The White House rescinded an order today that froze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans in an effort to purge the government of what President Trump has called a “woke” ideology. The directive had been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

By rescinding the order, the Trump administration appeared to ease concerns from hospitals, nonprofits and others who had spent the last two days scrambling to understand if they had lost their federal financial support. It was Trump’s first major capitulation of his second term.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, insisted this afternoon that “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.” She appeared to be referring to the fact that the president signed executive orders last week directing government agencies to review and eliminate spending on so-called woke ideologies. Those measures remain in force.

Trump is now expected to pursue other ways of eliminating voices of dissent inside the federal government. Yesterday, for example, his administration offered roughly two million government employees the option to resign and continue being paid for several months. Many of his approaches could defy the law — but a legal challenge may be exactly what he wants.