A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants that set off a firestorm of alarm and confusion around Washington as lawmakers and aid organizations demanded more time to figure out what is affected by the White House’s order.
The order issued by U.S. Judge Loren AliKhan, just moments before the freeze was to go into effect, sidestepped the legality of the president’s move. The ruling instead gave the Trump administration and concerned nonprofit groups more time to make their case.
Additional court arguments are scheduled for Monday morning.
The order by Judge AliKhan, a Biden appointee, capped a dramatic day in which the Trump administration sought to reassure anxious Americans and lawmakers that federal funds for low-income school lunches, housing aid and combating wildfires won’t go away, after the White House had issued a confusing late-night order freezing federal grant and loan programs.
The memo from the Office of Management and Budget sparked widespread uncertainty among advocacy organizations, state officials and lawmakers, some of whom griped that error messages popped up when they tried to access portals to draw down funds for Medicaid, community health centers and more.
It also gave Democrats an opening to attack Mr. Trump, with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York calling an emergency meeting to develop a “three-prong strategy” to push back against the grant pause.
Hours after OMB issued the two-page memo directing agencies to “temporarily pause” the disbursement of funds, many in Washington were still perplexed. And they were asking hard questions about whether the move cut off billions of dollars dedicated to Americans’ health and safety.
In her first-ever press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sought to clarify the memo. She insisted the freeze wouldn’t affect federal assistance that goes directly to needy individuals, such as Social Security, welfare programs and food stamp initiatives.
“Assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause,” Ms. Leavitt told reporters.
However, Ms. Leavitt would not say whether other social service programs that serve people indirectly such as Meals on Wheels, would be impacted. She also declined to say how long the freeze would last, and had no explanation for how programs affected by the order could still operate with the pause still in effect.
Still, she insisted there was “no uncertainty” about the order, telling reporters they were the only ones baffled by the order.
Moments after the briefing, Ms. Leavitt confirmed on X that the online portal through which the federal government disburses funds to state Medicaid departments had stopped working. The breakdown at least temporarily jeopardized payments that the federal government makes to tens of millions of low-income Americans for medical treatment.
SEE ALSO: House Democrats plan ‘three-pronged counteroffensive’ against Trump’s assistance freeze
Ms. Leavitt said the White House was “aware” of the outrage and was working to “have it back online shortly.” She added that “no payments have been affected.”
A web portal that housing providers use for government assistance also stopped working on Tuesday.
Democrats seized on the disruptions, saying that Mr. Trump was going to cut government spending at the expense of children, seniors and veterans.
“Republicans are ripping off hardworking Americans by stealing taxpayer dollars, grants and financial assistance as part of their corrupt scheme to pay off billionaire donors and wealthy corporations,” Mr. Jeffries wrote to fellow Democrats.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, largely defended Mr. Trump’s authority to freeze the disbursements but also said they had some questions.
GOP senators said they wanted to hear from the White House budget office about how the administration plans to implement the funding freeze and the programs it would impact, as well as what will happen after the comprehensive review of financial assistance is complete.
“There’s all kinds of scenarios when you talk about this large of a number of programs and the effect,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican.
Mr. Cramer, speaking with reporters ahead of Senate Republicans’ weekly conference lunch meeting, said he did not think any of his colleagues were in panic mode “just yet,” but that they had a lot of questions.
Those questions percolated during a GOP lunch as senators sought clarification on which programs would be impacted by the funding freeze.
As uncertainty reigned, a senior administration official also sought to clarify the memo by saying the move is a temporary review of federal programs to ensure they align with Mr. Trump’s recent executive orders eliminating funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as President Biden’s climate initiatives.
The official said agency reviews have already turned up evidence of money being spent that wasn’t in line with Mr. Trump’s priorities, including the State Department stopping millions of dollars it was spending to send condoms to Gaza. If an agency concludes the pause has an adverse impact, it can request an exemption, according to the official.
The White House on Tuesday sent federal agencies a lengthy questionnaire seeking details about their spending, inquiring whether any of their programs support diversity equity and inclusion, abortion or support for migrants.
Agencies across the government ranging from large Cabinet-level departments to smaller independent agencies, such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services received the questionnaire, which covered more than 2,600 funding programs.
Funding programs outlined in the spreadsheet cover a broad swath of federal services ranging from those aimed at helping the poor to ones that have raised questions about government spending.
Among the programs slated for review are:
• School meals for low-income students.
• Programs that help homeless veterans reintegrate back into society.
• The Interior Department’s Wildfire preparedness efforts.
• A $1.9 million grant to the National Sheep Industry to bolster the marketing of sheep products.
• A Commerce Department program aimed at teaching Americans about hot tub safety.
• A program to increase diversity in farming.
Alex Miller contributed to this article.
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