Trump administration rescinds order attempting to freeze federal aid spending

[highplainsdem]

Source: NBC

President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday rescinded an order that attempted to freeze federal aid spending just one day after it was issued.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-administration-rescinds-order-attempting-freeze-federal-aid-spen-rcna189852

---

No more details. The snipped paragraph just referred to the temporary halt by a federal district judge.

Editing to add an image from The Lincoln Project's post about this:

[BoRaGard]

1. "Ha ha. Suckers. I was just jerking your chain. Ha ha." - The G.O.P. Felon-in-Chief

Believe it. That's who they are.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. OMB Q&A Regarding Memorandum M-25-13, which was the memo before this one.

OMB Q&A Regarding Memorandum M-25-13
Fact Sheets January 28, 2025

OMB Q&A Regarding Memorandum M-25-13
January 28, 2025

In implementing President Trump’s Executive Orders, OMB issued guidance requesting that agencies temporarily pause, to the extent permitted by law, grant, loan or federal financial assistance programs that are implicated by the President’s Executive Orders.

Any program not implicated by the President’s Executive Orders is not subject to the pause.

The Executive Orders listed in the guidance are:

Protecting the American People Against Invasion

Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid

Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements

Unleashing American Energy

Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing

Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government

Enforcing the Hyde Amendment

Any program that provides direct benefits to individuals is not subject to the pause.

The guidance establishes a process for agencies to work with OMB to determine quickly whether any program is inconsistent with the President’s Executive Orders. A pause could be as short as day. In fact, OMB has worked with agencies and has already approved many programs to continue even before the pause has gone into effect.

Any payment required by law to be paid will be paid without interruption or delay.

Q: Is this a freeze on all Federal financial assistance?

A: No, the pause does not apply across-the-board. It is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest.

Q: Is this a freeze on benefits to Americans like SNAP or student loans?

A: No, any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause.Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused. If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.

Q: Is the pause of federal financial assistance an impoundment?

A: No, it is not an impoundment under the Impoundment Control Act. It is a temporary pause to give agencies time to ensure that financial assistance conforms to the policies set out in the President’s Executive Orders, to the extent permitted by law. Temporary pauses are a necessary part of program implementation that have been ordered by past presidents to ensure that programs are being executed and funds spent in accordance with a new President’s policies and do not constitute impoundments.

Q: Why was this pause necessary?

A: To act as faithful stewards of taxpayer money, new administrations must review federal programs to ensure that they are being executed in accordance with the law and the new President’s policies.

News
Administration
Issues

[highplainsdem]

15. Thanks! And LOL at them calling themselves "faithful stewards"...

[BoRaGard]

20. "faithful stinktards"

There. I fixed it for you.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. The courts are checking on whether the executive order being litigated is in effect

The various plaintiffs are checking on the status of the executive order and will not accept the statements of TFG's brain dead press secretary

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[orangecrush]

19. Walz said portals still weren't working

On Rachel.

[William Seger]

17. It was a sucker punch, for sure, explicitly intended to generate fear

[durablend]

2. As someone said elsewhere

This will be back. He's not going to give up on it.

[ScratchCat]

9. Pretty much

Last night, I switched to CNN and MSNBC for a few seconds and notice that the talking heads were essentially telling Trump how he could do this and pass legal muster by making it for only future grants not existing money which has already been allocated.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Trump White House reverses course, rescinds freeze on federal grants

Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

BREAKING: White House Rescinds Freeze On Funding
January 29, 2025

{snip}

Trump White House reverses course, rescinds freeze on federal grants
The budget office came under immense pressure over the impacts on a sudden pause in key government spending

Updated
January 29, 2025 at 1:13 p.m. EST • 1 minute ago
By Jeff Stein and Tony Romm

The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash.

In a memo dated Wednesday and distributed to federal agencies, Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, states that OMB memorandum M-25-13 “is rescinded.” That order, issued Monday, instructed federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance.”

{snip}

[gohuskies]

4. No end to the incompetence of the Orange Menace

Everyday will be chaos for Americans. I know a majority of Americans did not sign on for this b.s. MAGA has always been about how the wealthy can steal from average Americans.

[Oneear]

5. Donald Trump Team is in Disarray

Who is on First

[cbabe]

6. How to survive a bear attack

https://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Bear-Attack

How to Survive a Bear Attack
Co-authored by Hannah Young and Eric McClure

Last Updated: September 30, 2024 Fact Checked

…

Make lots of noise, make yourself appear as big as possible, and stand your ground if you encounter a bear.

… more …

(STAR: as taught to kids… stand tall, arms out wide, roar…)

[Ray Bruns]

8. What if that bear is on cocaine?

https://m.

[cbabe]

12. Roar more.

[nitpicked]

7. From AP

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-pause-federal-grants-aid-6d41961940585544fa43a3f66550e7be

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Monday evening order from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial financial lifeline for states, schools and organizations that rely on trillions of dollars from Washington and left the White House scrambling to explain what would and wouldn’t be subject to a pause in funding.

The people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal guidance, confirmed that the OMB pulled the order Wednesday in a two sentence notice to agencies and departments.

Democratic critics of the order moved swiftly to celebrate the action.
(snip)

[Marthe48]

11. What a bunch of losers

Past the orgasm generated by sadism, they have no plan.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. "rendered inoperative" - the ghost of Tricky Dicky (nt)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. Trump rescinds funding freeze memo after chaos, confusion

The White House sparked a national controversy when it ordered a freeze on federal grants. Under pressure, Team Trump rescinded its scandalous memo.
https://bsky.app/profile/msnbc.com/post/3lgvkv265z225

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-rescinds-federal-funding-freeze-memo-chaos-confusion-rcna189851

Some political observers argue that Donald Trump and his team are simply impervious to pressure. No matter how great the outrage, the argument goes, the president and his Republican operation will ignore criticisms, rewrite history, deliver marching orders, and refuse to back down.

This observation is mistaken. Indeed, several examples have emerged since the president’s second inaugural.

Take, for example, the White House’s budget office ordered a freeze to federal grants, loans and related assistance — money that Congress has already appropriated — effectively trying to shift the power of the purpose to the Trump administration. The OMB memo sparked widespread confusion, chaos and controversy.

And it’s against this backdrop that the White House rescinded the memo on Wednesday.

Link to tweet

.....The criticisms are more than fair. White House officials have been planning for this moment for months. They had every opportunity to carefully and deliberately flesh out a policy, prepare for its unveiling, and implement it effectively. Instead, Team Trump issued a terribly written OMB memo, generated chaos and confusion, spent a day pretending it was sound, only to retreat under pressure that officials should've seen coming......

With this in mind, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a celebratory statement — “Americans fought back, and Donald Trump backed off,” the New York Democrat wrote — warning of a second round to the broader fight.

“Though the Trump administration failed in this tactic, it’s no secret that they will try to find another, and when they do, it will again be Senate Democrats there to call it out, fight back, and defend American families,” Schumer concluded.

[FakeNoose]

16. If Chump isn't impeached and thrown out of office

... we're looking at 4 entire years of this garbage.

[bluestarone]

21. My thought is

TSF doesn't want the courts involved just yet.