TULSA, Okla.–UPDATE: The Washington Post reported Wednesday afternoon that Trump’s White House budget office has rescinded the freeze on federal aid. Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a new memo Wednesday that OMB memorandum M-25-13 “is rescinded.”
The abrupt reversal comes after widespread outrage from states, organizations and advocates opposed to Trump’s plan to freeze federal aid for most grants, loans and programs.
Amidst confusion over President Donald Trump’s unexpected move to freeze federal aid for grant and loan programs, Oklahoma Policy Institute released information measuring just how much the conservative state relies on federal funding for core services.
In total, Oklahoma could be waiting for billions in necessary revenue from the federal government if Trump’s freeze goes into effect next week.
On Monday, the acting director of the White House Management and Budget Office sent out a memo alerting state agencies they must pause federal funding to most programs while the Trump Administration conducts a review of “woke ideology” among programs, nonprofits, non-governmental organizations, and international humanitarian causes that receive U.S. government funding.
The memo gave exceptions for direct financial assistance programs in the U.S., meaning SNAP, student loans, Pell Grants, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid shouldn’t be paused, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified Tuesday.
Yet, the rushed order, the unprecedented freezing of federal funds, and the fact that Medicaid and SNAP payments weren’t processing for several hours Tuesday, has left confusion and fear across the country.
“The executive order pausing federal grants was hurried and sloppy. This is unacceptable when it risks billions of federal dollars that everyday Oklahomans rely on for everything from filling prescriptions to getting school lunches,” Oklahoma Policy Institute Executive Director Shiloh Kantz said in a statement Tuesday evening.
Oklahoma’s dependence on federal funding
Overall, dependence on federal funding is higher among states that voted for Trump, and Oklahoma is no exception. In 2024, the state received roughly $14.269 billion of its revenue from federal grants for education, health care, transportation, law enforcement, housing and more.
As a state, it regularly receives more dollars from the federal government than it gives. For instance, every Oklahoman paid roughly $9,221 to the federal government while getting back $17,129 in shared programs and services, according to a 2022 report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the latest year for which data was available.
Agriculture, education and health funding
Oklahoma received over $2.3 billion in federal funding in 2024 for agriculture, the bulk of which went toward public school breakfast and lunch and other nutrition assistance programs.
The state received over $1 billion for education last year, which went toward programs for community learning centers, rural and low-income students and special needs programs.
Meanwhile, a whopping $9.4 billion went to health and human services. The federal funding supported programs like family caregivers, adoption assistance, child care, and family violence prevention.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairwoman Alicia Andrews warned Oklahomans to contact their members of Congress to reverse the pending federal aid freeze. Yet, some politicians in the state applauded the move to pause funding.
“He is absolutely fulfilling his campaign promises to abolish the federal Department of Education,” Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said Tuesday. His message to reporters came after approving new rules that required parents to prove citizenship in order to enroll their children into public schools.
Federal aid freeze will impact Tribal Nations in Oklahoma
Crucially, as a state home to the largest concentration of Native Americans, with 39 federally-recognized Tribes and Tribal Nations, the pending federal aid freeze could have severe impacts on these communities.
“It also disproportionately affects Tribal Nations, which rely on federal funds for essential needs stemming from the unique sovereign-to-sovereign obligations the U.S. has to Tribal Nations. The order understandably created widespread confusion and concern about what impacts this would have on Oklahomans,” OK Policy’s Shiloh Kantz said.
On Tuesday, a federal judge from D.C. temporarily blocked Trump’s federal aid freeze from taking effect until Monday, Feb. 3.
“It seems like the federal government currently doesn’t actually know the full extent of the programs that are going to be subject to the pause,” U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan said. Moments after the judge’s order, Democratic state attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit argues the federal aid freeze cuts off states’ abilities to provide “essential benefits for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.”
As some of the same states that catapulted Trump to his second term weigh the impacts a funding freeze would have on core services, it remains to be seen whether Trump will roll back the plan or move full steam ahead.
“While we’re grateful the courts put a temporary block on this planned federal aid freeze, the actions signal grave concerns for our state moving forward,” Kantz said.
The Black Wall Street Times reached out to Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt for a response.
“The Governor’s Office and Oklahoma agencies are in contact with the White House and our federal partners to confirm the impact of federal funding freezes,” Stitt press secretary Meyer Sigfried said. “Direct to individual funding such as Medicare, Social Security and SNAP benefits are still available to eligible Oklahomans. Governor Stitt supports efforts to evaluate federal grant spending to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently.”
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