Reversed federal funding freeze sparked ‘chaos’ across Lehigh Valley: Lawmakers

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lawmakers and advocates slammed returning President Donald Trump’s short-lived order to freeze trillions in federal funding in a rally Friday afternoon outside Lehigh County Government Center.

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget on Monday issued a directive to pause federal grants and payments for other programs.

That order, rescinded Wednesday, could have put tens of millions of dollars at risk across the Lehigh Valley, speakers said Friday.

It also sparked “chaos” across the United States and Pennsylvania, and “tens of millions of Americans’ lives into an anxiety rollercoaster as countless programs were thrown into disarray,” Democratic state Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh, said Friday.

He called the sudden funding freeze and Trump’s rash of executive orders since taking office Jan. 20 “a naked power grab.”

“We’re here today to make sure that the Lehigh Valley knows that Democrats, working-class folks and organized labor are standing shoulder to shoulder to hold the Trump administration and local Republican representatives accountable,” Siegel said.

President’s policies will ‘cause real pain’: Schlossberg

Pennsylvania received about $50 billion last year in federal funding for a wide array of programs and money for schools, hospitals and other critical service providers, Democratic state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, said.

“That is more than every tax we collect combined,” Schlossberg said. Pennsylvania has a $47.6 billion general fund budget for this fiscal year.

“That is not a gap we can hope to make up,” he said.

Schlossberg slammed Trump and said the new administration will “cause real pain” with its economic policies.

“Their long-term goal is budget cuts that will eviscerate programs of care for so many Lehigh Valley residents in order to obliterate taxes for the richest of people that live in this country,” Schlossberg said.

Parents of children who would go hungry without support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program don’t care that Trump is working to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, he said.

“They won't be saying, ‘Don't worry, honey. The president is rooting out DEI. Now enjoy your shoe,’” Schlossberg said.

‘Stand up to Trump’: Siegel to Rep. Mackenzie

Northampton County in 2023 got more than $55 million in federal funding, which supported human service programs and block grants, Controller Tara Zrinski said Friday

Trying to understand the impacts of Trump’s many executive orders since his inauguration is like “drinking water from a fire hose,” Zrinski said.

“They are disrupting and destabilizing, and many of us don't even know what the answers are or how much this will impact the individuals in our community,” she said.

Allentown last year earned the largest competitive federal award in city history, a $20 million Recompete grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

City Council members in November unanimously passed a measure to accept that money and put it on the city’s books. But it’s unclear how much, if any, of that money is in the city’s coffers.

Siegel challenged Republican Ryan Mackenzie, the Lehigh Valley’s new representative in the U.S. House, to stand up to Trump’s attempts to circumvent Congress’ authority over spending.

“The power of the purse lies with the legislature,” Siegel said. “But apparently members of Congress like Ryan McKenzie don't really seem to care to do their job, because they're all too happy to let Donald Trump decide with the stroke of a pen where money should go.”

“Maybe he should just resign, because there's pretty much no point in being a congressman if he doesn't have the courage to stand up to the Trump administration and say, ‘We decide where money is invested; not you, King Trump,’” Siegel said.

Mackenzie accused Siegel of trying to "fearmonger" and said he "advocated to the White House" on behalf of constituents throughout the region after Trump's administration announced the funding freeze.

"Our office effectively did the job we were elected to do," Mackenzie said Saturday in an emailed statement. "Politically motivated efforts by some politicians to fearmonger and scare people do nothing to help our community."

'Additional strain' on resources

Nonprofit leaders and officials throughout the Lehigh Valley this week questioned the Trump administration’s move to pause federal funding.

Community Action Lehigh Valley Executive Director Dawn Godshall said the pause could cause “a really big period of financial instability” and “place additional strain” on the organization’s employees and resources.

Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong told LehighValleyNews.com he was “a nervous wreck” after learning of the directive.

“We have a lot of money earmarked for a lot of things that are on hold right now,” Armstrong said Tuesday, hours before a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered funding to continue until Monday.

Alisa Baratta, executive director of Easton-based Third Street Alliance, on Tuesday said her organization was working to find contingency plans to continue helping low-income households with rent payments.

“We've got to figure out what we're going to do,” she said Tuesday, with February rent payments less than a week away.

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds hit out Wednesday at the Trump administration’s move. He said it could have frozen up to $40 million in funding for his city.

He called the funding freeze an "existential threat" to Bethlehem.