The White House has rescinded a two-page memo issued by the Trump administration that called for a broad pause in federal funding – a move which would have halted potentially USD 3 trillion (EUR 2.8 trillion) in funding.
A memo released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) called for a “temporary pause of agency grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs” which would have taken effect at 5 p.m. EST 28 January. The memo said it was meant to impact programs that may have been implicated by Trump’s earlier executive orders, “including but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
Soon after the pause was announced, the New York Times reported a coalition of states was filing a lawsuit to block the order. A lawsuit was also filed by nonprofit Democracy Forward, arguing that the order violated laws on how executive orders are to be implemented, and soon after, a federal judge temporarily blocked the order from taking effect.
“Facing legal pressure from our clients and in the wake of a federal judge ruling in our case last evening, the Trump-Vance administration has abandoned OMB’s ordered federal funding freeze,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said. “We are proud of our courageous clients – who represent communities across the nation – for going to court to stop the administration’s unlawful actions.”
The OMB later released a memo to clarify the original order, claiming it ...
