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.

In their first unified opposition to President Trump, Democrats across the ideological spectrum accused him of preying on the nation’s most vulnerable citizens by denying them government aid.

President Donald Trump's order to pause all federal grants and loans sowed widespread confusion on Tuesday over its impact on far-reaching programs such as Medicaid, sending nonprofits and government agencies scrambling to understand its scope and prompting immediate legal challenges.