UPDATE, 2:28 p.m.: Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt says that the memo is the only thing the administration is rescinding.
This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 29, 2025
It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.
Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction.
The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.
UPDATE, 1:24 p.m.: CNN reports, "The White House Office of Management and Budget has rescinded the federal aid freeze, according to a memo from a Trump administration official obtained by CNN."
Original article:
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's pause in federal funding until next Monday. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the funding freeze minutes before it was to take effect. The suit was brought by non-profit groups that receive federal funding and claim that only Congress can freeze it.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, 22 Democratic attorneys general filed suit, seeking to block and permanently prevent the administration from freezing funding.
“There is no question this policy is reckless, dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
That's the $7 trillion question, and it's unlikely that an appellate judge will resolve it. This issue of the legality of the freeze is headed straight to the Supreme Court. The only question is whether Trump will be allowed to freeze the disbursement of funds while the case is being litigated.
Obviously, the frozen federal funds will eventually be disbursed. Trump can't unilaterally undo what Congress has done. The money has already been appropriated.
But Trump's opponents are probably wrong in saying the move to freeze the funds is "illegal." There are very few grants and loans with a specific time frame for disbursement. Trump is well within his rights as chief executive to choose when most of those funds are activated.
Trump has wrong-footed the entire Democratic-government establishment, and the panic is already setting in.
“It seems like the federal government currently doesn’t actually know the full extent of the programs that are going to be subject to the pause,” said Biden-appointee AliKhan.
Jessica Morton, an attorney for the National Council of Nonprofits, which brought the suit, said the group has tens of thousands of members around the country who could be affected.
“Our client members have reported being extremely concerned about having to shutter if there’s even a brief pause,” Morton said.
Justice Department attorney Daniel Schwei argued that the freeze shouldn’t be put on hold because the plaintiffs hadn’t specified anyone who would immediately lose funding if it does go into effect.
Trump administration officials said programs that provide direct assistance to Americans would not be affected, such as Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps. But they sometimes struggled to provide a clear picture.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially would not say whether Medicaid was exempted from the freeze, but the administration later clarified that it was.
Either someone didn't get the memo or was deliberately trying to make the administration look bad when Medicaid, Head Start, and several other federal programs denied access to its funding site.
"We have confirmed no payments have been affected — they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
Related: Trump Offers All Two Million Federal Workers a Buyout to Resign
The panic spread by people who know full well that the funds will be available soon is unconscionable.
“The lack of clarity and uncertainty right now is creating chaos,” Meals on Wheels spokesperson Jenny Young said. She warned that “seniors may panic not knowing where their next meals will come from.”
They'll "panic" because you are deliberately trying to scare them.
We're going to hear a lot of caterwauling like this for the next week or so. Once the federal spigot is reopened, all the talk about starving old people and not being able to fund schools will cease.
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