OKPOLICY.ORG
The Trump administration announced on Jan. 27, 2025, that it would temporarily pause federal grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs. This would have enormous ripple effects in Oklahoma and elsewhere. A federal judge the following day temporarily blocked the policy. The Office of Management and Budget later rescinded its original memo, but a White House spokesperson said it was still committed to freezing ‘woke’ funds.
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For context, here is an overview of how Oklahoma relies on federal grant dollars for programs and services that impact millions of Oklahomans.
Facts and figures on federal grant dollars in Oklahoma
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Oklahoma in 2024 received about $14.269 billion in federal grants that supported programs and services, including child care, transportation, law enforcement, housing, food security, health care, and much more.
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Oklahoma is one of the nation’s top beneficiaries of federal dollars, meaning that our state received far more federal dollars than what taxpayers sent to the federal government.
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In 2022, Oklahomans netted about $7,908 per capita in federal dollars, which ranked the nation’s 10th highest that year, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.
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This means per capita every Oklahoman paid in $9,221 to the federal government while receiving $17,129 back in federal dollars for shared programs and services.
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As a state, Oklahoma paid $37 billion to the federal government while receiving back $68.8 billion in federal dollars.
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This means Oklahoma’s net return for federal dollars was about $31.8 billion, which was the nation’s 18th highest.
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The order has huge impacts on Tribal Nations that rely on federal funding to address essential needs. The Native American Rights Fund has released a statement about their concerns.
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Statement from Shiloh Kantz, Executive Director for the Oklahoma Policy Institute:
“The executive order pausing federal grants was hurried and sloppy. This is unacceptable when it risks billions of federal dollars that everyday Oklahomans rely on for everything from filling prescriptions to getting school lunches. It also disproportionately affects Tribal Nations, which rely on federal funds for essential needs stemming from the unique sovereign-to-sovereign obligations the U.S. has to Tribal Nations. The order understandably created widespread confusion and concern about what impacts this would have on Oklahomans. As one of the nation’s poorest states, Oklahoma relies on the federal government and federal dollars. In fact, Oklahomans receive far more in federal support than we pay in. While we’re grateful the courts put a temporary block on this planned federal aid freeze, the actions signal grave concerns for our state moving forward.”
What you can do
If this issue comes up again, we encourage all Oklahomans who have questions about this to contact your U.S. Senators Markwayne Mullin and James Lankford, your U.S. Representative, and Gov. Kevin Stitt, who can advocate for the state as a whole.
You can find their contact information using OK Policy’s Legislator Lookup.
We encourage you to ask some of the most pressing questions, such as:
- Will I still have access to my benefits or programs I rely on?
- If not, when will those benefits or programs be restored?
- How will this decision impact my access to benefits or the quality of my benefits/services in the future?
- Do you know how many Oklahomans are being affected by this order?
