In just two weeks, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to take chaotic actions to gut the federal workforce1, freeze hundreds of millions in federal funding2, shut down entire agencies without congressional approval3, and hand over access to Americans’ sensitive and confidential data4.
The moment is NOW to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt what they’re doing.
So that’s exactly what we’re doing.
We’ve supported lawsuits, opposed executive actions, and voted against nominees.
And if we need to hold the Senate floor, vote all night, or disrupt business as usual, we’ll do that too. I will oppose every nominee that poses a genuine threat to Coloradans.
We put this into action this week when Democrats held up the Senate floor for 30 hours straight. I took to the floor to warn against the dangers of Trump’s nominee to the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought. Later that evening, I voted NO on Vought.
Vought is one of the primary architects of Project 2025 – the far-right agenda for Trump’s second term.
It’s really not a question of “if Project 2025 happens” anymore. They’re already disregarding laws and norms dating back to the Constitution. They're throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.
Last week, we got a preview of Vought’s destructive vision for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
In a chaotic late-night, two-page memo the White House halted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for a shocking number of programs Americans depend on for health care, food and nutrition, housing, K-12 education, child care and so much more. In their rush to make headlines, they didn’t specify which programs would continue and which would end.
The order is blatantly illegal. As every fifth grader in America knows, Congress has the power of the purse. That’s not opinion, that’s the Constitution – it says explicitly in Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1.
The decision caused widespread5 panic6 in Colorado7 and across the country.8
Meals on Wheels didn’t know if they could deliver food to the two million seniors who rely on the program. The online Medicaid portal that reimburses states for providing health care to low-income Americans was shut down. Our office and staff were flooded with calls from folks asking what this meant for them and their families.
Bottom line: Congress alone has the authority to decide how the government spends its money. The Supreme Court has blocked former presidents’ attempts to override that power already. Bipartisan votes passed this money into law, and no president should get to override it like a king.
Immediately following the memo, a federal judge temporarily blocked it, pausing the freeze on federal aid for a week. This week, a federal judge extended the block.
Yet hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding are still in limbo. Many organizations are still locked out of their reimbursement portals.9 Coloradans are confused about whether they’ll be able to access critical services or if Trump will manufacture more chaos.
Here are just some of the impacts the freeze would have on our state:
Halts Programs at Colorado’s rural hospitals: The order pauses funding to increase health care access, support community health centers, treat substance abuse issues, and improve care quality for small rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals across the state.
Takes food away from 40 percent of Colorado school kids: Halts federal payments for school breakfast and lunch programs that 40% of Colorado kids rely on.
Pauses critical loans for thousands of Colorado small businesses: All SBA loans, including disaster relief, will be paused. This will cripple local small businesses as they will be unable to make payroll, their leasing payment, or more.
25,000+ Colorado seniors will be unsure where their next meal will come from: Colorado seniors who rely on Meals on Wheels to access food, many of them don’t leave the house and are so grateful to have someone come and they can talk to as they get their meal. Why would we leave our seniors hungry and unsure of where their next hot lunch is going to come from?
19,000+ kids unable to attend child care or Head Start programs: Facilities will not be able to access reimbursements that help provide low-income kids with the early childhood education, health, and nutrition that they need. In FY23, nearly 9,000 kids were enrolled in Head Start in Colorado.
Cuts off 83,000+ low-income families from heating their homes in the dead of winter: Halts funding disbursements for low-income Colorado families who rely on LIHEAP funding to keep their home warm this winter. In FY24, 83,800+ Colorado households depended on LIHEAP.
Weakens our public safety and undermines our law enforcement: Pauses crucial funding used to prevent terrorism, hire more police officers, prevent school violence, and crack down on drug trafficking.
Strips Colorado’s 365,000+ veterans of the support and resources they’ve earned: Halts funding for community-based suicide prevention efforts, organizations that provide care for veterans experiencing homelessness, and services for veterans living with disabilities or struggling with mental health crises.
Look, we’re all for cutting government waste. A more efficient government will help us all. If you want to seriously look at how we spend money and where we can cut actual fraud, waste and abuse, then I’m game. As Mayor of Denver and Governor of Colorado, we balanced the budget and worked hard to streamline government processes, just like every mayor and every governor in this country.
But that’s not what this administration is doing. We can’t shove working families under the bus or violate our laws to do it.
And now, the Trump administration is making brazen attempts to push the legal limits of Presidential power even further.
Our founders put checks and balances in place for a reason. We’ll fight these attempts in the courts, on the Senate floor, and anywhere else we can to defend Colorado and the Constitution.
So Colorado – continue making your voice heard. We’re grateful to all of you who wrote and called our office on how these chaotic actions are affecting you.
Let’s get so loud they can’t drown us out.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/trumps-mass-resignation-offer-creates-widespread-confusion-for-federal-workers
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/us/politics/grant-funding-freeze-nonprofits.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-usaid-agency.html
https://fortune.com/2025/02/03/elon-musk-19-24-year-old-aides-take-control-6-trillion-government-payment-system-social-security-medicare/
https://x.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1884282934666092650
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-orders-pause-all-federal-grants-loans-2025-01-28/
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/01/28/donald-trump-spending-freeze-colorado-impact-services-medicaid-nonprofits/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/28/trump-spending-freeze-upends-washington-triggering-legal-threats-delays/
https://apnews.com/article/head-start-blackouts-trump-6e7655e56c0b451092411e7fdd1def2e