NEW YORK, January 28. /TASS/. The US authorities have ordered a pause in federal grants, loans and other financial aid programs so the new administration of President Donald Trump can review them, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, the Trump administration sent a memo to all executive departments and agencies on Monday that "caused confusion with some employees in federal agencies who sought to understand which programs were affected." Thus, it is unclear whether "the memo only paused financial assistance related to the executive orders that President Trump signed during his first week in office, or all current federal financial-assistance programs." According to the newspaper’s sources, "the memo’s broad language prompted some federal officials to wonder whether it halted the vast array of federal assistance programs, from small-business loans to highway funding."
The newspaper added that the document contained footnotes stating that the Medicare health insurance program and Social Security benefits were exempt from the pause. The Wall Street Journal quoted the memo as saying that all 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."
Effect of pause
According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (a Democrat from the state of New York), the pause in the funding jeopardizes "billions upon billions of community grants and financial support that help millions of people across the country." The consequence of this action will be "chaos for everything from universities to non-profit charities, state disaster assistance, local law enforcement, aid to the elderly, and food for those in need," he pointed out.
At the same time, according to the document cited by the Wall Street Journal, the pause must be applied "to the extent permissible under applicable law." The temporary suspension will take effect at 5:00 p.m. local time (11:00 p.m. GMT), according to the memo. Departments and agencies must submit detailed information on all temporarily suspended programs to the Office of Management and Budget by February 10.