WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ordered a freeze on domestic and foreign federal aid in a sweeping effort to stop government funding for causes that don’t fit with his agenda.
A memo sent out Monday night from Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the changes would go into effect at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday and relate to a string of executive orders Trump has signed since taking office last week.
“Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal,” Vaeth said.
The memo said the pause in aid, such as grants and loans, would allow “time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.”
The memo, which could affect billions of dollars in aid, noted an exception for Social Security and Medicare and direct payments to individuals, saying those benefits would not be affected.
Vaeth said in the memo that agencies must “immediately identify” any legally mandated actions or deadlines that could come up during the pause.
The memo, first reported by Marisa Kabas at The Handbasket, did not detail which groups or programs would be affected, but emphasized that federal aid must be brought in line with Trump’s policy agenda, including a flurry of executive orders that marked a dramatic break with the Biden administration. Trump signed more executive orders Monday, including ones designed to roll back government diversity, equity and inclusion operations, and to build an Israel-style “Iron Dome” missile defense system.
Speaking at the House Republicans’ annual policy retreat at his Trump National Doral golf resort in Miami, the president said his administration “has been moving with urgency and historic speed to reverse every single disaster of the Biden administration.”
Monday’s memo sparked immediate pushback on Capitol Hill, where some believe it poses a direct challenge to the authority given exclusively to Congress.
The Democratic leaders of the House and the Senate appropriations committees — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — wrote to OMB expressing their “extreme alarm about the Administration’s efforts to undermine Congress’s power of the purse, threaten our national security, and deny resources for states, localities, American families, and businesses.”
“The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have devastating consequences across the country,” they added, going on to say that the pause is unconstitutional and unlawful.
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee simply responded in a post on X: “Hey so this is insane.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also joined the rising chorus of opposition voices attacking the federal aid pause.
“More lawlessness and chaos in America as Donald Trump’s Administration blatantly disobeys the law by holding up virtually all vital funds that support programs in every community across the country. If this continues, the American people will pay an awful price,” he said in a statement late Monday.
“They say this is only temporary, but no one should believe that,” he added. “Congress approved these investments and they are not optional; they are the law.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also said on X that the unilateral move was unconstitutional.
“In Illinois, we will stand against unlawful actions that would harm millions of working families, children, and seniors,” he said.
