Governor JB Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul speak on the effects of Donald Trump's freeze to essential federal programs in Illinois.

The funding freeze could affect trillions of dollars and cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Grants that have been awarded but not spent are also halted.

Though the White House took pains to walk back some aspects of the funding shakeup, the governor contends the damage was done — and the damage, as he sees it, was the point.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the sweeping cuts confirmed by the White House to thousands of programs — ones that fund everything from highway projects to kids’ lunches, drug addiction assistance to medical research labs — was going to include cuts to Medicaid too,

Several Illinois state officials have responded to news that the Trump administration is pausing federal grants and loans in an effort to review wasteful spending. A White House memo directs agencies to conduct an analysis to ensure that spending is in line with Trump’s edicts to end “wokeness” and to make government more