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‘It’s chaos’: Md. Gov. Wes Moore reacts to freeze on funding

The Trump administration’s latest executive order that called for freezing federal grants led to confusion as agencies and nonprofits — that provide everything from day care to assistance for victims of crime — were informed their access to those federal funds would be blocked.

On the same day the freeze was set to take effect, Maryland’s health secretary told a Maryland Senate panel in Annapolis that her agency was unable to access Medicaid’s Payment Management system.

During a meeting before the state’s Senate Finance Committee, Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott was asked if she could confirm media reports that the state had been shut out of the Medicaid portal.

“On some of our federal drawdowns, we got an error message … basically saying ‘system maintenance,'” Herrera Scott told the committee members.

The impact, Herrera Scott said, meant “we could not do some of our federal drawdowns for our other federal grants.”

She told the panel that access to the federal grants for other programs like WIC — a nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children — “did go through.”

Herrera Scott emphasized it wasn’t clear by Tuesday afternoon precisely why the state agency could not access the Medicaid portal.

“We tested the system, we got the guidance” from the Office of Management and Budget that SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Medicaid would be excluded from a freeze on federal funds, she said.

“I asked the team to do a test of Medicaid, and it did not go through,” she added.

Maryland was among a group of states that found they were shut out of the Medicaid portal.

‘It’s chaos’: Maryland officials react to funding freeze

In a statement released Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said, in part, “These irresponsible actions and conflicting directives from the White House have caused unnecessary confusion, fear amongst Marylanders, and instability in our economy.”

Moore said the actions by the Trump administration “could potentially cost jobs, raise prices and stifle economic growth in Maryland.”

The governor concluded his statement by saying, “This is not what responsible government looks like — it’s chaos.”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined 22 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop the implementation of a “policy that orders the withholding of trillions of dollars in funding that every state in the country relies on to provide essential services to millions of Americans,” a release read.

Brown noted the policy “jeopardizes state programs” that provide necessary and critical services like counseling, child care, and disaster relief, among others.

“All Marylanders would be affected by this unconstitutional pause on federal funding, but those who would bear the brunt of the damage are our most vulnerable and marginalized neighbors who rely on these resources to pay for early childhood education, health care, and housing,” Brown said.

The lawsuit claims the Office of Management and Budget violated the Constitution and Administrative Procedure Act “by imposing a government-wide stop to spending without any regard for the laws and regulations that govern each source of federal funding.”

‘We’re trying not to freak out’

Earlier Tuesday, Jennifer Pollitt Hill, executive director of the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, told WTOP that the funding freeze had already gone into effect, preventing access to funds for services like emergency hotlines, counseling for victims and even advocates who accompany victims of crime to court proceedings.

“We’re trying not to freak out,” Pollitt Hill said. “That’s just the honest truth.”

Pollitt Hill explained that with the freeze, “if you needed to drawdown funds for payroll, that will not be an option for folks.”

But, by Tuesday evening, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s freeze of federal grant money.

Pollitt Hill said that while that was welcome, “everything is not fixed.”

While agencies and nonprofits would have access to funds, she said that was a stopgap measure: “We don’t know what it’s going to mean in terms of how long will this reprieve last.”

If there’s litigation over the freeze, Pollitt Hill said, that could cause some programs to shut down while waiting for a legal resolution.

“So the fact that folks can still access funding at this time is a lifeline,” she said.

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Kate Ryan

As a member of the award-winning WTOP News, Kate is focused on state and local government. Her focus has always been on how decisions made in a council chamber or state house affect your house. She's also covered breaking news, education and more.

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