‘Confusion, panic’: Lowell responds to federal funding whiplash

LOWELL — For almost a day, cities and towns across the commonwealth — indeed, across the nation — were thrown into a panic when the White House budget office, under a directive from President Donald Trump, froze trillions of dollars in grants and loans administered by the federal government.

The order was rescinded Wednesday, but not before it was the subject of Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Councilors pressed City Manager Tom Golden on potential impacts on federally supported projects and programs due to the change in administration.

“I saw the announcement this morning from the White House freezing all the government grants and loans,” Councilor Vesna Nuon said. “The announcement certainly caused some confusion, panic.”

Golden said at least $31 million of Lowell’s budget is composed of federal funds, not including the almost $300 million Rourke Bridge replacement project.

“We had a leadership meeting this [Tuesday] morning with all the department heads and had this discussion exactly about this,” Golden told the councilors. “I have been on the phone with Congresswoman [Lori] Trahan. She’s got her folks, her team actively watching this.”

By Wednesday afternoon, an Office of Management and Budget memo sent to heads of executive departments and agencies officially rescinded Trump’s executive order.

“OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded,” the memo, signed by OMB Acting Director Matthew Vaeth, said. “If you have any questions about implementing the President’s Executive Orders, please contact your agency General Counsel.”

The order had far-reaching implications with potential cuts to major infrastructure projects like the Rourke Bridge, after-school programs at Lowell Public Schools, Medicare programs, care provided by community health centers like the Lowell Community Health Center, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program and food bank assistance, and other important programs such as cancer research.

More than half of the city’s almost $600 million budget comes from local aid, which means funding pauses or cuts can wreak financial havoc on cities like Lowell, which is designated as a “gateway city” under the General Laws of Massachusetts.

As defined in the code, gateway cities are midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies that face “stubborn social and economic challenges” while retaining “many assets with unrealized potential.” For generations, communities like Lowell were home to industry that offered residents good jobs and a “gateway” to the American Dream.

The Legislature lists 26 Gateway Cities in the commonwealth as: Attleboro, Barnstable, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Springfield, Taunton, Westfield and Worcester.

Like Lowell, all of those municipalities would have suffered under the proposed freeze.

Community Development Block Grants and Emergency Solution Grants were also targets of the freeze. CDBG is a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was created in 1974 as part of Title I of the Housing and Community Development ACT of 1974, as amended. The primary objective of Title I is the development of viable urban communities for low- and moderate-income people.

In fiscal 2025, Lowell allocated nearly $2 million in CDGB funds and a little more than $170,000 in ESG funds to city services.

Organizations like the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Eliot Church’s Day Center program, Mill City Grows, Dwelling House of Hope, Alternative House, Boys & Girls Club, Community Teamwork, Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Catie’s Closet and many other nonprofit, community service agencies receive CDBG and ESG grants, and would have been financially hammered by the freeze.

MVFB Executive Director Deb Callery said most federal and state grants are reimbursements in which the community organizations front the money and then submit invoices and data to support the spending for reimbursement. The freeze jeopardized the return of the good-faith outlay of funds by local nonprofits, as well as would have halted bulk food shipments from the federal government to community food banks like MVFB.

“On our end we receive most of our food from a USDA funded program – TEFAP,” she said by email Wednesday, referring to The Emergency Food Assistance Program. “It would cripple us if we did not have that food. We operate a USDA sponsored summer lunch program serving 12 sites in Lowell, we provide over 10,000 lunches and snacks in a 5-week period.”

Just moments after Trump rescinded the order, Trahan issued a stinging rebuke of what she described as Trump’s “reckless decision” noting that working families rely on many of the federally funded, but locally administered programs to make ends meet.

“Let’s be clear: the widespread confusion and panic caused by Donald Trump’s order was no accident,” Trahan said. “While families were left wondering how they would afford rent, groceries, and medical care, House Republicans were dining on $31 Trump-branded burgers at his luxury golf club in Florida – scheming not just to freeze funding, but to slash it entirely.”

Trahan categorized the administration as focused on rewarding billionaire donors with tax cuts while forcing working Americans to pay the price by gutting the nation’s social safety net.

“This fight is far from over,” Trahan said in her statement. “We will not stand by while Donald Trump and his allies in Congress continue ripping off working families.”