THERE is a “good probability” that the $48.6 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for the CNMI’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program will be affected by the Trump administration’s funding freeze order, Office of Grants Management and State Clearinghouse Administrator Epi Cabrera said.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, for his part, said his administration is communicating with the U.S. EPA regarding the matter.
In December 2024, Palacios announced the EPA’s awarding of the grant, saying it was a “major milestone in the CNMI’s movement toward cleaner transportation.” The grant aimed to replace internal combustion engine vehicles with zero-emission alternatives.
Cabrera said the grant’s funding will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, adding that “there is a high probability that [the] funds will be redirected or repurposed by the Trump administration.”
Cabrera said many affected CNMI agencies “are working hard with their federal counterparts to ascertain the impact of the possible [funding] loss because it will affect payroll and the delivery of community-oriented services.”
He said several members of the CNMI Energy Task Force will be meeting with key U.S. officials this week in Washington, D.C. and seek “critical guidance on the fate of these paused energy funds.”
In an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon, Cabrera said they discussed the next steps to take, and what they could possibly expect further from the Trump administration.
“We expect the repurposing of funds and for a new law to be passed by the U.S. Congress to support border protection, infrastructure, and national security,” Cabrera said. “However, we sincerely hope that some repurposed federal funds could be isolated to address the CNMI’s ongoing needs … to assist the economy, health, education, and energy,” he added.
In a press conference on Thursday, the governor told reporters, “Obviously, the new administration is reviewing all these programs to make [them] consistent with their policy. I don’t really have a problem with that, it’s very important also from our part to review our own performance.”
The CNMI’s performance in some programs is lagging, but is doing “really well” in others, the governor said without elaborating.
“So those [in which] we are lagging, now is the time to get going because when your program gets reviewed and they see that you are non-performing, you run the risk [of losing federal funds.],” he added.
“We had to expect that that is the case — it’s going to be the case in every new administration so I think it’s a good wake up call for every state and territory,” the governor said.
In the CNMI’s case, he said, “we are glad that at least we are getting some clarification. … But we are all concerned. I am also concerned because everybody has a substantial [number] of programs that are federally funded.”
Also on Thursday, the governor said the federally funded Medicaid and Nutrition Assistance Program for the CNMI “are not impacted” by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum on the temporary pause of agency grants in response to a presidential executive order.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that a U.S. judge temporarily blocked part of President Trump’s “sweeping directive to pause federal grants, loans and other financial aid, giving a win to advocacy groups that said it would disrupt programs that serve tens of millions of Americans.”
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ordered the Trump administration not to block funding for ongoing programs until Feb. 3 at a hearing in Washington court, Reuters reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, for her part, said President Trump’s order remains “in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented as the administration works to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.”
