Confusion over federal funding looms over Meals on Wheels in Houston

(29 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston – 29 January 2025
1. Mid of workers sorting boxes at Meals on Wheels distribution center in downtown Houston
2. Wide of picnic boxes stacked at Meals on Wheels distribution center in downtown Houston
3. Mid of worker pull stacked crates of food supplies.

++PARTLY COVERED BY SHOT 3++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Al Sudani, Meals on Wheels Chief Programs officer:
"With the uncertainty that is going on right now. However, we have commitment to our seniors and we decided that we going to continue business as usual. Our operation has not been affected. We didn’t alter, we didn’t change. We continued delivering the meals and care for the seniors that we have been, you know, given the great chance to care for them."
5. Mid of workers in the background and a meals on wheels map in the foreground.
6. Mid of man operating a pallet jack
7. Right to left pan of breakfast meals in crates.

++COVERED BY SHOT 5-7++
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Al Sudani, Meals on Wheels Chief Programs officer:
"It’s a big bulk of what we do coming from federal sources, but we have to supplement every dollar we get. We have to supplement it with 30% from private donations.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Al Sudani, Meals on Wheels Chief Programs officer:
"We are not scaling back on any of our operations. We’re going to continue serving the seniors we are serving as business as usual; when it comes, are there any ramifications for this? Simply, we hope not, but we don’t know."
10. Mid of worker pull stacked crates of food supplies.
STORYLINE:
President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal loans and grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country.

The memo, which was issued Monday by the Office of Management and Budget, had frightened states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington.

Administration officials said the pause was necessary to review whether spending aligned with Trump’s executive orders on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

But on Wednesday, they sent out a two-sentence notice rescinding the original memo. The reversal was the latest sign that even with unified control of Washington, Trump’s plans to dramatically and rapidly reshape the government has limits.

Administration officials insisted that despite the confusion, their actions still had the intended effect by underscoring to federal agencies their obligations to abide by Trump’s executive orders.

“The Executive Orders issued by the President on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, blaming the confusion on the courts and news outlets, not the administration. “This action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the President’s orders on controlling federal spending.”

The White House’s change in direction caught Congress off guard, particularly Trump’s Republicans allies who had defended him throughout the brief saga.

“This is Donald Trump. He throws hand grenades in the middle of the room, and then cleans it up afterwards,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “I just think the guy’s a genius.”

But Democrats said the White House had overreached beyond what Americans want.

“Most people voted for cheaper eggs,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. “They did not vote for this chaos.”

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/

You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/378c4152b06944469e8fe0aafb7650d0

Author: AP Archive
Go to Source

News post in February 4, 2025, 12:04 am.

Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News

Renegade_Rcih
Greetings I'm Renegade Rich, I own lots of websites and domain names. one of my favorite news type of sites are news sites. So I own lots of news sites and news domain names. My lates is https://news.post.in 😁