Funding freeze impact on San Antonio: Mayor, city manager seek answers on federal order

SAN ANTONIO – The City of San Antonio is seeking answers from the U.S. government following President Donald Trump’s suspension of federal funding, a move subsequently halted by a federal judge.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget includes $325 million in federal funding, used to support 50 police officers and help fund infrastructure improvements and “vital needs within our community,” he said.

“These are your tax dollars being withheld from your communities,” he wrote, adding that they are monitoring any new developments.

>> Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans

A vaguely worded memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget, combined with incomplete answers from the White House throughout Tuesday, left lawmakers, public officials and average Americans struggling to figure out what programs would be affected by the pause. Even temporary interruptions in funding could cause layoffs or delays in public services.

The Trump administration plan plunged the U.S. government into panic and confusion and set the stage for a constitutional clash over control of taxpayer money.

>> Head Start, Medicaid and other services for low-income families hit glitches as Trump freezes federal money

The order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect. The administrative stay lasts until Monday afternoon and applies only to existing programs.

Administration officials said the decision to halt loans and grants — a financial lifeline for local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations around the country — was necessary to ensure that spending complies with Trump’s recent blitz of executive orders. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

How will this affect San Antonio programs?

In a statement to KSAT, City Manager Erik Walsh said the directive from the White House is not clear. It’s unknown which, or to what extent, city departments or programs will be affected.

“Last night the White House Office of Management and Budget asked all Federal agencies to pause all financial assistance (including federal grants and loans), ‘to the extent permissible under applicable law,’ to allow federal departments time to review programs to ensure they are consistent with recent executive orders,” the statement read, in part.

Walsh’s statement went on to say, “We will continue to focus on delivering City services while we monitor the situation to better understand the implementation scope, timing and potential impact.”

The City of San Antonio receives federal grants to fund a variety of programs, including Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, Head Start, Child Care Services and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME).

Click here to see an itemized list of grant-funded programs (pages 325-331).

Head Start, Medicaid hit glitches

Across the country on Tuesday, staff trying to access Medicaid and Head Start funding through payment websites were locked out, leaving some scrambling to figure out how they would cover payroll and pay vendors and rent. Adding to the confusion, the White House said Tuesday afternoon that funding for those programs should not be affected by the freeze.

On X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration is “ aware of the Medicaid website portal outage.”

“We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent,” Leavitt wrote. “We expect the portal will be back online shortly.”