“We’ve just got to name it for what it is: President Trump believes chaos is an instrument of persuasion,” U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded a memo that paused all federal grants and loans, but Vermont officials aren’t declaring victory just yet.

A vaguely worded memo released on Monday, followed by conflicting messages from the White House, left public officials — and most Americans — struggling to piece together what had happened. The confusion about what it all means persists.

“We’ve just got to name it for what it is: President Trump believes chaos is an instrument of persuasion,” U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) told Seven Days on Wednesday. “He’s creating cruel uncertainty for people who really want some stability in their lives.”

It started on Monday when the White House Office of Management and Budget ordered a wide-ranging freeze on federal grants, loans and other financial assistance. The move, which Vermont’s congressional delegation declared an “unconstitutional action,” sparked panic nationwide and a flurry of hastily written legal challenges.

The freeze was set to take effect at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, but a court order delayed implementation until at least February 3. Then, on Wednesday, the Trump administration rescinded the memo, just hours before a federal judge was expected to hear testimony on a lawsuit filed by attorneys general of 22 states — including Vermont — who argued that the order was unconstitutional.

Just hours later, though, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a post on X that “this is NOT a rescission of the OMB memo.” Instead, she wrote, executive orders “on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

Welch believes Trump’s rescission of the memo actually “did not indicate anything at all, other than an outward move of sorts.” Trump’s underlying executive orders targeting federal spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as well as climate change, remain in place.

“In typical Trumpian fashion, he is going to try to have it both ways,” Welch said. “He wants to respond to the pushback, but on the other hand, not change his policy.”

Back in Vermont on Wednesday, officials acknowledged that they’d have to stay vigilant. State Treasurer Mike Pieciak credited opposition to the memo by lawmakers and state attorneys general — including Vermont’s AG, Charity Clark — for the quick reversal.

“I do think that the chorus of outrage and the chorus of concern that came from members of Congress to elected leaders to policy leaders to business leaders really helped elevate this issue,” Pieciak said during a meeting of the Task Force on the Federal Transition.

Pieciak established the group this year to help keep tabs on how federal actions might affect the state’s finances. About a third of the state’s budget is made up of federal funds.

It’s important not to get “sidetracked” by the chaos that such federal declarations can create, Pieciak said. But it’s also important to send the message that Vermont will not tolerate federal actions that hurt its residents.

“I do think that engaging and pushing back on these ideas that are particularly disruptive and harmful is critical,” he said.

Pieciak said he still cannot understand whether the memo reflected the Trump administration’s “incompetence” or was an effort to be “intentionally cruel” by sowing fear and confusion.

Another task force member, Sue Minter, agreed.

“There is money out there that has been frozen [and now] that hasn’t been unfrozen, irrespective of these orders and their rescission,” said Minter, a former Democratic candidate for governor and former head of the social service nonprofit Capstone Community Action.

For a number of Vermont nonprofits, universities and other programs that receive federal funding, the Trump administration’s reversal didn’t provide any relief. Vermont Works for Women, a nonprofit that aims to advance gender equity, announced on Tuesday that it had been forced to pause the federally funded expansion of its Trailblazers program, which provides training in the trades for “women and gender-expansive individuals.”

The nonprofit had been awarded about $400,000 in federal funding to use over two years.

Rhoni Basden, executive director for Vermont Works for Women, said on Wednesday that she’s not banking on receiving the federal funding her nonprofit had been awarded.

“As far as we know, our program is still paused,” Basden said. “Our organization is an easy target as a woman-serving organization.”

Private philanthropy likely won’t be able to make up the millions of federal dollars that Basden and other organizations across the state depend on to function. A number of other group have also paused their programming while waiting for more information.

Attorney General Clark told Seven Days on Wednesday that a federal judge would issue a decision on what to do about the freeze in the coming days. It won’t be the end of the battle, she said, but will hopefully offer some interim relief.

“It is hard for me to imagine that our work won’t be successful because this is such a truly astonishing attempt to violate the Constitution and federal statute,” Clark said.

Democratic leaders gathered in Montpelier on Thursday to drive home the point that they would fight to shield Vermonters from the chaos Trump appears committed to sowing.

“It is a strategy,” U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) said. “They are testing the waters to see where the pushback will come.”

Balint, Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives, said she was committed to making sure the federal funds lawmakers allocated to help Vermonters were not illegally derailed by the executive branch.

“I am fierce. I am focused. And I will not be distracted by the nonsense,” she said.

Story Written by Rachel Hellman & Kevin McCallum, Seven Days

Story Link: https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/officials-still-wary-after-trump-cancels-funding-freeze-42777526