Elected Republicans in Washington and around the country largely supported the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze federal aid programs amid the chaos and confusion sparked by the budget office’s sweeping directive.
Across the board, GOP members of Congress and governors generally said that they backed the idea of reviewing federal spending and that the order was in line with President Donald Trump’s campaign promises. Still, a few said it was important for the White House to provide more clarity to ensure certain services weren’t affected.
“This is not unusual for an administration to pause funding and to take a hard look and scrub of how these programs are being spent and how they interact with a lot of the executive orders that the president signed,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters when he was asked whether Republicans plan to accept Trump’s move or assert the power of the purse given to Congress.
“I think that’s the main criteria they’re using is: Do the executive orders implicate funding in this particular way? They have taken certain things off the table. … They’re providing additional clarity and guidance on that. And hopefully they will further clarify what exactly will be impacted by this.”
As Democrats blasted it as an authoritarian move by Trump to withhold money from the middle class to help finance tax breaks for the wealthy, many Republicans praised the freeze — offering remarks that were reminders that Trump’s honeymoon period with members of his party continues.
At the House Republicans’ annual retreat at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Trump’s move “a common application of common sense.”
“I fully support it,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure that the executive orders of the new president are being fully complied with with regard to these programs.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s plan to pause federal aid spending Tuesday evening, kicking off a legal battle that could end up before the Supreme Court.
“There will always be a balance-of-power struggle going on here, but I think that the spending of the federal government is so out of control that we need a pause here,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “So I support the president pausing.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said Trump’s order to halt federal grants is “right on target” for accomplishing his agenda.
And Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said, “I also think that a lot of these grants were predicated on divisive, discriminatory and illegal DEI, so we’ll find out more.”
One of the few skeptics of Trump’s move in the party was Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is in a category of one as the only GOP senator representing a blue state. She is also the chair of the Appropriations Committee, which oversees the part of the budget subject to annual review.
“There certainly is justification to take a hard look at some programs, but this is far too sweeping, and will cause disruption in the Administration of a lot of important programs and services,” Collins said in a statement, adding that she was “concerned about the impact” it would have.
At the House GOP retreat in Florida, only one lawmaker, centrist Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., raised concerns about Trump’s freeze. He said Tuesday morning he had received several calls from constituents worried that programs back home would be interrupted.
“This stuff is appropriated by Congress. It’s already been signed on the law, so I would say disagree with it,” said Bacon, who represents an Omaha-based district Kamala Harris won last year.
Hours later, Bacon said he received backlash from fellow Republicans for criticizing Trump.
“I got asked about ‘Hey, why did you speak up?’ I said how are we supposed defend if we don’t even know what’s coming out or what it really means, and I’ve got constituents calling. It’s just part of life. There’s a book call[ed] ‘Relationships are Messy,’ so this is just messy,” Bacon said Tuesday afternoon, adding that he got “just a little bit” of backlash.
“I’m not going to say who,” he added. “I had to express my perspective. … It was a surprise.”
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., a member of the House Oversight Committee’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” subcommittee, said Trump’s freeze sends the right message on federal spending.
“That’s the way you got to do it. You got to stop them. And then you make sure there’s no abuses, and then, if possible, you bring some of them back,” Burchett said at the House Republican conference.
Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, chair of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, also cheered Trump’s first week in office, including the attempted freeze.
“The man is back in office. This time, he is prepared better than he was the first time. He’s got great people take his Cabinet positions and these appointments, and he has a plan, and he is moving at a speed that no one can anticipate. And I could not be happier to see what is happening in this country,” Babin said in an interview at Trump’s resort in Doral.
“I’m not hearing any concerns about what he’s doing from back home. All I am getting is just congratulations and thanking me and the president for taking this country away from the woke direction we’ve been in for four long years,” Babin said.
Meanwhile, Republican governors across the country were largely silent about the matter, although a pair of them offered some cautious criticism.
Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, in a statement issued jointly with other Republican leaders in the Legislature, praised Trump’s move as one “we whole heartedly embrace” while urging OMB to come up with a plan to “untangle” the ongoing mess.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry offered measured praise of Trump’s attempt to pause federal aid funding.Michael Johnson / The Advocate via AP pool file
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in a statement that she supported the action but cautioned about the disturbance to services it could cause.
“While I support a commonsense review of federal spending to ensure it is in the taxpayers’ best interest, we cannot allow interruptions to critical services for those who depend on them,” Ayotte said. “My office has been in communication with the White House to ensure that our citizens are not negatively impacted by any unintended impacts and that critical services continue without interruption.”
On the other hand, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended Trump, while noting that he had confirmed with the White House that the plan wouldn’t interrupt a number of crucial services.
“The partisan stunt to disseminate knowingly misleading information is dangerous fearmongering and completely wrong. President Trump is doing what an executive should do at the beginning of a term, which is find out where the money is and where it’s going,” Youngkin said.
A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott also offered full support for the plan.
“This pause in funding will bring transparency to federal spending and is long overdue,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris in a statement. “Taxpayer dollars should be used to help taxpayers.”
Brennan Leach
Frank Thorp V, Ryan Nobles, Kyle Stewart, Julia Jester, Gary Grumbach and Syedah Asghar contributed.
