Utah leaders don’t yet know the entire impact of the Trump administration’s memo placing a temporary block on federal grant and loan payments, but they’re ready for potentially far-reaching — or more restricted — consequences as more information becomes available.
“It’s a shock,” one of Utah’s top Republicans, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told reporters in a media availability at the Utah Capitol Tuesday afternoon — but he wants to wait and see what it means.
“I’m not sure what the outcome will be. We’ll analyze it and see if it’s good or not after we figure out what it does, but for the time being, it’s an interesting approach that we’re definitely trying to react to,” Adams said.
When asked if he supports President Donald Trump’s choice to act in this manner, Adams answered, “I think I’ll wait until I see the outcome, OK?”
He stated it with a giggle, triggering a round of quiet laughter from the rest of Utah’s Senate Republican leadership, who gathered in Adams’ office on Tuesday for their regular press briefing.
Hours later, a federal judge temporarily halted the freeze, which will now last until Monday, according to States Newsroom.
Adams stated that while “time will tell” whether the Trump administration’s evaluations of federal spending generate a beneficial or bad impact, he believes they may be necessary given the federal government’s fiscal deficit.
“I am not sure if it is preferable, but our federal government has an enormous deficit. They have a tendency to spend excessively. So perhaps this is a shock, a wake-up call that we all need to consider,” Adams explained. “I don’t think it hurts to look under the hood to see what we’re spending money on and whether it’s the right thing.”
While the initial two-page memo from the federal Office of Management and Budget sparked widespread confusion and concerns that the freeze would have an impact on important social services such as Medicaid benefits, a spokesman for Gov. Spencer Cox told Utah News Dispatch in a prepared statement that the freeze will not affect certain federal benefits for individuals.
“We are in close communication with the White House and our multi-state associations and appreciate the clarity the White House provided this morning in the White House press briefing and the additional guidance released from OMB,” Cox’s spokeswoman said. “That guidance clarifies that federal benefits to individuals, including Medicaid, SNAP, and others, won’t be impacted.”
He also stated that Utah officials will “continue to learn more about what federal funding streams will be impacted.”
Cox’s spokesman also supplied a copy of another document from the Office of Management and Budget stating that “any program not implicated” by the flurry of executive orders Trump signed in the early days of his presidency, which began earlier this month, “is not subject to the pause.”
“No, the pause does not apply across the board,” the memo states. “It is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.”
The document also states that the freeze does not apply to benefits provided directly to Americans, such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or student loans.
“No, any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process,” the note reads. “In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause.”
How may the freeze, or any federal cuts, affect Utah’s budget?
Utah’s budget for the fiscal year 2025 to 2026 is expected to include more than $7.7 billion in federal funding, accounting for almost 28% of the state’s forecast income sources of $28.12 billion. Utah lawmakers are presently in the midst of a budgeting process that often does not conclude until the closing weeks of their general session, which is now in its second week and set to expire March 7.
It is presently unknown how the Trump administration’s interim moratorium and any following decisions will affect Utah’s budget. However, Adams and other Senate Republican leaders claim Utah is in a sound financial position, with rainy day funds and other budget plans that allow for flexibility if lawmakers must make concessions.
Adams, on the other hand, expressed skepticism about a freeze or decrease that would affect all $7.7 billion in planned federal contributions for Utah.
“I don’t believe you will see a $7 billion cut. “Maybe you will, but I don’t think that’s realistic,” the Senate president stated.
Nonetheless, Adams admitted that Utah’s budget is “riddled” with federal funds, “so it can’t help but have some effect.” He also stated that he has heard that some funding for Utah’s FrontRunner may be disrupted, although this has yet to be determined.
“I’m not sure what the effect’s going to be, it’s early,” Adams said. “But I believe we’ll be evaluating it. Maybe we are ready. Maybe we aren’t. However, I believe it is worthwhile to evaluate some of the programs.
Democrats believe the government freeze has caused undue fear and uncertainty.
“The public is afraid and panicking,” Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, stated. She stated that some Utahns are unsure whether the freeze will affect the social assistance money on which their families rely to make ends meet.
Meanwhile, Escamilla said Utah leaders will not have additional information until February 10, when agencies are anticipated to reveal which programs would be affected.
“It’s a bad way of doing public policy,” Escamilla said, putting people “at that panic level.”
Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, vice chairman of the state’s top budget committee, the Executive Appropriations Committee, warned against overreacting.
“It’s a little too premature to try to start working budgets around what we heard this morning,” Sandall informed us. “I believe we will continue to plan as if federal monies will be available, just as we have in the past. Once we know which monies will be released and which will not, we can make necessary adjustments.
Sandall admitted that if the freeze or cuts affect social service funding, the options will be difficult. “These are emotional decisions.”
Adams stated that Utah has “walked through challenges before,” referring to 2020, when state lawmakers reduced the state’s budget amid uncertainty as the COVID-19 pandemic approached. “And somehow the state survived that year,” he told me.
“We can walk through this together,” he told me.
Senate Budget Chair Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told reporters that Utah lawmakers will continue their budgeting process over the next few weeks. Depending on the consequences, he intimated that the Utah Legislature may be forced to hold a special session after the 2025 general session concludes.
“I just want everyone to think back on all of the fun we had in special sessions,” Stevenson told reporters. “Because this may take that long to mature.”
Utah News Dispatch is a member of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network funded by grants and a donor coalition that is a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence.
