Thomas Breen file photo
DeLauro: “This was a battle of what’s going to be a long war.”
(Washington) As the Trump administration pushed forward and then pulled back on a federal funding freeze this week, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro emerged as a leader of the House Democratic opposition to the president’s efforts to pause most federal spending.
New Haven’s long-time Congresswoman is already the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, which approved the spending that Donald Trump tried to stop in a budget office memo that has subsequently been rescinded.
“This was a battle of what’s going to be a long war,” she told the Independent on Wednesday about the chaotic 48 hours that preceded the memo’s rescission. “This is going to continue to happen and I’m going to continue to make the fight. They’re going after funds that have been approved and signed into law and agencies need to carry this out. We just need to keep hammering away.”
DeLauro’s committee position makes her one of the faces of the Democratic effort to block Trump’s actions, which will entail a “very serious and robust public education campaign” with town halls, press conferences and outreach to outside groups, which, unlike the minority party in the House, can file lawsuits against the president.
“This is centered around the Appropriations Committee,” DeLauro said. “Because that is at the center of what they want to do, I will be leading the charge.”
The furor began Monday when the White House told agencies to stop disbursing federal grants and loans in a stated effort to combat “Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies.”
On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the action right as the freeze was set to take effect.
And on Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget rescinded the memo ordering the freeze.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that the president’s position has not changed.
“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” she said on the social media site X. “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The President’s EO’s [executive orders] on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”
DeLauro said the Democrats’ goal this week has been to highlight what’s at risk by Trump’s efforts to cut federal spending, both through executive orders and the now-rescinded memo. The funding freeze could have hit everything from housing grants to child care and afterschool programs to clean energy and infrastructure funding to money slated for replacing lead water pipes.
House Democrats met Wednesday to discuss their responses to the Trump administration. They’ve scheduled a “Day of Action” in congressional districts for Thursday.
DeLauro already did that on Tuesday, joining other members of the state’s congressional delegation, Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor Justin Elicker, and other state and local officials in Hartford to blast the proposed freeze on Tuesday.
She said that discussions will continue when House Democrats return to Washington next week.
“While Republicans attempt to walk this memo back, we should celebrate that our unity can overcome their lawlessness,” she said in a statement following Wednesday’s caucus meeting. “But, make no mistake, the pause in funds initiated by Trump’s Executive Orders remains in effect. …President Trump must follow the law and rescind his Executive Orders that unilaterally steal dollars promised to hard-working Americans.”