Services for disabled Americans, trans youth and refugees feel the squeeze from Trump’s early actions

President Donald Trump’s bid to remake the federal government is already affecting some vulnerable populations in the United States, according to nonprofits and health care providers who are grappling with delays in federal funding, new rules and changed guidance.

President Donald Trump’s bid to remake the federal government is already affecting some vulnerable populations in the United States, according to nonprofits and health care providers who are grappling with delays in federal funding, new rules and changed guidance. A 19-year-old West Virginia resident with intellectual disabilities, for example, was not able to start a job at Goodwill on Monday because a nonprofit group that facilitates employment had not received the federal grant money it requested last week. It was a result of one of the broadest and most head-spinning moves of the second Trump administration’s early days: a sweeping Office of Management and Budget memo ordering a pause on trillions in federal grants, loans and financial assistance. It was quickly rescinded by the administration, and federal judges have since blocked that funding freeze from taking effect. But some organizations say despite the court rulings, they are still unable to access funding. And administration lawyers have also effectively given federal agencies the green light to slash payments on their own. The delay in receiving its federal funds forced the Appalachian Center for Independent Living, which has operated in the Charleston, West Virginia, area for four decades, to lay off its employment training specialist – one of its five staffers – and halt its job placement services. The center, which helps West Virginians with disabilities live in their own homes, also had to initially lay off its transportation coordinator and independent living skills trainer but was able to bring them back after receiving funding from state grants. The infusion will allow the center to continue serving more of its customers, including taking an 86-year-old woman to her dialysis treatments this week.