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White House illegally pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion

The White House budget office is ordering a pause to all grants and loans disbursed by the federal government,
according to a loosely worded internal memo, sent to agencies Monday,
-- creating significant confusion across Washington.

In a two-page document,
#Matthew J. #Vaeth, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, instructs federal agencies to
“temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, also calls for each agency to
perform a “comprehensive analysis”
to ensure its grant and loan programs are consistent with President Trump’s executive orders,
which aimed to ban federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,
and limit clean energy spending, among other measures.

The memo states its orders should
not be “construed” to impact Social Security or Medicare recipients,
and also says the federal financial assistance put on hold
“does not include assistance provided directly to individuals.”

But the document says programs affected are
“including, but not limited to, financial assistance for
#foreign #aid,
#nongovernmental organizations,
#DEI,
#woke #gender ideology,
and the #green #new #deal.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/27/white-house-pauses-federal-grants/