Donald Trump’s White House scrambled Tuesday to contain the confusion over a sweeping freeze of federal funds announced the night before, as many in Washington and around the country struggled to sort out which popular government programs were about to come to an abrupt halt. Minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline for the freeze to take effect, a federal judge blocked it until at least Monday, the Associated Press reported.
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That came after the first press briefing of the new Administration, which was dominated by questions about the freeze. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “this is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration.” She said that payments for “Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals, will not be impacted by this pause.” Leavitt refused to clearly state whether Medicaid, the health insurance safety net, would be impacted by the freeze, but the White House eventually clarified it wasn’t intended to be.
But the memo sent the night before from the White House had a broader mandate. The White House directed federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities” relating to dispersing funds “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
By Tuesday morning, the impact of the initial order was already being felt. States had trouble accessing funds for Medicaid. Reports surfaced of funding snags for Head Start preschool and rental assistance programs. The future of grants for medical research, fire mitigation, and disaster response were in doubt.
In a new message released in the middle of the day on Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget clarified that it was instructing agencies and Congress to only bring spending in line with Trump’s executive orders to shut down foreign aid, environmental initiatives and efforts to recruit minority workers into federal agencies. Yet many remained confused about the fate of scores of federally funded programs that are not directly focused on those three areas.
Leavitt told reporters that the pause in federal funding was designed to give Trump appointees time to review all federal funding going out the door to be sure it is “in line with the President’s agenda.” Yet many federal programs are run by outside organizations that rely on routine payments to pay staff and provide services. Without federal disbursements, some of those organizations may have to shut down.
The funding freeze was the latest sign that Trump intends to test how far he can push the limits of presidential power. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to decide how much funding should be spent on federal programs, but Trump showed this week that he intends to ignore Congressional directives and block money for programs he doesn’t like.
The top Democrat in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said the order was an example of “more lawlessness and chaos in America” from Trump. “Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law,” Schumer said. “These grants help people in red states and blue states, support families, help parents raise kids, and lead to stronger communities.” A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general announced plans to challenge the freeze in court.