Rep. Lateefah Simon thought she would be delivering a $2 million check to the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation this week — the first federal money she had secured for District 12 since being sworn in as a first-term member of Congress in January — but that was before the Trump administration issued a memo announcing a freeze on nearly all federal funding.
So instead of a big rubber check, Simon delivered a blistering critique of President Trump and his administration for issuing and then rescinding the Office of Management and Budget memo just two days later. The resulting chaos, Simon said at a press conference on Wednesday at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, led to confusion among public officials and distress among organizations like the EBALDC which rely on federal funding to complete community development projects in Oakland.
“They have an award letter, and they received a message yesterday from the Trump administration saying that they cannot access those resources,” Simon said. “You can count on us to fight back.”
Simon was appointed to serve on the House Committee on Small Business and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and said she’s been offered a leadership position as a deputy policy whip for House Democrats.
The $2 million in federal funding that Simon secured on Jan. 13 was earmarked for maintaining and enhancing pedestrian walkways under Interstate 880 between Chinatown and Oakland’s waterfront. She stated the funding, which would be given to EBALDC to administer, would “rectify the harmful infrastructure decisions” that had separated Chinatown from other Oakland neighborhoods.
“Freeways have long sent cars whizzing by Chinatown, cutting the neighborhood off from current and future economic activity along the waterfront,” EBALDC CEO Janelle Chan said earlier this month.
But Monday night, the federal Office of Management and Budget issued the memo calling for a temporary pause on all federal grants, loans and other federal assistance by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
After confusion erupted over the implications for countless projects at every level of government — and a federal judge blocked Trump’s spending freeze just minutes before it was to take effect — the White House abruptly rescinded the memo a day later. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Wednesday that the pause on federal spending was still in place, leading a different federal judge to announce that he plans to issue a new block on any spending freeze the administration attempts to implement.
On Wednesday, Simon lambasted the Trump administration for “playing games with people’s lives” while visiting Chinatown nonprofits and businesses ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations.
“My team is working diligently … to get some real answers for the people of Oakland,” Simon said before turning to Chan. “I guarantee you, just give us a few days. Give us a few days, that money is yours.”
Chan said numerous economic development projects in Chinatown depend on the critical funding that was secured by Simon in Washington D.C.
“This grant is for our aspirations,” Chan said. “This is about connecting Chinatown to the waterfront. This is about making sure that economic vitality flows.”
Simon said House Democratic leaders like Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries are determining the course of action to ensure nonprofits and other community-based organizations continue to receive federal funding despite mixed messages from the White House. She emphasized that the president does not have the power to withhold federal dollars, saying only the House of Representatives has “the power of the purse.”
Simon also said she is focused on bringing back funding to bipartisan issues in her district. The defining quality of Oakland is resiliency and she said would not shrink away from the challenges posed by the Trump administration’s flurry of executive orders.
“We’re going to put federal dollars — our dollars — to good use,” Simon said. “That is apolitical, that is bipartisan. Housing is bipartisan. Good communities, neighborhoods, safe streets, that is bipartisan.”