Threat to freeze federal funds incites mixed local responses

Programs around the U.S. were on edge waiting to see if their federal funding would be cut after the Trump administration announced a freeze on federal loans and grants Monday, Jan. 27, only for the executive order to be rescinded by the White House two days later.

The announcement of the freeze created mass confusion across the country. The freeze would have required each disbursement of financial assistance to be analyzed in search of any implication under Trump’s various executive orders made during his administration’s entrance into the White House.

Additionally, the rescindment of the initial memo by the Office of Management and Budget brought more confusion while the administration made clear the intentions to gut funding for many federal programs.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media following the rescindment saying, “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” sparking conflicting perspectives while threatening to implement the freeze again.

The memo announcing the freeze on Jan. 27 cited “foreign aid, payments to nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal” as named activities which would have their funding pulled after review.

With schools and organizations around the country reliant on the trillions of federal dollars coming out of Washington, the fear that a new funding freeze may come in the future is still prevalent for many local groups.

How would Union County organizations be affected by a funding freeze? Some groups said they didn’t have enough information to know what would happen, but leaders from many of the local programs shared their thoughts.

MATURA Head Start

While unable to make contact with Creston’s Head Start director, Head Start preschools around the country ran into issues during the two days before the order was rescinded.

Even though the White House said programs such as Medicaid and Head Start should not be affected by the freeze, the Associated Press reported programs in various states were locked out of their payment websites, unable to do payroll or send rental payments.

Each year, the U.S. Congress authorizes billions of dollars to go to Head Start programs throughout the country. In 2024, about $11 billion was allocated to this program.

SICOG

As an organization that works heavily with grants of all kinds, one might think the freeze would be an issue for the Southern Iowa Council of Governments. However, SICOG Senior Planner Jeremy Rounds said he would continue on.

“I don’t know what it’s going to mean to any of our projects, we just need to continue to plow forward like we have been,” Rounds said.

Rounds said since the money was already approved by Congress, it couldn’t be taken away. This is an issue the White House would run into with any organization regarding a funding freeze.

School Districts

Most school districts wouldn’t receive major hits to their daily operations, but various outreach programs which make use of additional federal grants could be affected.

Creston Community School District Superintendent Deron Stender didn’t have any worries about last week’s funding freeze.

“My understanding is that there’s no impact on the federal programs,” Stender said. “I don’t know if it’s fear-mongering or disinformation out there. I’d say with most anything that’s coming out of Washington right now is, wait to see the details.”

Peggy Hardy, director of the East Union Early Childhood Center, was optimistic about East Union’s funding, but was concerned over how a funding freeze could affect at-risk families. Funding for school districts have already been paid for the first semester of 2025.

“I don’t think they’ll mess around with this sector,” she said.

Advocating for those who would be damaged by the freeze was important to Hardy. East Union serves a large at-risk population, serving a community which benefits strongly from programs created by the district.

“What we’re doing is valuable, to the state, and I hope valuable to the federal government,” Hardy said. “We have to advocate for kids and our families.”

Creston Municipal Airport

As an institution which needs federal funding for daily operation, the Creston Municipal Airport is almost completely funded through federal payments. With 90% of funds coming from the federal government, the freeze would have meant a complete shutdown of operations.

“We were wondering about those grants, just really confused,” said Tyler West, head of operations at the airport. “No one really knows about it, we’re all saying what the heck?”

A new terminal building, which was under construction before the freeze, was predicted by West to be temporarily paused if the funds were to be taken away. The federal freeze would have paused all payments already set to be rewarded or reimbursed, creating difficulty with in-progress projects which were already slated to be paid by federal programs.

SWCC

Community colleges receive about 18% of their revenue from federal dollars. Some of this money comes through the Federal Pell Grant, the Subsidized Direct Stafford Loan and the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant.

Southwestern Community College President Lindsay Stoaks said the school didn’t have much information regarding how a federal funding freeze would impact them. However, Stoaks said they were prepared to take care of the students.

“As we learn of conversations taking place that may ultimately affect the college, our students or our constituents, we will work to gain understanding of the decisions, determine how the decisions will impact the college and relay pertinent information to those who could be impacted,” Stoaks said.

Gibson Memorial Library

While many other community needs would be affected by a federal funding freeze, Gibson Memorial Library is less likely to see issues.

“The majority of our funding does come from the city and contracting cities, and then a bit of state aid,” library assistant director Jordan Foote said. “It might have an affect on the state library and what they pass on to us. If it does affect us, hopefully it’s minimal, but we’ll keep an eye out.”

While daily life at the library would not be severely impacted, expansion projects would likely be halted thanks to the use of federal grants through the American Library Association.

Food Pantry

A pause on federal funding will also create issues for charities working directly with the people who need them most. The Crest Area Food Pantry is one of the local nonprofits that use federal funding to assist those in need.

“We’d be OK for the next couple weeks, we have stock built up,” said Kathy Goodrich of the pantry. “But, 200 people come here every week for the food pantry. We have people come from outside Creston, Osceola, Lenox, even Bedford.”

Additional supplies and stock come from the Food Bank of Iowa, which is also partially funded through federal funding. The effects of a freeze would cause problems along this chain of assistance and harm the people who need assistance the most.

“We receive quite a bit of community donations, and we look for local grants always for purchasing food,” said Goodrich. “But, that probably wouldn’t be enough to fund us completely.”