People protest against a funding freeze of federal grants and loans following a push from President Donald Trump to pause federal funding near to the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

WHEELING — Wheeling Housing Authority Executive Director Joyce Wolen watched all of Tuesday as organizations like hers and countless others learned about the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans, which was to go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued an administrative stay, pausing the federal freeze until Monday.

Even with that temporary stay, Wolen’s feelings at the end of the day were much like they were at its start — uncertainty and worry. Even as the federal government clarified the scope of the freeze in the later hours of the afternoon — and the stay was granted even later — Wolen wasn’t sure how it would affect the WHA.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “I can’t really say what’s going to happen, because that will depend upon the interpretation of the executive order.”

The freeze on federal grants and loans could pause funding to many groups in the Ohio Valley, from housing authorities to school districts to municipal governments.

And while the temporary stay presses a pause button on that freeze, the uncertainty those organizations face remains.

Even before AliKhan’s temporary stay, Wolen received some clarification from the federal government as to what programs would be safe from the freeze. Among those are programs that provide direct benefits to Americans — Social Security, Medicare, Pell Grants, Head Start and rental assistance.

That last category is where the WHA fits in. It runs several rental assistance programs funded by federal grants. And while that should provide a moment of relief, Wolen said it still depends on how the order is interpreted.

“To me, that says we should be fine, but it’s still very vague,” she said. “Housing authorities have multiple programs that they administer. So there could be bits and pieces.”

And other groups spent Tuesday trying to figure out what bits and pieces they could lose.

Local Governments Buckle Down

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said federally funded projects already in motion in the city have been put on temporary hold until the dust settles on this issue. Impacted projects include some ventures that have been approved for funding through the city’s Community Development Block Grant allocation, as well as a Brownfields remediation grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“From our perspective, the freeze — and it’s a 90-day freeze — does impact the Community Development Block Grant program, the HOME program and the remediation of the Clay School,” Herron said.

Expenditures that have already been approved — such as an equipment purchase for the city’s fire department through CDBG funds — must be put on hold. Most other CDBG projects in the city have already been funded.

“What we had pending, we drew down today — and it wasn’t very much,” Herron explained. “The 90-day pause will stop whatever projects we had planned, but everybody who is owed money will have been paid money. It will stop projects going forward.”

The major impact of the freeze will be the remediation of the former Clay School in East Wheeling. For now, that project has stopped, Herron explained.

“The biggest one is the Clay School,” he said. “Basically we have put that project on hold. Literally, the environmental consultants were supposed to be there this week. We’re going to put that on hold until this sorts itself out. That project is absolutely affected.”

Herron said the city received word on Tuesday morning from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development about the federal grant funding freeze, as did the consultants on the Brownfields project at the Clay School.

Future federally funded projects will also remain in limbo until the funds are released. Herron said any other federally funded projects in the city, such as purchases utilizing U.S. Department of Justice funds, could also be impacted.

“On the block grant side — there’s nothing major pending,” Herron said. “But we do have projects — including paving — that we’re going to be putting out to bid in the next 90 days, and hopefully we’ll get past this and be able to just move forward as if it didn’t happen.

“We’re optimistic that it will iron itself out. It’s not uncommon for that to happen during a change of administration.”

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy said his city receives federal funding for its drug task force and a demolition project to remove dilapidated housing in the city. The city also receives federal funding that is “funneled through the state” for land and water projects. Healy noted this was not a comprehensive list of federal funding the city receives.

“I’ve not seen a comprehensive list of what accounts or grants might be affected,” Healy said. “If they (accounts or grants that receive federal funding) are affected, it’s going to create a reduction in service and a reduction in improvements. That’s what we know for sure if those things are affected.”

Healy estimated it would take a “day or so” until city administration sees “what the effect really is” of the freeze, including “what departments and what areas” it will affect. Healy said city administration and council members would likely meet as a group as new information comes to light to “get a better idea” of how the funding freeze would affect the city.

“I am sure that if it does have a negative impact, we’ll be making calls to our congresspeople to let them know how it’s going to affect us,” Healy said.

Healy said city operations would continue as normal as the city’s general funding is “all local funding” provided through taxes and county funding.

Belmont County commissioners received an advisory from the County Commissioners Association of Ohio that the federal Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum to the heads of all executive departments and agencies declaring a temporary pause on grant, loan and other financial assistance programs.

Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton said he does not have any feelings about the news until there is a better understanding of what it is and what the directive entails.

“We feel pretty confident that it’s not something that we can’t look into one way or another,” he said.

Dutton said he has a pretty good team when it comes to these types of issues and has full confidence that it’ll be able to take a look and see what the potential impacts are, if any.

“We have a good relationship with our federal partners, and if we need to … we’ll engage with federal partners to see if an issue would happen to arise, and we’ll go from that regard.”

He added that county Department of Job and Family Services Director Jeff Felton does a phenomenal job and has already been looking to see what details are emerging.

Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies is not yet sure how the freeze might affect the city.

“We have money already … we have been awarded for a new waterline,” Davies said.

He noted that the line will run from the water treatment plant along the west side of the Dave Bruney Football Complex, beneath Ohio 7 to the East Ohio Regional Hospital parking lot. There, the city will tie it into a line on Fourth Street and may extend it a block further west to Fifth Street.

Davies said in the event of a major waterline break like the city experienced this past weekend, crews would “still be able to supply 70% of the city through that one single line.”

