Fate of Local Programs Uncertain as Trump Administration Fights to Pare Back Federal Spending
Agencies and nonprofits across northwest Montana said key programs — from revolving agricultural loans to road repair projects — faced an unclear fate under the short-lived federal funding freeze that was set to take effect yesterday
By Denali Sagner & Tristan Scott
Ahead of a short-lived freeze that was set to impact billions in federal funding, stakeholders across northwest Montana said numerous local programs — from homeless student assistance to affordable housing grants — were set to be stymied. Though the Trump administration withdrew the directive on Wednesday morning, its goal of vastly reducing federal spending may send ripples through Montana, where the education, healthcare, transportation and environmental sectors rely heavily on federal dollars.
The White House on Tuesday issued the sweeping order pausing billions of dollars in federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs. The order, penned by the Office of Management and Budget, cited the prior use of federal resources “to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies.” It ordered federal agencies to temporarily pause activities related to the disbursement of funds until programs could be assessed to ensure they aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities.
The Trump administration clarified that the pause was not a freeze on all financial assistance, but was limited to programs implicated by Trump’s recent executive orders, including “ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.” White House officials said programs that provide direct benefits to Americans –– such as Social Security and SNAP –– would not be affected.
On Wednesday, after the memo had been rescinded, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “This was NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”
As conflicting directives from Washington mounted, the orders sent the country into chaos, as agencies and nonprofits scrambled to understand which of their programs would be halted should a massive funding pause take place.
In the Flathead Valley, leaders of government agencies, non-governmental organizations and municipal governments were still taking stock of the directives.
Federal grants power infrastructure, public health and education programs across the Flathead Valley, including renovations to Glacier Park International Airport, wildfire mitigation, bridge and road improvements and sidewalk construction. They also affect large land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service.
Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith said it remained unclear which of the city’s federal grants would be impacted by a funding freeze. Whitefish has received federal funds for numerous projects in recent years, including its Safe Streets for All Action Plan, railroad corridor crossing study and the hiring of law enforcement officers in schools.
Glacier Park International Airport Director Rob Ratkowski said he believed the order would have “absolutely” impacted the airport’s multi-million dollar terminal expansion, which is funded largely from federal grants. Ratkowski said from “the words that I was reading” the “reimbursement money for the terminal was likely to be at risk.”

At the National Park Service (NPS), which oversees 10 units in Montana, including two of the agency’s most popular — Glacier and Yellowstone national parks — the memo sparked uncertainty and confusion among government agencies and organizations across the country that rely on the federal funds.
Meanwhile, there was still no word on whether a hiring freeze impacting seasonal and full-time positions at NPS will be lifted. The freeze, enacted across the federal government while the Trump administration looks to trim the federal workforce, has already affected hundreds of would-be seasonal workers nationally, many of whom received notification that their employment offers had been rescinded.
That uncertainty extended to Glacier, which is currently in the process of hiring its slate of 350 seasonal positions.
“Right now is the heart of seasonal hiring,” Sarah Lundstrum, Glacier program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), said Wednesday. “A lot of college kids are looking for summer jobs and if they can’t get that job with the Park Service or the Forest Service, they will take another job. So this time of year is really important.”
Lundstrum said a summertime staffing shortage will have consequences beyond Glacier’s entrance gates, rippling throughout local gateway communities whose economies depend on the park’s visitors. She also said the administration had requested lists of federal employees currently on probationary status, signaling a potential purge of the agency’s payrolls. Federal and state workers are often hired on a probationary status at the beginning of their employment to allow for evaluation.
“Things are coming so fast and furious that nobody really has any idea what’s going on, and how these decisions relate is a whole other issue that we haven’t yet determined,” Lundstrum said. “The compounding of these decisions is so hard to figure out.”
At Glacier, local park administrators were still trying on Wednesday to understand the implications of the executive orders on summertime operations, including the hiring of seasonal staff. Nationally, NPS officials did not return requests for comment by the end of the day.

Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the NPCA, said in a statement that she was relieved to learn Wednesday that the Trump administration had rescinded its freeze on federal grants, which impacted numerous NPS programs, including the National Heritage Area program. Still, she said, “the future of these programs and thousands of park staff remains uncertain.”
“It’s been a little over a week since the new administration started, yet dozens of executive orders and administrative actions have taken a toll on the Park Service. Jobs have been rescinded. Buyouts are being offered. Park staff across the country are rightfully afraid about their future and the future of our parks,” according to Pierno. “When taken together, the cumulative impact of these actions and orders on our national parks and park staff could be devastating and long-lasting. Our parks already have thousands fewer staff than they did a decade ago, and these actions risk further straining an already overwhelmed Park Service and impacting millions of visitors and local communities.
She continued: “In the near term, the hiring freeze means our national parks will struggle with insufficient staffing as parks across the country need to begin hiring critical seasonal staff for spring break and summer. Ranger-led programs, resource protection, maintenance, trash pickup and visitor needs could be compromised. In the long term, buyouts could lead to a devastating loss of expertise and experience. And when national parks struggle, gateway communities and economies feel the effects too.”
Other federal agencies charged with important wildlife management decisions entered a holding pattern this week, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which earlier this month announced the cancellation of a series of public meetings to gather input on the agency’s recent decision to reject petitions by state governments in Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzly bears.“In light of the recent transition and the need for this Administration to review the recent grizzly bear proposed rule, the Service is cancelling all four of the public meetings and hearings that the agency voluntarily scheduled on this proposal,” according to a FWS email on Jan. 27.
The freeze was set to be critical in Indian Country, where land access, treaty rights, infrastructure, education and healthcare are largely navigated in tandem with and funded by the federal government.
Angie Main, executive director of NACDC Financial Services, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Browning, estimated that around 85% of her organization’s work would be halted should the funding freeze take effect.
NACDC Financial Services works to provide alternative financing opportunities in and around Browning, working with individuals and small businesses to secure loans and grants.
Main said she was notified on Tuesday that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) would be pausing many of its services, limiting her organization’s ability to process loans on trust lands. With trust lands making up the vast majority of loans granted by NACDC Financial Services, Main said the freeze marked a significant roadblock in the organization’s day-to-day functioning and signaled a potential need to lay off staff in the near future should funding pauses continue.
“We’re kind of stymied right now,” she said on Tuesday.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Native American Rights Fund Executive Director John Echohawk said, “Tribal Nations, more so than almost any other community, will be negatively impacted by this decision. Tribal Nations rely on federal funding to address essential needs, including public safety, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and the basic needs of our most vulnerable citizens. The United States has a unique government-to-government obligation to Tribal Nations. Because of this unique relationship, Tribal Nations and Native people are especially and disproportionately affected by any federal actions like today’s funding freeze.”

Mary Gordon, executive director of the Blackfeet Housing Authority, said with federal loans and grants on pause, much of her organization’s work would be impacted.
“Those are projects that will sit on hold until this is figured out,” she said. “They’re much needed projects, but there’s nothing we can do right now.”
Browning Public Schools Superintendent Rebecca Rappold said the district received notice that its Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would be paused under the freeze. The program provides food, clothing, tutoring and case management services to homeless students in Browning.
Members of Montana’s congressional delegation offered support for the Trump administration’s directive.
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke on X called the pause on federal grants “prudent and necessary.” Per the Montana Free Press, Sen. Steve Daines said he supports the Trump administration’s “efforts to root out waste, which is the aim of this order.”