(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Illinois and Chicago leaders react to the decision by President Donald Trump to order a freeze on trillions of dollars in federal payments, including loans and grants.
At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked a freeze on federal grants and loans.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is part of a multi-state effort to reverse that decision.
He called the freeze unconstitutional.
"Democrats and Republicans alike will be negatively impacted by this pause in funding."
The coalition of Democratic Attorneys General is now suing the Trump administration, seeking a court order to immediately stop the newest order's enforcement.
Additionally, after the Trump administration announced plans to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and funding, saying the freeze will have no impact on Medicare and Medicaid, Illinois agencies had trouble accessing Medicaid systems.
A notice at the top of the Medicaid Payment Management website read, "Reviews of applicable programs and payments will result in delays and/or rejections of payments."
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) criticized the freeze on social media, calling it "outrageous and illegal".
Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) says the order is "well outside the purview of the executive office."
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza calls the Trump Administration's freeze on federal funds "reckless."
At City Hall, Chicago leaders say they're trying to figure out how the decision will affect the Johnson Administration's already-tight budget.
City budget director Annette Guzman says if you're talking about all federal aid to Chicago, it's a lot.
“We have about $4 billion worth of grants in the City of Chicago, and a portion of that is federal direct grant dollars that we receive.”
She says her team is analyzing what could or would be affected by the executive order, and Mayor Johnson notes that much of this depends on what Congress can and will do.
“You know, I had a conversation earlier today with Senator Durbin as well as Senator Duckworth. These are unprecedented attempts. But to attempt to defund childcare, or to defund, you know, infrastructure projects.
And the money was appropriated by Congress.
These are laws, he says, and the real impact can't be known just yet.
WBBM’s Craig Dellimore and Hayley Hansen contributed to this report.
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