Sen. Murray says federal funding freeze is hurting critical projects in WA

(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., blasted the administration of President Donald Trump for holding back hundreds of millions of dollars that were allocated to Washington state projects. That's despite the administration's rescinding a memo issued less than 48 hours earlier that had called for a spending freeze on numerous federal grant and loan programs.

Murray held a virtual press conference Wednesday morning with leaders from around the Evergreen State to warn about the impact to agencies and organizations that depend on those federal dollars.

The senator described the federal funding freeze as chaotic, reckless and unprecedented. According to Murray, her office has received an overwhelming number of phone calls from community groups with projects that rely on money from Uncle Sam.

Murray said she is using these organizations’ stories to file claims to get the courts to stop the funding freeze, which she and other state leaders say is illegal.

“I’m concerned that it seems to me that this Trump administration kind of doesn’t care about the laws," Murray said. "We’re seeing that across the board, so that means this may take a while."

After the spending freeze memo was released, Washington joined more than 20 other states in suing the Trump administration over the Office of Management and Budget’s memo to federal agencies directing them to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

Trump then rescinded the memo due to the confusion it caused, but not the federal funding freeze itself.

Despite the OMB memo being pulled, Murray said the fight is far from over, adding she is contemplating legislation to counter the funding freeze.

In the case of the state’s transportation needs, which has been budgeted $12.6 billion from 2025 through 2027, the Washington State Department of Transportation informed Murray that Trump is blocking money that would be used to repair and install electric vehicle chargers, install heavy-duty chargers for trucks, and make critical repairs to bridges across the state.

Wildlife preservation work and critical culvert replacement to allow easier passage of salmon and steelhead trout are also at risk due to the federal funding freeze.

The federal funding freeze is also resulting in port projects being placed on hold all across Washington. This includes projects that work to create shore power and electrical infrastructure for vessels.

Murray said jobs could be at risk as well, given that a lot of the federal funding flows to contractors who do the actual work on state projects.

“Contractors are not going to say, ‘Eh, pay me when you figure this out,’” Murray said. “So stopping work on essential projects ... impacts those people who are going to work and are now being told that they are not going to have a job anymore.”

King County Council Chair Girmay Zahilay also spoke on the impacts of the federal funding freeze on a local level. King County revenues have been unable to keep up with increasing costs, which has resulted in a looming $150 million shortfall.

According to Zahilay, a federal funding freeze at this time would make an already dire situation worse as public safety, public health, and human services resources could be cut.