Latest news with #OfficeOfManagementAndBudget
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
White House Now Blasts Jerome Powell Over Federal Reserve Renovations
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought accused Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday of an 'ostentatious' overhaul of the independent agency's fiscal headquarters amid an increasingly aggressive campaign by President Trump to get Powell to step down from the job. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban ... More Affairs Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress," in Dirksen building on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some education grants in limbo were used for ‘leftwing agenda,' Trump administration says
The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants' children and low-income students to help fund 'a radical leftwing agenda.' The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with President Donald Trump's priorities. The freeze sent schools and summer camp providers scrambling to determine whether they can still provide programs like day camps this summer or after-hours child care this fall. On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said an initial review showed schools used some of the money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration said it hadn't made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants. 'Many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,' the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement. It said New York schools had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships the Trump administration says were 'intended for American students.' Grant funds also were used for a seminar on 'queer resistance in the arts,' the office said. Officials from New York and Washington state didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Advocates for low-income and immigrant children connected the grant freeze to the Trump administration's larger crackdown on immigrants. Two of the five federal programs put on hold were appropriated by Congress to help support English proficiency of students still learning the language and migrant children who move with their parents to follow agricultural and other jobs. School districts use the $890 million earmarked for English learners in a wide range of purposes, from training teachers' aides who work with English learners, to running summer schools designed for them, to hiring family liaisons who speak the parents' native languages. The $375 million appropriated for migrant education is often used to hire dedicated teachers to travel close to where students live. By 'cherrypicking extreme examples,' the administration is seeking to conflate all students learning English with people who are in the country illegally, said Amaya Garcia, who directs education research at New America, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. In reality, the majority of English learners in public schools were born in the United States, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. 'The way they're framing it is that we're using this money for undocumented students and families," said Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association of Bilingual Educators. "It's a distraction. A distraction from what's actually happening: that 5.3 million English learners who speak lots of different languages, not just Spanish, will suffer.' Even if the students lack legal status, states may not deny public education to children in the country illegally under a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. Conservative politicians in states such as Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee have pursued policies that question whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education, raising the possibility of challenges to that landmark ruling. Meanwhile, states and school districts are still trying to understand what it will mean for their students and their staff if these funds never arrive. In Oregon, eliminating grants for English learners and migrant students would "undermine the state's efforts to increase academic outcomes for multilingual students, promote multilingualism, close opportunity gaps and provide targeted support to mobile and vulnerable student groups,' said Liz Merah, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Education. ____ Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed from Washington. _____ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Bianca Vázquez Toness, The Associated Press
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Some education grants in limbo were used for ‘leftwing agenda,' Trump administration says
The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants' children and low-income students to help fund 'a radical leftwing agenda.' The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with President Donald Trump's priorities. The freeze sent schools and summer camp providers scrambling to determine whether they can still provide programs like day camps this summer or after-hours child care this fall. On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said an initial review showed schools used some of the money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration said it hadn't made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants. 'Many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,' the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement. It said New York schools had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships the Trump administration says were 'intended for American students.' Grant funds also were used for a seminar on 'queer resistance in the arts,' the office said. Officials from New York and Washington state didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Advocates for low-income and immigrant children connected the grant freeze to the Trump administration's larger crackdown on immigrants. Two of the five federal programs put on hold were appropriated by Congress to help support English proficiency of students still learning the language and migrant children who move with their parents to follow agricultural and other jobs. School districts use the $890 million earmarked for English learners in a wide range of purposes, from training teachers' aides who work with English learners, to running summer schools designed for them, to hiring family liaisons who speak the parents' native languages. The $375 million appropriated for migrant education is often used to hire dedicated teachers to travel close to where students live. By 'cherrypicking extreme examples,' the administration is seeking to conflate all students learning English with people who are in the country illegally, said Amaya Garcia, who directs education research at New America, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. In reality, the majority of English learners in public schools were born in the United States, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. 'The way they're framing it is that we're using this money for undocumented students and families," said Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association of Bilingual Educators. "It's a distraction. A distraction from what's actually happening: that 5.3 million English learners who speak lots of different languages, not just Spanish, will suffer.' Even if the students lack legal status, states may not deny public education to children in the country illegally under a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. Conservative politicians in states such as Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee have pursued policies that question whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education, raising the possibility of challenges to that landmark ruling. Meanwhile, states and school districts are still trying to understand what it will mean for their students and their staff if these funds never arrive. In Oregon, eliminating grants for English learners and migrant students would "undermine the state's efforts to increase academic outcomes for multilingual students, promote multilingualism, close opportunity gaps and provide targeted support to mobile and vulnerable student groups,' said Liz Merah, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Education. ____ Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed from Washington. _____ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Associated Press
