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NM congressional members say they will fight federal funding freeze

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján is calling for clarification on funds for victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak Fire that devastated homes like this one in Mora in 2022 in the wake of a federal memo calling for a pause in federal spending.
Megan Gleason
/
Source NM
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján is calling for clarification on funds for victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak Fire that devastated homes like this one in Mora in 2022 in the wake of a federal memo calling for a pause in federal spending.

In the wake of a federal funding freeze announced Monday by the Trump Administration, New Mexico’s Congressional delegation, all Democrats, vowed Tuesday to fight back against what it called the unlawful impoundment of federal funds.

Administration officials said the decision to halt loans and grants was necessary to ensure that spending complies with Trump’s recent blitz of executive orders. Minutes before the freeze was to take affect a federal judge temporarily blocked it.

But U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said Congress holds the nation’s purse.

 “It is not the prerogative of the President to withhold funds that Congress has appropriated and which literally millions of Americans depend on for basic programs and services.”

She was joined on a Zoom call by U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Gabe Vasquez as well as U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján.

Heinrich said it had been a day of chaos.

“Our phones were literally ringing off the hook. We learned early this morning that that the Medicaid portal that handles reimbursement for the state was not was not responding,” Heinrich said.

Other funding portals also stopped working for things like housing assistance. He said there were questions about grants to police and fire departments, and from one pueblo that wasn’t sure it could make payroll for its housing program.

Luján said he has been trying to get clarification on the funding for victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire.

“And it should be done tonight, because those families deserve to be able to sleep a little bit better knowing that this funding is not going to be cut,” he said.

Leger Fernández said the federal government plays a key role in supporting community organizations that deliver services to people, like rural electric co-ops.

“They are essential to not just providing electricity to, you know, my hometown, Las Vegas, Mora, you know, but all across our state,” she said.

Vasquez said he got calls this morning from three organizations in his district –- a road development project for affordable housing, a food pantry in Hatch and a community center in Lordsburg. He also met with project organizers for a youth organization at Zuni Pueblo serving 10,000 public school students. They couldn’t access the system to pay their employees.

“So we are not talking here about entitlement projects to Americans that don't deserve to be funded," Vasquez said. "We're talking about the health and welfare of children in this state and the things that will help them grow up to lead healthy lives.”

Stansbury said there are over 20,000 federal employees in New Mexico and 14,000 active duty military members, so any orders freezing funding or federal hiring will have a big impact here. The Associated Press reported the White House has begun offering buyouts worth seven months of salary to all federal employees who leave their jobs by Feb. 6.

The federal government gave $1 trillion in grants to states in fiscal year 2022, the most recent year U.S. Census grants data is available, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"That was a record high, representing 36.4% of states’ total revenue,” said Rebecca Thiess, manager at Pew. “Federal grant funding helps states pay for public services, such as health care, education, transportation, and infrastructure. States are currently facing tighter budgets than in recent years due to the expiration of federal pandemic aid and stagnating tax collections, among other challenges.”

Megan has been a journalist for 25 years and worked at business weeklies in San Antonio, New Orleans and Albuquerque. She first came to KUNM as a phone volunteer on the pledge drive in 2005. That led to volunteering on Women’s Focus, Weekend Edition and the Global Music Show. She was then hired as Morning Edition host in 2015, then the All Things Considered host in 2018. Megan was hired as News Director in 2021.
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