Donald Trump’s effort to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants is the most provocative of his many attempts to expand his power

Congressional Democrats and good-government groups say President Donald Trump's Monday night directive to pause the distribution of trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans represents an immense power grab that would upend the constitutional separation of powers between different branches of government.

Donald Trump’s move to pause trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans awakened widespread Democratic resistance to the new president’s second term that was felt Tuesday on Capitol Hill, in governors’ offices and in the race to helm the party’s national committee.