{"id":2549383,"date":"2026-01-23T14:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-upset-trump-putting-blue-state-funds-under-microscope\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:27:12","slug":"democrats-upset-trump-putting-blue-state-funds-under-microscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-upset-trump-putting-blue-state-funds-under-microscope\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats upset Trump putting blue-state funds under microscope"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-upset-trump-putting-blue-state-funds-under-microscope%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2549383&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The White House has ordered an office of Management and Budget review of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-fails-to-recuse-himself-in-trump-spending-freeze-case\/\" title=\"Judge Fails To Recuse Himself In Trump Spending Freeze Case\">federal funding flowing<\/a> to the District of Columbia and 14 states-mostly Democratic-led (California, colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, minnesota, New jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington)-requesting agencies to report budget data, including for localities, colleges, and nonprofits, by Jan. 28. OMB says the exercise is strictly data-gathering and not a withholding of funds, and that information will help identify improper or fraudulent use of federal money and inform administrative or legislative responses. Democrats call the review political retribution and intimidation, accusing President trump and OMB Director Russell Vought of targeting critics and retaliating against states that opposed the management; Senate leaders including Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray, and Jeff Merkley publicly condemned the move. The action follows Trump&#8217;s threats to freeze funding over sanctuary policies and recent cuts of about $10 billion in child-care and social-services aid to five states; legal challenges and a federal judge have already limited efforts to withhold some funds. The review was broadened after Virginia&#8217;s new governor took office, and the administration cites concerns about fraud highlighted by a Minnesota scandal as part of its rationale.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">&lsquo;Political retribution&rsquo;: Democrats blast Trump for putting blue-state funding under microscope<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2480241\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Democrats are accusing President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donal-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> of engaging in political retribution for ordering a sweeping review of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/funding\/\">federal funding<\/a> flowing to more than a dozen Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia just weeks after threatening to freeze billions over sanctuary policies and alleged fraud.<\/p>\n<p>A memo from the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/omb\/\">Office of Management and Budget<\/a>, obtained by the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner,<\/em>&nbsp;indicates the agency is requesting budget data from the district and the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4431350\/trump-trolls-environmental-insurrectionists-global-warming-winter-storm-eastern-us\/\">Trump trolls &#8216;Environmental Insurrectionists&#8217; over global warming as winter storm prepares to hit eastern US<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4431026\/full-transcript-washington-examiner-interview-vice-president-jd-vance\/\">READ IN FULL: Vice President JD Vance&#8217;s interview with the Washington Examiner<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4431323\/trump-plan-rebuild-dc-parks-lafayette-square-america-250\/\">Trump plan to rebuild DC&#8217;s parks ahead of America 250 starts outside his window<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Every state except Vermont is led by a&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrat\/\">Democrat<\/a>, with two states, Virginia and New Jersey, having recently inaugurated new governors. The review is meant to be &ldquo;a data-gathering exercise only&rdquo; and will &ldquo;not involve withholding funds, and therefore does not violate any court order,&rdquo; according to the memo.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats disagree, however. They say the review is &ldquo;a naked act of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/non-partisan-crypto-company-run-by-democratic-donors-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"&#039;Non-partisan&#039; crypto company run by Democratic donors - ...\">political retribution&#038;rdquo<\/a>; against critics of Trump and OMB Director Russell Vought, who has led the administration&rsquo;s efforts to slash the federal budget and workforce. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is a classic tactic used by Donald Trump and Russell Vought to intimidate and bully people he thinks are his enemies,&rdquo; said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). &ldquo;People are tired of his antics. Coercion is not going to work and it&rsquo;s going to backfire big time for Republicans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4428938\/vance-local-minnesota-lawmakers-support-ic\/\">VANCE PRESSES LOCAL MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS TO SUPPORT ICE AND TAMP DOWN TENSIONS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the directive, all federal agencies, excluding the Department of War and the Department of Veterans Affairs, are required to undergo the funding review. They are required to send their response back to the OMB by Wednesday, Jan. 28.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This information will be used to better understand the scope of funding in certain States and localities in order to facilitate efforts to reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds through administrative means or legislative proposals to Congress,&rdquo; the OMB memo states.<\/p>\n<p>Agencies were told to include funding data for the states as well as localities, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations located, operating, or performing award activities within those states.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia was reportedly not included in the list of states undergoing the review, but was later added following the inauguration of Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA). Virginia and every other state included in the review voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<p>The move by OMB is reminiscent of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency&rsquo;s efforts to trim the federal budget through aggressive tactics.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, blasted the review as &ldquo;another tired re-run of Russ Vought&rsquo;s corrupt playbook&rdquo; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PattyMurray\/status\/2014443412099887160\">on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No one should be intimidated. Vought and Trump can kick rocks. This will not stand,&rdquo; she added.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has ramped up a crackdown on fraud from Democratic states following the revelation of a Minnesota fraud scandal involving Somali immigrants accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >defrauding multiple government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-staggering-levels-of-fraud-with-more-than-100-billion-in-covid-19-aid-misspent-or-stolen\/\" title=\"Report: \u2018Staggering\u2019 Levels Of Fraud, With More Than 0 Billion In Covi...19 Aid \u2018Misspent\u2019 Or Stolen\">social services<\/a> programs<\/a> of at least $1 billion. Trump has repeatedly slammed Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over the scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President JD Vance visited the state on Thursday, where he&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4428938\/vance-local-minnesota-lawmakers-support-ic\/\">implored local leaders<\/a>&nbsp;to work with&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4429865\/jd-vance-ice-officers-discipline-mistakes-justified\/\">Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a>&nbsp;to stop the violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding to Democratic states on Feb. 1 over their support for sanctuary cities. The administration also cut $10 billion&nbsp;in funds for child care and social services in five states &mdash; California, New York, Illinois, Colorado, and Minnesota. But a federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the administration from freezing the funding earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/editorials\/4425385\/abigail-spanberger-californication-virginia\/\"><strong>SPANBERGER&rsquo;S CALIFORNICATION OF VIRGINIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Democrats have continued to challenge Trump&rsquo;s efforts to slash funding in court, but the OMB review marks an escalation of the White House&rsquo;s attacks against the minority party, Democrats bemoaned. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is a blatant and dangerous abuse of power. Trump does not care how many people he hurts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/21-house-republicans-vote-against-awarding-medals-to-all-police-who-were-at-january-6-riot\/\" title=\"21 House Republicans Vote Against Awarding Medals To All Police Who Were At January 6 Riot\">score cheap political points<\/a>,&rdquo; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenJeffMerkley\/status\/2014461323745108104\">wrote<\/a> Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats: Trump seeks retribution via funding probe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2549384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AP24187628672020.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[42793,3685,3634],"class_list":["post-2549383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-blue-states","tag-democrats","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/AP24187628672020.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2549383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2549392,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549383\/revisions\/2549392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2549383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2549383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2549383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}