Navigating Federal Funding

Update as of 3/3/2025

On February 26, 2025 the President issued an Executive Order Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative. With this order Agency Heads have been asked to conduct a comprehensive review of all existing contracts and grants, and where appropriate, terminate or modify them to reduce overall federal spending or promote efficiency and advance the policies of the Administration.

Update as of 1/31/2025

On Friday, January 31, 2025, a Federal Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) directing Federal grant-making agencies to “…not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate… awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the States, and… not impede the States’ access to such awards and obligations, except on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms.” Although the language of the TRO is directed at State institutions, the Department of Justice has determined that it applies to some federal award recipients as well.

Update as of 1/30/2025

The Memo that came out on Monday, January 27 pausing a long list of federal grants and programs has been rescinded as of January 29. 2025. This does not rescind the original Executive Order or OMB Memo, which apply to funding related to IIJA and IRA. Agencies will still need OMB approval to distribute funds. For now, a lot of uncertainty remains and we expect more guidance to come out in the coming days.

This situation continues to evolve, please help us understand your situation by contacting AML if you have any further questions or concerns about ongoing projects or applications. While we may not have immediate answers, we will help to ensure that your concerns are heard by the state and federal leaders.

Also, Senator Murkowski’s office has asked for the following, which you can copy us while you send to Appropriations_@murkowski.senate.gov and/ or Angela_Ramponi@murkowski.senate.gov:

• recipient’s name,
• the agency that made the award,
• the program it was made under,
• the amount of the award,
• the award number,
• the status prior to these recent announcements, whether there have been any official agency communications this week, and
• any immediate/time sensitive concerns so that we can focus on those first.

We will continue to actively communicate with the Governor’s office and Congressional delegation about the impacts of the EO, emphasizing the important role these funds have in addressing the needs of Alaska’s communities.

Timeline of Events

The following is a timeline and most recent updates on the Executive Order pausing federal grants and loans.

• 1.21.2025 – Executive Order
• 1.22.2025 – Memo M-25-11
• 1.27.2025 – AML received Memo M-25-13, Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan and Other Financial Assistance Programs
• 1.28.2025 – OMB released Q&A Regarding Memorandum M-15-13
• 1.28.2025 – D.C. federal judge temporarily blocked freeze on federal spending
• 1.29.2025 – OMB Memo M-25-14 issued rescinding previous memo on freezing federal spending
• 1.31.2025 – Notice of Court Order – Temporary Restraining Order on Executive Order M-25-13