Press Releases

House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) is sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration’s illegal and unprecedented directive to pause all federal financial assistance. On Tuesday, Pingree released the following statement calling attention to the wide-ranging and life-threatening impacts this brazen act could have on Tribal communities:

“The Trump Administration’s funding freeze is not only reckless and flagrantly illegal—it is a direct assault on Tribal communities, rural America, and vulnerable populations across the country. From halting Indian Health Service funds that provide lifesaving health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives, to blocking EPA programs that protect low-income and rural communities from pollution, this directive threatens public health and safety from Maine to Alaska.

“The harmful impacts of this freeze will ripple far and wide. Without Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance grants, Tribes will lose access to critical social services, public safety programs, and education resources. EPA Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which allow states to improve water infrastructure and ensure access to safe drinking water, will be paralyzed. Even the smallest community fire departments that rely on Forest Service Volunteer Fire Capacity Grants will face dire challenges in keeping families and neighborhoods safe from fires.

“This freeze jeopardizes EPA State and Tribal Assistance Grant recipients, such as schools and day care facilities receiving Lead Testing in Schools grants—leaving children in schools across the country vulnerable to lead poisoning. And by halting EPA Brownfields and Environmental Justice programs, the administration is turning its back on the communities that most urgently need our help to clean up industrial pollution and combat environmental inequities. 

“For now, the courts have recognized the harm and chaos that this reckless directive from the Trump Administration would have caused and issued a temporary stay. But this fight is certainly not over. I will continue working to protect these critical programs—and stand up for the communities that rely on them. Congress has appropriated these funds, they were enacted into law, and they must be released without delay.”