The Virgin Islands government and local nonprofit organizations were scrambling Tuesday to make sense of a federal directive seemingly freezing funding used for myriad social services in the territory — potentially including hurricane preparedness, housing for elderly and disabled people, programs for new mothers and very small children, health care, solar electricity generation, and more.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the order late Tuesday but not before throwing territorial and mainland officials into a state of turmoil. The mainland reported widespread Medicaid freezes even before the 5 p.m. pause prescribed in the federal memorandum.
Using popular political buzzwords, the memo issued Monday by Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, said federal agencies must temporarily pause all federal financial assistance, including but not limited to “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order ending federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives in the first days of his second term. The so-called DEI or DEIA programs had become commonplace in government and private business as a way to ensure different voices and ideas were not excluded. Trump labeled such programs as racist and wasteful. He ordered all federal DEIA programs shuttered and all DEIA employees put on leave pending removal. Further, Trump ordered federal agencies to report the names of employees in DEIA roles and alert officials if DEIA initiatives continued under covert names.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said how the funding freeze was enacted was as worrisome as the act itself.
“While I understand the importance of ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and aligned with stated priorities, the abruptness and breadth of this directive raise significant questions about its immediate and long-term impact – particularly for vulnerable communities and territories like the U.S. Virgin Islands that rely heavily on federal assistance for critical programs and services,” Bryan said in a written statement.
“Any interruption, even temporary, has the potential to create unintended hardships for individuals and families who depend on these resources, as well as hinder ongoing projects vital to our economic growth and stability,” the governor said.
Government House Communications Director Richard Motta said, to his knowledge, the Virgin Islands government does not have any “woke gender ideology” or “green new deal” programs, but acknowledged neither the territory nor the federal government had concrete definitions of such things.
Renewable energy programs like solar farms might fall under the funding freeze umbrella, he said, but as of late afternoon Tuesday, no one in Government House was certain.
“We’re monitoring all of these proposed changes and assessing them to see what if anything they will impact here in the territory,” he said. “Those things are under review.”
There was also the question of whether the directives in Vaeth’s memo were legal.
Motta said Government House had been approached by other municipalities about signing onto lawsuits challenging the order but, as yet, had not done so. Trump’s actions and potential responses were also being reviewed by territory officials and legal council.
Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett released a statement Tuesday outlining the law. The president can temporarily pause programs approved by Congress but not unilaterally defund them, according to the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, she said.
“We must remember that Congress holds the power of the purse, and a great deal of the funding the Administration seeks to pause was approved on a bipartisan basis. Distributing this funding to the American people is legally required. I join my colleagues and call on the Administration to immediately reverse this action,” Plaskett wrote in her statement.
“This is a direct attack on the American people. It jeopardizes critical programs that millions of families and countless communities depend on – programs that fund health care, education, infrastructure, and public safety,” she said.
Some nonprofit community organization leaders in the territory agreed.
One leader was so fearful of reprisal against their nonprofit that they asked not to have their name nor the name of their organization used in this article. They said repressive governments often first target immigrants and other vulnerable communities, then attempt to take down nongovernmental civil organizations.
“Our sector is going to be the next target,” they said. “The civic sector, the nonprofit sector, is a threat.”
Only a small part of the organization’s funding came from federal grants but it was being used in hurricane preparedness. Trump called out the Federal Emergency Management Agency specifically for potential funding reduction in recent days.
Officials at Lutheran Social Services, one of the Virgin Islands nonprofits that receives the most federal funding, said without the Washington dollars, many of the territory’s elderly and disabled may be out on the streets.
Junia John-Stracker, the organization’s CEO, said only the Queen Louise Home for the Aged received a majority of local funds. Housing for the disabled and programs for children from prenatal care to age three could be at risk.
“There is just no way our community could support the amount of millions that we receive from those sources,” John-Stracker said. “All I could do is pray that God would take the lead there.”
Like Government House, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands President Dee Baecher-Brown said her organization, which promotes literacy and library programs, school scholarships, and community grants, didn’t know where to start with the funding freeze memo.
“CFVI is carefully monitoring information as it becomes available, but at this point in time, we cannot assess how the proposed federal spending freeze will impact CFVI and our grantees,” Baecher-Brown said in a written statement.
