Youngkin’s office knew about temporary suspension of federal aid portals, memo shows

As Gov. Glenn Youngkin was assuring Virginians on Tuesday that direct federal aid would not be suspended as part of the Trump administration funding freeze, an internal memo obtained by The Mercury shows that his office was aware of potential problems.

The memo, sent by Youngkin’s chief of staff John Littel Tuesday, acknowledges that some aid portals were briefly shut down as federal agencies scrambled to implement Trump’s executive orders.

“In some instances, aid portals were temporarily suspended during the day as federal agencies processed this memorandum,” Littel wrote.

Less than 24 hours later, the Trump administration on Wednesday afternoon abruptly rescinded Monday’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo that had set the freeze into motion. The two-page document outlined Trump’s intent to unwind policies enacted under former President Joe Biden’s administration. 

The sudden rescission could potentially add to the uncertainty surrounding which programs might still be affected and for how long — especially after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, attempted to clarify that it only applied to the OMB memo, but not the funding freeze itself, which she said follow’s Trump’s executive orders and “will be rigorously implemented.”

Littel’s own memo linked to White House guidance clarifying that the freeze wasn’t a blanket halt on federal funding but applied only to programs tied to Trump’s executive orders — targeting initiatives such as DEI, the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations deemed to “undermine the national interest.”

Lawmakers in other states also reported difficulties accessing the Medicaid payment systems yesterday.

With little clarity on which programs might be affected, Virginia lawmakers scrambled to assess the fallout of Trump’s federal funding freeze — raising concerns about potential hits to economic development, health care and disaster relief. Some blasted Trump and, by extension, Youngkin.

Meanwhile, Littel acknowledged the widespread concern but echoed Youngkin’s criticism of what he called “fearmongering.” 

“Unfortunately, due to very limited information from OMB and a fair amount of misinformation, many individuals and agencies are understandably concerned,” Littel wrote.  “And sadly, several people engaged in fearmongering throughout the day.”

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, Tuesday pushed back on the notion that the issue was being overblown, arguing it would be “irresponsible” for state lawmakers to ignore the potential ripple effects  of federal decisions on Virginia. 

That concern isn’t unfounded — federal grants are the largest source of Virginia’s non-general fund revenue, supporting bipartisan state initiatives. According to a May 2024 report from the House Appropriations Committee, the state is set to receive over $45 billion in federal grants and contracts for the current biennium. 

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, went further, calling Trump’s planned freezes “political games” and warning that critical efforts — like post-Hurricane Helene recovery and Medicaid access — would be in jeopardy. 

Following Wednesday afternoon’s rescission of the White House memo, Scott turned to X, blasting the GOP for the chaos of the last 48 hours. 

“This is priceless,” Scott wrote. “Republicans — especially Governor Youngkin — spent all day twisting themselves into pretzels defending Trump’s disastrous decision. And then — bam — it gets rescinded. Eventually, everyone who ties themselves to Trump ends up looking like a fool. Stand by for more chaos.”

Despite mounting concerns, Youngkin and the White House had insisted that Trump’s federal funding freeze wouldn’t disrupt essential services.

“There’s not going to be an effect of this pause on those critical individual assistance and state run programs,” Youngkin told reporters Wednesday morning. “I called (President Trump) again this morning and reaffirmed.”

He also again took aim at Democrats, accusing them of stoking unnecessary fear.

“This misinformation hurts people,” Youngkin said. “I know that people will be worried about their health care coverage, and we can’t, for a minute, suggest that it’s not going to be there when they go see a doctor.” 

But U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Alexandria, wasn’t buying it. In a pointed post on X Wednesday, he highlighted Youngkin’s own administration’s admission that aid portals were briefly frozen.

“Your own administration acknowledged internally that ‘aid portals’ were ‘temporarily suspended by the freeze. Hospital payments were frozen,” Beyer wrote. “This happened because of a terribly written order so incompetently executed that you yourself had to call the White House for clarity.” 

While Youngkin and Trump insist that Medicaid isn’t affected by the federal funding freeze, access to its portal was still temporarily paused Tuesday, raising fresh concerns about the program’s future. 

Despite not being directly targeted by Trump’s executive order, Medicaid remains in Republican crosshairs, with both Trump and GOP lawmakers in Congress weighing potential cuts. The program provides health insurance to low-income earners and people with disabilities, covering about 630,000 Virginians. 

The commonwealth is also one of several states with a trigger law that would end its Medicaid program if federal funding is slashed. In response, state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, plan to introduce budget amendments to eliminate that trigger — an effort to safeguard coverage for those who rely on it.

This article first appeared on Virginia Mercury and is republished here with permission. Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence.