NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?
SUMMARY
A broad federal funding freeze announced by the Trump administration in late January, and blocked by a pair of judges, is destabilizing a wide range of programs despite the court interventions. Some Community Health and Head Start programs have sporadically been blocked from funding, forcing some to shut down.
View the transcript of the story.
News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.
Key terms
funding freeze — a policy that stops scheduled payments
Head Start — a federally funded pre-school program for low-income families
WARM-UP QUESTIONS
- Who are some of the people who have had difficulty accessing promised federal funds?
- What is Head Start, and what role does it serve in communities?
- How many people does Head Start serve?
- Where did a Community Health center have to close because they weren't able to access federal funds?
- Why does Health and Human Services (a department of the federal government) say that some organizations may have had trouble with accessing payments?
FOCUS QUESTIONS
- What impact do you think uncertainty about federal payments will have on community programs?
- Were you surprised to learn how local governments like towns, cities and counties rely on federal funding to maintain community services, like health clinics and preschool programs? Why or why not?
Media literacy: How do you think a federal funding freeze would impact your community? How could you find out?
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO
Off-and-on payment freezes to community organizations such as those mentioned in this segment are a result of sweeping changes the Trump administration hopes to make to the federal government. This includes ending or radically transforming whole departments and programs that were established by Congress, such as USAID.
What power does the executive branch have to completely close down spending on programs established by Congress? That question is being played out in courts in the earliest days of the second Trump administration.
- Watch the video below and discuss — should the executive branch have the power to end spending programs without new legislation being passed by Congress?
- You might also want to read Vance and Musk attack judicial authority as Trump’s agenda gets pushback from courts about the active role courts are taking in halting the actions of Trump administration. Why do you think the courts are halting the Trump administration's actions? How does it seem the Trump administration will respond to the courts' actions?
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