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Some education grants in limbo were used for ‘leftwing agenda,' Trump administration says
The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants' children and low-income students to help fund 'a radical leftwing agenda.' The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with President Donald Trump's priorities. The freeze sent schools and summer camp providers scrambling to determine whether they can still provide programs like day camps this summer or after-hours child care this fall. On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said an initial review showed schools used some of the money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration said it hadn't made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants. 'Many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,' the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement. It said New York schools had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships the Trump administration says were 'intended for American students.' Grant funds also were used for a seminar on 'queer resistance in the arts,' the office said. Officials from New York and Washington state didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Advocates for low-income and immigrant children connected the grant freeze to the Trump administration's larger crackdown on immigrants. Two of the five federal programs put on hold were appropriated by Congress to help support English proficiency of students still learning the language and migrant children who move with their parents to follow agricultural and other jobs. School districts use the $890 million earmarked for English learners in a wide range of purposes, from training teachers' aides who work with English learners, to running summer schools designed for them, to hiring family liaisons who speak the parents' native languages. The $375 million appropriated for migrant education is often used to hire dedicated teachers to travel close to where students live. By 'cherrypicking extreme examples,' the administration is seeking to conflate all students learning English with people who are in the country illegally, said Amaya Garcia, who directs education research at New America, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C. In reality, the majority of English learners in public schools were born in the United States, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. 'The way they're framing it is that we're using this money for undocumented students and families,' said Margarita Machado-Casas, president of the National Association of Bilingual Educators. 'It's a distraction. A distraction from what's actually happening: that 5.3 million English learners who speak lots of different languages, not just Spanish, will suffer.' Even if the students lack legal status, states may not deny public education to children in the country illegally under a 1982 Supreme Court decision known as Plyler v. Doe. Conservative politicians in states such as Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee have pursued policies that question whether immigrants without legal residency should have the right to a public education, raising the possibility of challenges to that landmark ruling. Meanwhile, states and school districts are still trying to understand what it will mean for their students and their staff if these funds never arrive. In Oregon, eliminating grants for English learners and migrant students would 'undermine the state's efforts to increase academic outcomes for multilingual students, promote multilingualism, close opportunity gaps and provide targeted support to mobile and vulnerable student groups,' said Liz Merah, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Education. ____ Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed from Washington. _____ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Globe and Mail
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
More than 20 U.S. attorneys-general sue Trump administration over funding cuts
Attorneys-general from more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging billions of dollars in funding cuts made by the Trump administration that would fund everything from crime prevention to food security to scientific research. The lawsuit filed in Boston is asking a judge to limit the Trump administration from relying on an obscure clause in the federal regulation to cut grants that don't align with its priorities. Since January, the lawsuit argues that the administration has used that clause to cancel entire programs and thousands of grants that had been previously awarded to states and grantees. 'Defendants' decision to invoke the Clause to terminate grants based on changed agency priorities is unlawful several times over,' the plaintiffs argued. 'The rulemaking history of the Clause makes plain that the [Office of Management and Budget] intended for the Clause to permit terminations in only limited circumstances and provides no support for a broad power to terminate grants on a whim based on newly identified agency priorities.' Job cuts at U.S. FDA raise red flags over safety of food imports to Canada Opinion: The Trump administration's cuts to the U.S. State Department are a threat to Canada The lawsuit argues the Trump administration has used the clause for the basis of a 'slash-and-burn campaign' to cut federal grants. 'Defendants have terminated thousands of grant awards made to Plaintiffs, pulling the rug out from under the States, and taking away critical federal funding on which States and their residents rely for essential programs,' the lawsuit added. Rhode Island Attorney-General Neronha said this lawsuit was just one of several the coalition of mostly Democratic states have filed over funding cuts. For the most part, they have largely succeeded in a string of legal victories to temporarily halt cuts. This one, though, may be the broadest challenge to those funding cuts. 'It's no secret that this President has gone to great lengths to intercept federal funding to the states, but what may be lesser known is how the Trump Administration is attempting to justify their unlawful actions,' Neronha said in a statement. 'Nearly every lawsuit this coalition of Democratic attorneys-general has filed against the Administration is related to its unlawful and flagrant attempts to rob Americans of basic programs and services upon which they rely. Most often, this comes in the form of illegal federal funding cuts, which the Administration attempts to justify via a so-called 'agency priorities clause.'' Connecticut Attorney-General William Tong said the lawsuit aimed to stop funding cuts he described as indiscriminate and illegal. 'There is no 'because I don't like you' or 'because I don't feel like it anymore' defunding clause in federal law that allows the President to bypass Congress on a whim,' Tong said in a statement. 'Since his first minutes in office, Trump has unilaterally defunded our police, our schools, our health care, and more. He can't do that, and that's why over and over again we have blocked him in court and won back our funding.' In Massachusetts, Attorney-General Andrea Campbell said the U.S. Department of Agriculture terminated a US$11-million agreement with the state Department of Agricultural Resources connecting hundreds of farmers to hundreds of food distribution sites while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency terminated a US$1-million grant to the state Department of Public Health to reduce asthma triggers in low-income communities. 'We cannot stand idly by while this President continues to launch unprecedented, unlawful attacks on Massachusetts' residents, institutions, and economy,' Campbell said in a statement. The lawsuit argues that the OMB promulgated the use of the clause in question to justify the cuts. The clause in question, according to the lawsuit, refers to five words that say federal agents can terminate grants if the award 'no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.' 'The Trump Administration has claimed that five words in this Clause – 'no longer effectuates ... agency priorities' – provide federal agencies with virtually unfettered authority to withhold federal funding any time they no longer wish to support the programs for which Congress has appropriated funding,' the lawsuit said.
