1/29/25 - Trump Stuff: The Funding Freeze

Yesterday was a bad day for me to be unable to do a newsletter. But maybe it's good to have to wait 24 hours or so before sharing any links or commenting.

As of the end of the day yesterday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze from going into effect until next Monday, February 3, to allow time for legal challenges to the freeze to be heard. But disruptions in payment have already occurred, and the vagueness of the announcements around the freeze have indeed put a chill into millions of people who rely directly or indirectly on federal funding for their livelihoods or their very lives.

For now, I'm only going to share one article, a summary from the American Association of People with Disabilities. It sounds like they are going to keep updating it as things develop. So if you find it useful, you might want to save the link and use it as a resource in the coming days. Here it is:

Explaining the Impact of the Federal Funding Pause on People with Disabilities

Jess Davidson, American Association of People with Disabilities - January 28, 2025

Disability activists in the U.S. say this all the time, but times like these it really is important to contact your elected officials and tell them what you think about the funding freeze, and what federally funding programs mean to you, personally. Some in Congress are more caring and responsive than others, of course. And these days a lot of them seem almost completely beholden to a single leader, like President Trump, or to an ideology, like radically remaking the federal government and its workforce. Still, there are usually limits to how much outrage from their constituents that Representatives and Senators are willing or able to take before altering course at least a bit. Nothing you, personally say is likely to make the crucial difference. But the sheer volume of calls has an effect.

More to come, obviously!

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