Environmental and health programs thrown into chaos by Trump funding freeze

President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to freeze a massive portion of federal grants and loans — a move temporarily blocked by a federal court — has thrown environmental research, health programs, and community groups into chaos.

Trump’s directive instructs federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.” The order affects around $3 trillion in funds.

The pause was to take effect Tuesday evening but a federal judge in the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the order in response to a lawsuit by the group Democracy Forward arguing the move violates the First Amendment and other federal law. The judge will render a more permanent decision on Feb. 3.

But the court order hasn’t immediately cleared up many uncertainties or apparently started funds flowing again. And some projects whose funds were already approved have been canceled.

One of many researchers impacted is Gabriel Filippelli, an environmental scientist and professor at Indiana University, who had been eagerly working on ramping up a project to study air pollution and climate change in Pakistan, funded by the State Department in late 2024, which involved training over a dozen students and researchers in the United States and abroad.

On January 27, Indiana University received a letter from the State Department stating that the project “no longer effectuates the agency’s priorities and is suspended… recipients must cancel as many outstanding obligations as possible.”

“It’s a shame,” Filippelli said, who is also the director of the university’s Environmental Resilience Institute. “I feel bad for Pakistan… and all the students involved.” The wording from the letter strongly suggested to him the project “is going to be canceled.”

Ben Zaitchik, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and president elect of the American Geophysical Union, one of the largest scientific groups, has already had one project halted in which he’s a collaborator, involving improving water quality and management in India.

Another project he’s a part of in Colombia geared toward developing tools for infectious disease warning and monitoring has also had its funding pulled and is effectively canceled.

Such abrupt stoppages “can be destabilizing” and will certainly “have some costs,” he said. But he said he hopes that the “bipartisan consensus” that research is a key underpinning of American competitiveness will remain, and that most funding will not ultimately be affected in the long-term.

Conservationists and community groups are deeply worried as well.

“The Trump Administration’s freeze on federal grants is ironically inflicting the most harm on rural communities,” said Amanda Pankau, with the conservation group Prairie Rivers Network. “This reckless decision undermines years of progress and bipartisan collaboration to build energy independence, create jobs, and protect public health and the environment.”

Funding to maintain National Heritage Areas, which are managed by the National Park Service, appear to have had their funding paused as part of the OMB order.

In a memo sent out today, the OMB requested that hundreds of recipients of federal grants submit information regarding their plans by February 7, after which the agency will decide if these programs merit continued support.

Over a dozen grants given by the Department of Interior involved in investing in National Heritage Areas, and other Park Service areas, are on the list, said John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations with the National Parks Conservation Association.

“Using a relatively small amount of federal funding, the Park Service is doing fantastic work supporting community driven efforts to preserve historic and recreational resources,” he said. “Congress appropriated the funding for these [and] there’s no justifiable reason why any of these funds should not continue to flow.”

The OMB follows an order last week by the National Institutes of Health to halt public communications, and the surprise cancellation of meetings involved in funding grants. The NIH is the largest funder of biomedical and environmental health research in the United States and the world writ large.

This, too, has sown chaos. Craig Wilen, a researcher at Yale University who studies viruses and zoonoses, said he has two grants due for review next month with study sections, in which dozens of academics from around the country have scheduled a time to meet and appraise the proposals.

If such meetings are canceled, which appears possible, that will push back progress for months, “which introduces uncertainty and makes the whole process more inefficient and wasteful,” Wilen said. Such uncertainty could impact hiring and firing decisions.

Moreover, if funding can’t be continued, it could waste years of effort — for example, the Wilen lab’s efforts to develop a vaccine for norovirus.

“The best way to waste money is establish infrastructure and let it go unused,” he said. “If we have to start letting people go because of uncertainty, you’re going to have a reduction in the labor force, and it’s going to be bad for the economy.”

Some politicians, mostly Democrats, have expressed outrage over the measure.

“What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States. It is blatantly unconstitutional,” said Sen. Angus King. “If this stands, then Congress may as well adjourn.”

In a statement on the freeze, Sen. Martin Heinrich said that “The Constitution is clear: The president cannot override, delay, or rescind Congress’s funding laws.”

The pause has also impacted Medicaid, the federal healthcare program that disproportionately helps the poor, people of color, those affected by environmental health disparities.

In a statement posted on X Sen. Ron Wyden characterized the funding freeze as a “blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans” that “will get people killed.”

Filippelli, with Indiana University, reiterated that some of these canceled research projects affect student training, workforce development, and other community investments in places like Indiana.

“I hope it inspires some members of our Congressional caucus to voice their displeasure,” he said.

(Featured image by Tabrez Syed via Unsplash.)