There was such intense pushback from everywhere across the country in reaction to Trump’s very recent dictatorial powergrab in his federal funds freeze that was clearly so unconstitutional (only Congress has the power of the purse), that today the White House had to rescind the edict.
Yet, in the meantime, the order created chaos and confusion in every governmental and public-serving agency. And San Diego was no different. Even ICE funds were frozen.
Axios San Diego laid out some of the local effects and consequences of the freeze — see below. And while ICE agents began to make their rounds in San Diego County and arrested some immigrants, the El Cajon City Council failed to endorse rightwing mayor Bill Wells’ controversial motion.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells lost a battle before the City Council Tuesday, Jan. 28, as he sought to clear the way for local authorities to support federal deportation efforts. Wells, who decried illegal immigration during his recent unsuccessful attempt to unseat Congressional Rep. Sara Jacobs, announced on social media that his resolution before the council had failed 3-2. Times of San Diego
Here’s an edited version of Axios San Diego’s reporting:
San Diego officials scrambled Tuesday, January 28, to grasp the impact of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze on local programs that rely on those dollars.
A federal judge had temporarily blocked Trump’s order minutes before it was set to take effect. The judge’s administrative stay expires Monday, Feb. 3 but was granted in response to a complaint by the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, the Main Street Alliance and other agencies.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta also joined 22 Democratic attorneys general in a lawsuit to stop the order.
Local officials are still determining which programs are imperiled by the order, after a Monday evening memo from the federal Office of Management and Budget indicated a broad impact.
The administration issued an updated memo Tuesday saying the order did not apply across the board and was directed at areas like DEI and climate change targeted by previous Trump orders.
For instance, in an internal email Tuesday, Lisa Jones, president and CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission, said the agency believes rental assistance, affordable housing and homelessness do not fall under the freeze.
“We have been advised that this pause on federal grant funds does not apply to programs that provide direct benefits to individuals and families,” she wrote.
SANDAG — the regional transportation agency that gets 36% of its funding from federal sources — declined comment while it reviews the order and awaits guidance.
About one third of California’s budget — or $153 billion — comes from federal funds, according to a November report from the California Budget and Policy Center.
75% of that money flows to health and human services programs — such as Medi-Cal, CalWORKS and child welfare services — that could be excluded from the freeze.
Locally, that state funding flows through San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency, which has a $3.4 billion budget that accounts for 40% of county spending. But the state’s budget also relies on federal funds for labor and workforce development ($8.5 billion), K-12 education ($7.9 billion), higher education ($7.4 billion) and transportation ($6.8 billion).
The city of San Diego received a total of $68 million from the federal government in its last budget, but one grant demonstrates the complicated question local officials are trying to answer.
Rep. Juan Vargas secured $850,000 to improve a small business corridor in Encanto by combatting blight, adding street lights and making other pedestrian-focused infrastructure improvements. But that grant came from a “historically disadvantaged small business revitalization program.” City officials are grappling with whether it will be considered a “DEI initiative.”
Jessica Anderson, interim CEO at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement the freeze threatened regional stability and long-term growth. “Freezing critical programs such as small business loans, healthcare, education, childcare, and infrastructure will severely affect our workforce and economy,” she said.
“The City uses funding from a large portion of the listed programs in the directive issued (Monday) to support efforts that keep San Diegans safe, rebuild critical infrastructure like bridges and storm channels, and help some of our community’s most vulnerable people,” said Walt Bishop, San Diego’s director of government affairs. “It would be highly detrimental to San Diegans – and to Americans across the nation, frankly – for federal funding to be pulled back in the manner proposed.”
The pushback was intense and culminated in the White House taking it all back — . We’ll see what’s next.
Rag advice: stay focused on the big stuff — like this freeze — and not on all those Trump distractions, like renaming the Gulf of Mexico, buying Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal.
