The White House announced that it has revoked a memo that authorised a federal halt on billions of dollars in grants and loans, which caused widespread anxiety among millions who depend on government support.
This decision follows a judge’s temporary suspension of the order on Tuesday, just hours after President Donald Trump signed it and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued the related memo.
The judge has delayed the order until next Monday after a lawsuit was brought forth by a coalition of organisations advocating for grant recipients.
The new letter released on Wednesday confirms, “OMB Memorandum M-25-13 is rescinded.”
It remains uncertain what led to this unexpected reversal. Earlier this week, the acting head of the White House budget office had told agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance.”
According to the office, this action was meant to give the new administration time to evaluate which grants and loans aligned with their priorities.
However, the order triggered widespread uncertainty regarding which agencies and programs would be affected. An online portal for accessing federal funds was momentarily taken offline, and aid organizations warned of potential service interruptions.
In reaction to this development, Democrats hastily changed a scheduled news conference on Tuesday regarding Trump’s plan to abolish birthright citizenship to denounce the freeze on federal funding instead.
This order was one of several issued by Trump since assuming office, aimed at reducing the size of the government and decreasing federal expenditures. Other orders focus on transgender rights and the automatic citizenship provided to anyone born in the US.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration presented federal workers with an option to resign while still receiving pay for eight months as part of efforts to reduce the federal workforce further.
