(WXMI) — FOX 17 is continuing to review how a federal freeze on trillions of grant dollars is impacting the state of Michigan. Leaders say the executive order, signed Monday, created panic and chaos.
“We are literally talking about impacting millions and millions and millions of Michiganders,” says Attorney General Dana Nessel. “This level of government dysfunction, I have never seen before in my life.”
Two lawsuits were filed in response to the freeze: one by nonprofit organizations and another by 22 state attorneys general — including Nessel.
A federal judge temporarily blocked part of the order on Tuesday as a response to the lawsuit submitted by the nonprofits.
The memo was rescinded Wednesday, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt affirms the order is still in effect, adding “this action should effectively end the court case.”
Another federal judge handed down an injunction Friday, responding to the filing by the attorneys general.
Nessel says the executive order is an overreach of President Trump’s power.
“The president can do many things, but he does not have the authority just to say, ‘I don't care what Congress has already done. I don't care what budget the last president signed. I've decided that I don't like it, and I am not going to permit any of this funding to move forward and to do with no advance notice,’” says Nessel. “It's important … for people to understand we pay all of this money to the federal government, and the expectation is, of course, that money comes back to us in this way of this very important programming. What are we paying our federal taxes for?”
National News
What does the federal funding freeze mean for nonprofits like Meals on Wheels?
The injunctions are intended to allow organizations impacted by the freeze to keep receiving funding, but Nessel explains not all operations were restored.
The original order stated anyone receiving benefits directly from Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start and SNAP wouldn’t be affected — only programs tied to immigration, DEI, climate change and foreign aid.
However, Nessel says it wasn’t the case, as portals for both Medicaid and Head Start went down.
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