree and so there has to be what was called a reconciliation process, and then the agencies are funded based on what is appropriated. Now, again what I was saying earlier is they are challenging the president's authority to cut I think they're acknowledging on the spend that that has to go through Congress. Again, be clear about the fact that most of Congress has

bought into this to this president's agenda. So those are you who are like well, it looks like SNAP benefits or the EBT cards might not be impacted, or kids' school lunches might not be impacted. What I would challenge you with is, every single year Republicans go after snap benefits, they try to cut them. I call the Congressional Black Caucus, and they are known to be the conscience of the Congress. Every year, that's a fight that they fight to ensure

protection of those benefits. So that is what is at stake. And then you guys are asking what to do. The most important thing that I would give you right now is make sure you are reading. If we are reading ahead, I know it's stressful to be seeing all of these changes. You may have folks who've been impacted by the ice raids. You may have folks who you know just qualified for a federal loan who you're like, I don't know if they're going to get to keep that money, or a grant,

a research granted a university. Right. That is so scary, But we cannot bury ourselves in fear. We have to stay alert, and the most important way we can do that is by reading what's in front of us. Projects twenty twenty five been written Heritage Foundation been on this for years and years and years. Go and look when you see the Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity, and we hear about fiscal conservativism, conservatism, that is what it is.

It is about finding ways to cut corners so that they can ensure the rich keep their tax cuts right. They don't ever have the money to increase minimum wage. They don't ever have the money to ensure that kids can have summer jobs. They don't ever have the money to ensure that centers of excellence are fully funded, or HBCUs and Hispanic serving institutions, the institutions, tribal colleges ever have the money that they deserve. But they can always find that dollar for war and for tax cuts. And

that's what we're up against right now. So I implore you to read Project twenty twenty five. I implore you to pay attention to these memos. Don't just take and the executive orders and actions that are coming out. Don't just take my word for it, read it yourself. In the last paragraph of this memo, it talks about agencies having a responsibility to look into each financial assistance program in these three ways assign responsibility and oversight to a

senior political appointee. Again, we know that that means that person thinks like Donald Trump. They are so concerned about career employees federal government employees that they haven't found you at yet. I implore you to stay and make sure that you are serving the people as you know it is your obligation to do. You might not have had to take an oath, but we have to make sure that we keep people in place who will tell the

truth about what this administration is doing. We need whistleblowers to talk about everything that is happening so that we can better prepare. The second thing it says is review current pending fund currently pending federal financial assistance announcements to ensure administration priorities are adjusted, addressed, and subject to program

statutory authority. Modify announcements, withdraw any announcements already published, and, to the extent permissible by law, cancel awards already awarded if they are in conflict with this administration's priorities. Now, that may not be legal, but it first has to be challenged. So right now, what this says is the law of the land until it is challenged, and until a federal court agrees with the more reasonable minds among us.

And last, it says, ensure adequate oversight of federal financial assistance programs, initiate investigations when warranted, to identify underperforming recipients, and address identified issues, up to and including cancellation of awards. Y'all.

They put us on notice. They put us on notice that as a five PM today, everything that the federal government funds that is under these very you know, ridiculous buckets, you know wokeness and the words that they used to make the American people afraid, transgenderism, Marxist equity, everything that they can squeeze into these buckets they will, and that is to create more funding capacity for the rich. So yeah, people are asking about what the course can do. Yes,

this has to be challenged in court. And for the person that said it's just an audit, it is far more than an audit, my friend. These programs are being frozen. The funds are not going to go out. They say in here that they are trying to find if any programs that fit in those buckets that I've named theness, Marxist equity, transgenderism, Green New Deal, all of those are subject to cancelation. Why because they don't fit in with

the current administration's priorities. That is what That is the language and the framework that they will use to cancel the programs. So for those of you who work in the federal government, for those of you who have federal funding, I am suggesting that you figure out a way to ensure that your programs do not fall within that framework. So if you are advancing opportunities for the underserved, you

better find some new language. If you are ensuring that the climate is safe and that climate change doesn't completely take us out, you better find some new language. These people ain't come to play, and they told us what they were going to do in a whole nine hundred and twenty two page manual, So we got to get on it. Well, I've been on for twenty five minutes. I went on pretty quickly, and that doesn't leave me

any time to go through these executive orders. What I would urge you to do is make sure that you subscribe. This content will be just for subscribers soon, and then if you don't follow us on social media, make sure you do at Native Land Pod. Native lamdpod has information on other executive orders. We're going to keep you informed. As we get information, we'll share it. What we don't

know will tell you. We don't know. Again, I don't know if SNAP or some of these housing programs will be impacted, but I promise you will be following it closely. We have your back, you all know. But then NLP we say all the time, welcome home, and we mean that this is your safe space. It's a safe space for us. We thank you for giving us that safe space. And what I can tell you is you are not alone. We are in this together and we will get through it.

Our people have experienced so much more difficulty in the past, and we don't want to go back. We know we don't want to go back. Many of us voted to not go back. But this is where we are now. We've got to accept where we are in order to change it. So let's get to work. Our first obligation is to stand forms and whatever ideas you come up with sharing with us. We take videos for our shows

every week. I would encourage you if you have questions about the executive orders or this memo that came from OMB, send those in. LOLO takes them on DM at Native lampod we'll get those videos. Tell us your name and where you're from. We'll get them uploaded for our show tomorrow that we record that drops on Thursday. Please please please stay in the loop with us. We want to hear from you. Our platform is yours too, and we can't wait to hear from you all. Thank you so

much for tuning in. Thank you for all of your questions, and please let me know if if there's any other questions you have. I know we only got to one executive order. I'm sorry, but I have so much to say and this was a new one, so there are others coming. If you guys want to keep hearing this content and keep engaging in this way, we will do that. So thank you so much for tuning in. Welcome home, y'all.