Davies could not recall all the details of the award Tuesday evening, but he said the city is set to receive a $600,000-$700,000 federal grant for that project.

“Obviously we’re concerned … ,” he said. “Any funding cuts hurt.”

The mayor said the city also expects to receive federal funding to purchase an emergency generator for the hospital. He said city leaders met with engineers about that project Tuesday and that the engineers did not express any concerns.

“The engineers never mentioned anything today. I think we’re OK,” he added.

Schools Trying To Navigate Effects

The pause is creating a “gray area” for local school officials as well.

Union Local Superintendent Zac Shutler said he didn’t have a lot of information about how Trump’s funding freeze might affect public school districts or Union Local in particular, though he had consulted with the district’s attorneys Tuesday.

Shutler said the pause is “so broad and nonspecific that we’re still in the fact-finding phase.” He said the school system’s legal counsel was working to learn what can be frozen.

“It’s very much a gray area if we’re affected,” he said, noting that he had not been notified by the federal government that school lunch or breakfast programs would be frozen. “We are waiting on a legal opinion, but I have received no word from any state or federal agency to be prepared.”

Bellaire Superintendent Derrick McAfee said there will be no impact to services offered in his district in the short term.

“It caught everybody a little bit off guard,” he acknowledged. “From what I understand, this is just a pause. Federal agencies have to justify their funding in writing back to the executive branch by Feb. 10. It’s not a cancellation, just a pause.”

He said the Bellaire Local School District will find a way to work through the process while maintaining all the programming currently in place. He said a district leadership team meeting was held Wednesday, and those leaders were advised not to panic while programs are being assessed.

“I can’t think of anything more justifiable than early literacy and feeding students,” he added.

Bridgeport Superintendent Brent Ripley did not have many specifics yet Tuesday, but he said district Treasurer Eric Meininger was digging into the matter. They shared information published in “Chalkbeat,” a nonprofit news organization that covers American education, that states the order spawned “widespread confusion about the impact of the freeze.” According to that article, “a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that the freeze will not affect Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Act, large formula grants that provide billions to high-poverty schools and for special education services. Nor will it affect financial aid for college students.”

“Chalkbeat” also reported that the order “violates federal law that dictates when and how a president can decide not to spend money,” according to Rachel Perera, a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Shadyside Superintendent John Haswell said he had talked with his curriculum coordinator and confirmed that Shadyside Local Schools has no open or pending federal grants that could be impacted. He planned to discuss the matter further with the district treasurer today.

Walter Skaggs, superintendent of the St. Clairsville-Richland City School District, also planned to examine the matter further today and to discuss potential impacts with the district treasurer.

Barnesville Superintendent Micah Fuchs said his district typically receives the bulk of its federal funding at the beginning of the school year.

“It could affect down the road for sure,” Fuchs said. “We will be investigating.”

He added that he expects to receive guidance in the coming days from organizations such as the Ohio School Boards Association and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Like Shutler, he noted that he had not received any notifications from any federal institutions.

“We don’t know yet how we will be affected,” explained Steven Bieniek, business manager for Ohio County Schools. “It’s still very early, and we’re still sifting through the details. But I’m sure we will get more clarification.”

But the fallout could be astronomic if the school district would lose all federal funding it receives. While the Chalkbeat article quotes the U.S. Department of Education spokesperson saying IDEA and Title I won’t be affected, concerns remain about how the order will ultimately be interpreted.

The largest federal grant the school district receives is its Title I grant, which covers costs for programs and instruction at schools with higher numbers of students coming from lower economic status. The Title I grant amount most received this fiscal year by Ohio County Schools is $2,039,529, Bieniek reported. The money is used to hire extra teachers to work as interventionists for math programs, as well as for many education programs, explained Superintendent Kim Miller.

Ohio County Schools also receives a federal IDEA Grant that comes to about $1,732,642 annually, Bieniek said. Miller said that money is directed toward job positions for those who provide services to special needs students. There are also many smaller federal grants received by the school district, they noted.

But the biggest hit actually could come from a federal program from which they receive federal reimbursement dollars. Ohio County Schools qualifies to offer both free breakfast and lunch to students through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We purchase the meals, feed the kids, and they (the USDA) refund the costs,” Bieniek said.

Last year, Ohio County Schools was reimbursed $4,425,452, he noted.

The school district’s annual budget is about $90 million.

The effects of the potential freeze aren’t sequestered to the K-12 landscape. Public colleges and universities could be affected as well. In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, West Liberty University Marketing & Communications Coordinator Russell Brown said it was “not clear” at this time how the university would be affected by the Trump Administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans.

“We are currently assessing what the order means, waiting for further details to be set forth and seeking guidance,” Brown said.

The temporary stay gives organizations dependent on federal grants and loans a reprieve from a freeze, but that stay only lasts for less than a week. The future of those grants remains unknown, but the immediate future of those organizations doesn’t. They’ll be back to work today.

Wolen said the Wheeling Housing Authority still receives rental income and other funding that doesn’t come from federal departments. It’s a smaller percentage, but still allows the organization to help in some fashion.

“We’ll all come in (Wednesday), roll up our sleeves and we’ll do what we need to do to serve the people we can serve,” she said.

Derek Redd, Eric Ayres, Jennifer Compston-Strough, Emma Delk, Josie Burkhart and Joselyn King contributed to this report.