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Newport News staff quantify potential exposure after White House pause on select federal programs
Summary
City Manager Alan briefed council on preliminary impacts of a federal pause on programs the president identified, estimating $79 million in awarded federal funds in the current budget (excluding human services) and outlining categories that may be affected while stressing ongoing uncertainty.
City Manager Alan briefed the council on early, preliminary information about a White House directive pausing federal funding for certain programs and said the city is working with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget to clarify which awards are affected.
Alan said the pause does not apply across the board and that Social Security, Medicaid and SNAP continue. He said the executive order and accompanying guidance are focused on programs tied to priorities referenced in the order—examples cited by staff included DEI initiatives, Green New Deal‑related projects and funding to nongovernmental organizations described as undermining national interests—but the city is still determining the bottom‑line effect locally.
As an order of magnitude, Alan said the city has $79,000,000 in federal awards appropriated in the current budget excluding human services projects. He said roughly $60,000,000 of that total is tied to streets and bridges projects, about $8,000,000 is for waterworks projects, and $11,000,000 covers Community Needs Initiative (CNI) and other community programs such as Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds. He also said $14,000,000 in the budget supports school lunch program funding for schools’ reserves.
Alan cautioned that those figures represent awarded funds in the adopted budget and that further OMB guidance will be needed to determine which specific grants or drawdowns, if any, are subject to the pause. He told council the pause in media reports was described as temporary (staff referenced a pause through Feb. 10 followed by additional review) but that the city must prepare for further clarification.
Council members flagged potential short‑term effects on nonprofit partners that receive federal pass‑through funding and asked staff to monitor impacts to homeless services and other critical nonprofits. Council members also discussed outreach to schools about student concerns; Alan said the manager’s office had been in contact with the superintendent and school board chair and that action was expected in the following week.
Staff said they had joined calls with other local leaders and that climate‑related mitigation and flood projects could be among the areas with the biggest exposure if guidance narrows to those program categories. Alan emphasized that the city is continuing to gather information and will update council as guidance becomes clearer.
