FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2025
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Communications Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
Trump’s Illegal Government Investment Shutdown Will Cost Jobs and Harm Public Health
A slippery slope toward a presidency that abuses taxpayer funds to reward political loyalty
On Monday, January 27, 2025, the Trump administration released a memo to all heads of executive departments and agencies to “temporarily pause” all agency grants, loans and other financial assistance programs. These investments can be approved on a “case-by-case basis.” With the stroke of a pen, these so-called “temporary” actions will undo years of progress improving the quality of people’s lives and their health. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that the president does not have the power to withhold Clean Water Act funds appropriated by Congress. In response to the Trump administration’s memo, Environmental Protection Network Executive Director Michelle Roos released the following statement:
“Trump has effectively instituted an illegal government shutdown of investments to states and communities throughout America. At EPA, this means that funds for safe drinking water projects, Superfund cleanup, and sewage construction will halt, costing jobs and harming public health,” said Roos. “We are now on a steep and slippery slope toward a presidency that abuses taxpayer funds to reward political loyalty on a case-by-case basis rather than supporting the impartial pursuit of the public good for all Americans.”
“These measures are illegal and come on the heels of President Trump firing the Inspectors General at 17 government agencies, including EPA. By defying congressional appropriations laws, firing government watchdogs, and giving grant decisions to political loyalists, President Trump is opening the floodgates to widespread abuse of taxpayer money. These unparalleled actions are being advertised as temporary, but that doesn’t mean that things will get better. These will likely be the foundation of even more extreme actions to follow.”
Michelle Roos is the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Network and is available to speak with the media about the pause on these financial assistance programs and the broader impact this has on communities.
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Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 600 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical and subject matter knowledge.