Following Tuesday’s announcement of a Trump Administration order freezing nearly all federal grants, loans and other financial aid — including funds for housing counseling programs, Community Development Block Grants, fair housing programs, eviction prevention and more — Rise Economy CEO Paulina Gonzalez-Brito issued the following statement:

“Rise Economy strongly condemns the Trump Administration’s order to freeze federal funding for public loans, grants and other critical aid programs. This decision seizes constitutional power from Congress and recklessly consolidates it within the executive branch. This action is blatantly unconstitutional and sets a dangerous precedent for undermining democracy.

“This freeze threatens funding for vital programs that support vulnerable communities, such as low-income families, school children, veterans and individuals with disabilities. Interrupting these lifelines could significantly harm those they serve. Unfortunately, this order is part of a concerning trend of executive actions by President Trump since he took office. 

“As an organization committed to combating systemic racial injustice and building economic resilience, Rise Economy stands in solidarity with our members and allies who work tirelessly on behalf of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and low-income communities. 

“It’s unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected, that in less than 10 days, the Trump Administration has taken actions that threaten constitutional norms and decades of progress made through these essential programs. This action represents a direct assault on the fundamental American principles of equity and opportunity.

“We applaud the quick work of national legal organization Democracy Forward and other allies in challenging this outrageous proposal and securing a legal pause on the funding freeze. We are actively working to assess how this freeze will impact the communities we serve and the critical work of our members.

“We urge elected officials to take immediate action to protect federal funding for essential aid programs now, and going forward. We also encourage our more than 300 nonprofit organization members, allies and partners to reach out to their representatives.

“We have challenged this administration before when it tried to gut civil rights laws and ignore the directives of Congress, and we will continue to work to hold it accountable to ensure that justice, equity and opportunity prevail.”