Update: Jan. 28, 5:49 p.m. ET
By Chris Megerian
Associated Press
WASHINGTON 鈥� A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans.
The order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan came minutes before the funding freeze was scheduled to go into effect. It lasts until Monday afternoon and applies only to existing programs.
Administration officials said the decision to halt loans and grants was necessary to ensure that spending complies with Trump鈥檚 recent executive orders.
The White House had planned to start the pause as they begin an across-the-board ideological review of federal spending.
Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans would not be affected, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans and food stamps. They also defended the funding pause, saying Trump was following through on his promise to turn Washington upside down if elected to a second term.
Tuesday afternoon that clarified its Jan. 27 order to all federal agencies to temporarily freeze the disbursement of grants and loans.
Programs that are not connected to the executive orders are not affected by this pause.
The executive orders covered by the guidance include:
- Protecting the American People Against Invasion
- Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid
- Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
- Unleashing American Energy
- Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing
- Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
- Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
The OMB said only programs related to these executive orders are subject to the pause, while others will continue as usual.
The OMB further clarified that the pause is not a blanket freeze for all federally funded programs. It is specifically limited to programs, projects and activities affected by the president鈥檚 executive orders. This includes initiatives like ending DEI programs, halting support for the Green New Deal and cutting funding for nongovernmental organizations that conflict with national interests, the OMB said.
SA国际传媒 Staff contributed to this breaking news update. Follow SA国际传媒鈥檚 original story below.
WASHINGTON 鈥� President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration directed the Office of Management and Budget to temporarily halt the disbursement of grants and loans by federal agencies, with exceptions for programs like Social Security, Medicare and other forms of direct aid to individuals.
The memo states that the temporary pause, effective at 5 p.m. on Jan. 28, is aimed at ensuring agencies comply with Trump鈥檚 executive orders to eliminate 鈥淢arxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal social engineering policies鈥� from their programs, reported.
The specifics on how extensive the pause will be in practice are unclear, given the Office of Management and Budget鈥檚 ability to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis language exempting direct aid to individuals, and a clause indicating that the pause is subject to what is permissible under applicable law.
by on Scribd
鈥淐areer and political appointees in the Executive Branch have a duty to align Federal spending and action with the will of the American people as expressed through Presidential priorities,鈥� acting OMB Director Matthew Vaeth wrote in the memo. 鈥淭his memorandum requires Federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President鈥檚 policies and requirements.鈥�
The memo further specifies that oversight of each federal assistance program will be assigned to 鈥渁 senior political appointee to ensure that Federal financial assistance aligns with Administrative priorities.鈥�
Reports from each agency detailing all accounts affected by the pause are due to the Office of Management and Budget by Feb. 10.
Agencies have also been directed to retract previously issued award solicitations and 鈥渃ancel awards already granted that conflict with Administrative priorities,鈥� where law permits, according to the report.
