Government by Revenge – Part One: The Big Chill

By Hal Shepherd

The federal funding freeze contained in a day-one Trump administration memo to federal agencies could affect billions of federal for Alaska nonprofits, tribes and the State. According to the Alaska-based Foraker Group, which conducted a study in partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Economic Development, “Alaska is one of the largest recipients of federal funds per capita, with roughly 37% of the state’s annual budget coming from the federal government. Every Alaskan will feel the impact of retrenchment.”^[1]

The federal funding freeze will create “crisis, chaos, and confusion,” says Foreaker, as those who have been awarded funds struggle to receive payments through federal portals despite recent court orders directing the Executive branch to release such funding.^[2] One thing is clear -- in their efforts to destroy government programs that don’t fit in with their right-wing ideology, as in the former Trump term, the new Administration’s incompetence is remarkable. According to Mark Mudford with Rapture Machine, they “are all, almost without exception, absolute morons, morally vacant and intellectually warped.” ^[3] In fact, “[n]early every billionaire Trump appointee/sycophant has not the slightest clue as to what he or she is doing in their new role.”^[4]

Free Pixabay Image by PaliGraficas

As an illustration, the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, issued last January by Trump, states that “[i]t is the policy of the Administration to stop funding NGOs that undermine the national interest.” Not only, however, does the memo fail to define what an “NGO” is, it doesn’t say what is meant by “national interest.” This is confusing because any Non-Governmental Organization that does not support Trump’s policies of lies, anger, and hate could not possibly be against the “national interest.”

Another Executive Order illegally intrudes on Congress’ authority by revoking the previous executive order (EO 14052) to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Agencies have three months to report to the White House on whether the paused funds align with the President’s stated policy objectives. If the funds do not align without first checking with Congress, funds will not be distributed as determined solely by the President. But shouldn’t Republican political leaders, including the Alaska Delegation be concerned about this violation of the doctrine of the separation of powers and the chaos and uncertainty caused by the sudden freeze of funds needed to provide child and eldercare, food and agricultural programs, health programs, and community and environmental protection initiatives? If they are, they won’t do anything about it for fear of reprisals from Trump.

Thankfully, the one branch of the federal government that still seems to be functioning properly has stepped in. In early February, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, almost immediately after it was issued, ordered the Trump administration to rescind the funding freeze memo, although in its typical form of government by calamity, the Trump administration still claimed that “although the memo was rescinded, the funding freeze was not.”^[5] Not surprisingly, the Executive Branch almost immediately disobeyed the order prompting McConnell to conclude that not all federal grants and loans had been restored.

Next, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the administration’s efforts to have the funding freeze reinstated. Similarly, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a Temporary Restraining Orderrequested by the National Council of Nonprofits against the funding freeze and denied a Department of Justice motion to dismiss. The Court order prevents the Administration from implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name the directive to halt federal spending broadly and directs the Office of Management and Budget to provide notice to all federal agencies and instruct all such agencies to release any funding paused under the directive.

Despite the fact that the courts have stepped in to run the government, we are not out of the woods yet regarding the funding freeze, as illustrated by the Administration’s directive to Federal agencies under a series of executive orders, to turn over detailed information on programs, projects, or activities no longer eligible for funding, even that which has already been committed by Congress.

Similarly, even though it appears to infringe on Congress’ authority, there is little hope of ever seeing any funds that have not yet been awarded. A search of websites related to such future grants offers a brief message stating something like “[t]his Notice of Funding Opportunity and closing date are paused and under review until further notice.”

In fact, rather than what is good for the country, the new Administration’s strategy appears to be governance by revenge. Even funding programs, for example, to conduct restoration of lands and waters have been removed while federal granting officers refer inquiries to the UNLEASHING AMERICAN ENERGY EO, even though such programs are unrelated to energy production. According to High Country News while:

Sheer incompetence can explain some of this, together with impatience and more than a soupçon of malice aforethought. For Donald Trump, it’s another example of governance by spite: His policies are designed to avenge himself on all the people and groups that he feels victimized by, whether it’s Barack Obama, Joe Biden or the entire population of California.

For those who depend on federal grants, if your funding is currently

missing or suspended or if you were otherwise denied a drawdown, contact the Environmental Protection NetworkLawyers for Good Government or specifically within Alaska, the Foreaker Group for tips and potential legal assistance.

For all Alaskans reach out to the Alaska Delegation and tell them to stop letting Trump and Musk disable government programs and funding that has been approved byCongress. Together with the courts,we need at least one other branch of government that focuses on what is good for Alaska and not simply to get even with political o

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^[1] The Foreaker Group Newsletter, Crisis, Chaos and Confusion: What We are Hearing (February 25, 2025)(Foreaker Newsletter).

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Please Don’t be at All Surprised (January 23, 2025)

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] Aaron Poe, “A couple updates around continuing challenges with frozen fed funds” (February 13, 2025)